CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA will pay about $5 billion it owes to national service companies in the last three months of 2009, President Hugo Chavez said yesterday.
PDVSA built up large debts with foreign and Venezuelan companies providing services from drilling to transport when oil prices tumbled last year.
Chavez said the oil company would pay off debts with Venezuelan firms before the end of the year as part of a series of measures being prepared to try and stimulate growth in the economy.
PDVSA has promised to pay of its service company debts several times this year but is still behind on many payments.