Standard&Poor's today has affirmed its single-`B' corporate credit rating and unsecured debt rating for Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) and has revised its outlook to positive from stable. The rating affirmation and outlook revision reflect concurrent, identical actions taken on PDVSA's lone shareholder, the Republic of Venezuela (see related press release). Foreign currency ratings for Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), the Venezuelan national oil company are equivalent with the foreign currency rating of the Republic of Venezuela. In addition to the legal ties of ownership, the ratings and outlooks of PDVSA and the Republic are identical because of PDVSA's overwhelming importance to the Venezuelan economy, the government's heavy dependence on oil-related export revenues, and the government's more active
