Versión Español
EspañolIn an effort to handle its overdue debts, Venezuela is all but giving away oil assets.
President Nicolás Maduro is reportedly so desperate to pay the US $3.7 billion in debts that he is selling off the assets to Russia.
They offered to sell Russia a share of PetroPiar, which is 30-percent owned by Chevron and which PDVSA has a 70-percent stake in. It also expropriated ConocoPhillips’ 40-percent shareholdings, which has not been paid yet.
Likewise, PDVSA offered Rosneft 10 percent of a project developed to extract the extra-heavy oil from the Orinoco Oil Belt.
If the transactions go through, Chevron would be affected negatively, as it would be associating with Rosneft, a company that faces sanctions imposed by the United States.
Venezuela has also reportedly been talking to a Japanese investment bank to try to obtain fresh funds.
Venezuela managed to pay US $725 million in overdue debt last month, but with difficulty, as it came 30 days late.
Source: El Nuevo Herald
