On Dec. 13, 2013, we lowered our foreign currency rating on Venezuela to 'B-' from 'B'. We are lowering our ratings on the country's national oil and gas company, PDVSA, to 'B-' from 'B'. The negative outlook on PDVSA mirrors that on the sovereign, reflecting its government-related entity (GRE) status and the potential for another downgrade if we further lower the ratings on the sovereign. On Dec. 13, 2013, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services lowered its long-term corporate credit and senior unsecured debt ratings on Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) to 'B-' from 'B'. The outlook remains negative. The rating action on PDVSA followed the downgrade of Venezuela to 'B-' from 'B'. Based on our criteria for GREs, we assess
