“This is Venezuela — they’re very disorganized with these types of things,” said Alejandro Grisanti, the director of the Caracas-based research firm Ecoanalitica. “Every day, it’s harder for them to pay.” The government had another $237 million in interest payments come due Saturday, and the National Public Credit Office has yet to announce their payment. A delay in those payments would bring the total in arrears to $587 million. Source Bloomberg
Exxon Mobil has evacuated all of its foreign staff from Iraq’s West Qurna 1 oilfield and is flying them out to Dubai, a senior Iraqi official and three other sources told Reuters on Saturday. Source: Reuters
The latest round of tax cuts and handouts announced by the Greek government mean that Europe’s most indebted state will probably miss an agreed target for a budget surplus excluding interest payments, the head of the euro-area’s crisis fund said. The shortfall will deteriorate further next year, Klaus Regling warned after a meeting of the bloc’s finance ministers in Brussels. Source: Bloomberg
A tanker carrying Iranian fuel oil in violation of U.S. sanctions has unloaded the cargo into storage tanks near the Chinese city of Zhoushan, according to ship tracking data on Refinitiv Eikon. Source: Reuters
