(PDVSA Press Room) - "PDVSA completed the syndication of a non-guarantied line of credit for $1 billion with the support of French bank BNP Paribas. This credit facility will help PDVSA develop its Oil Sowing Plan and will give flexibility to its financial transactions by using its credit strength based on an excellent debt/equity ratio.

This transaction represents PDVSA's re-entry to the international capital markets and the great acceptance shown by the banks is proof of the corporation's financial health and of its importance in the sphere of the world's oil industry. PDVSA is the fourth oil company in the world (Petroleum Intelligence Weekly 2005) and the largest in Latin America (Fortune 2005). This line of credit is an undertaking by a varied group of financial institutions on a world-wide basis, with BNP Paribas as their structuring and administrative leader.

PDVSA is wholly-owned by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and is responsible for the development of the nation's oil and gas reserves and for the planning, coordination, supervision and control of the activities of its subsidiaries, both in Venezuela and throughout the world".