Economy
Last week, the state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) decided to pay outstanding debt with its service companies.

Pdvsa repaid total debt to most of the contractors, but it paid part of it to a group of service companies because their contracts are being examined by the industry.

According to the payment schedule for debt implemented by Pdvsa, the big contractors received 10 percent of the outstanding debt and the rest will be paid as long as the service companies cut their tariffs.

Pdvsa has asked contractors, including oil drill companies, to cut tariffs by 50 percent in average, due to the new realities of the market, in an environment characterized by low crude oil prices.