UK Ruling Gives PDVSA a Lift: Fitch

A ruling in a London a court that overturned a decision to freeze PDVSA assets gives the oil giant a short term boost, according to Fitch. On Tuesday, a UK court announced it had overturned a previous decision to bar PDVSA’s access to assets formerly belonging to Exxon. “This is certainly good news for PDVSA,” Gianna Bern, senior director of LatAm corporate finance at Fitch, tells LatinFinance. “This returns the company to the financial flexibility it previously had,” Bern notes. PDVSA’s operations should remain unaffected after the ruling, she adds. “For the most part, as we understand it, it is business as usual at PDVSA and throughout the freeze, there was minimal impact to its daily operations.” Still, the oil giant’s legal problems are far from over. Investors can expect more ongoing volatility related to PDVSA as the legal disputes between the company and its former partner are likely to remain for years going forward.