Halliburton curtailing business activity in Venezuela
CARACAS, April 22 (Reuters) - U.S. oil services firm Halliburton Co has decided to begin curtailing activity in Venezuela, the company said on Friday, less than two weeks after Schlumberger Ltd announced a similar decision as a result of payment difficulties.
Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA has struggled to settle unpaid bills to service firms as a result of low oil prices and heavy bond payments that the company must make this year.
"During the quarter we made the decision to begin curtailing activity in Venezuela," Halliburton said in an earnings release.
Contacted for further details, a company representative said no additional information was available.
Halliburton's revenue in Latin America decreased 22 percent in the first quarter to $541 million as result of reduced activity in Mexico, Brazil and Colombia. Its regional operating income was $48 million, a 51 percent decrease, the company said.
Schlumberger, the world's No. 1 oil services company, said last week that it was reducing operations in Venezuela because it could not increase its accounts receivable balance beyond existing levels.
PDVSA did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. In its 2014 financial results, the company reported debts to providers of close to $21 billion.
(Reporting by Brian Ellsworth and Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
