PDVSA Seen Tapping in H2

Despite claims from the Venezuelan government that PDVSA will not issue new debt in the bond market this year, Barclays analysts believe the state-owned oil giant is a likely candidate for issuance later in the year. “In our meetings, the [central bank,] the ministry of finance, and PDVSA assured us that there will be no issuance in 2010. However, we are not so optimistic and believe only that this will not happen in the coming months,” says the shop, who believes combined sovereign and PDVSA debt issuance this year should not top $6bn. “Our baseline scenario continues to be $3bn in new issuance from PDVSA, with maturities in 2012 and 2013, and $3bn from the republic, with maturities in 2017 and/or after 2021,” according to Barclays, whose Venezuela analyst has recently toured the country’s institutions. Elsewhere, PDVSA is heard arranging bank meetings in Asia and Europea for its $1.5bn 3-year syndicated loan via BES and China Development Bank. The deal pays Libor plus 450bp.