Venezuela oil company to launch $7bn bond swap

Venezuela’s national oil company PDVSA has readied to launch a $7bn bond swap in a move that would alleviate mounting financial pressure on the group as it stares down multibillion-dollar bond payments over the next 14 months, the company’s president Eulogio del Pino said on Tuesday. The swap would cover PDVSA notes due in October 2016, April 2017 and November 2017, allowing investors to trade those notes in for new bonds that mature in 2020. The swap would be backed by shares of the group’s US-based subsidiary Citgo Petroleum to bolster investor interest. According to Mr del Pino, some rating agencies have evaluated the swap “as a positive offer made to bondholders” More…