PDVSA is the national oil and gas company of Venezuela. Established in 1975 by Venezuelan President Carlos Andrés Pérez, PDVSA (Petroleos de Venezuela SA) has since become one of the largest oil and gas companies in Latin America. As a state-owned enterprise, it is responsible for managing all aspects of the country’s oil industry, including exploration, production, refining and commercialization. In addition to its operations within Venezuela, PDVSA also operates abroad with concessions in countries such as Colombia, Cuba and Trinidad & Tobago.
In recent years PDVSA has been at the center of several controversial political decisions made by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government which have had a major impact on both domestic citizens as well as foreign investors; these include a large increase in fuel prices resulting from price controls instituted by Maduro’s administration that caused massive inflationary pressures across the entire economy. Furthermore, due to economic sanctions imposed against Venezuela by various nations including The United States and European Union governments over alleged human rights abuses committed under Maduro’s rule; this resulted in international financial institutions such as JP Morgan Chase refusing to do business with any entity related to PDVSA or its subsidiaries thereby severely restricting their access to global markets.
Recently there have been attempts by various entities associated with PDVSA to create cryptocurrency tokens backed directly or indirectly by barrels of crude petroleum reserves located within Venezuela which could be used as an alternative form of payment for goods/services instead of traditional fiats currencies like US Dollars or Euros; however due largely because authorities around the world are still uncertain about how cryptocurrencies should be regulated combined with stringent regulations put into place following allegations that some forms were being used for money laundering activities it remains unclear whether these plans will come into fruition anytime soon if at all.
