Venezuela's debt crisis deepens
It's crunch time in Caracas after the country defaulted on two bond payments and oil output continued its freefall
Venezuela's debt problem is quickly spiraling out of control. On Monday, the government blew through a 30-day grace period on $200m in coupon payments due for its 2019 and 2024 bonds without paying, leading the credit ratings agency S&P to declare the country in default on those bonds and in selective default on its long-term debt. The Luxembourg Stock Exchange suspended trading of the bonds, totaling nearly $5bn. Another $420m in coupon payments on four more bonds are also late, but still within their grace periods. Defaulting on those would raise the risk of a cascading and chaotic sovereign default. The timing could hardly have been worse. The first default came on the same day Presid
Also in this section
9 April 2026
The April 2026 issue of Petroleum Economist is out now!
9 April 2026
Offshore operators are working through an FID backlog as the rig market consolidates, helped by improving project economics and a renewed security drive
2 April 2026
Alongside a rapid continued build-out of renewables, China’s latest five-year plan stresses the value of domestic hydrocarbon production for energy security and calls for increased Russian gas imports
2 April 2026
The government is taking important steps to revive domestic production, lift investment and benefit from the geopolitical crisis even if more needs to be done in the longer term
