PdV's downward spiral

Venezuela's oil industry is cracking under the pressure of a domestic crisis and low oil prices

State oil company PdV is stuck in a downward spiral and nothing indicates it will pull itself out anytime soon. The oil-price collapse hit revenues hard, crimping the company's ability to in-vest, which has led to a steep drop in production, in turn compounding the fall in revenues and making it even more difficult to find the cash needed to stave off further output declines. It is hardly alone in struggling with weak prices. But an economic crisis at home, huge debts to oil-service firms and bondholders, and oil-for-loan payment commitments to China set the company's troubled state apart and mean it will take much more than just an uptick in prices to right the ship. The production decline