Venezuela is the main supplier of crude to the Gulf Coast Creditors may go after crude tankers and oil payments A potential default by Petroleos de Venezuela SA would cause trouble for U.S. Gulf Coast refineries, as the Latin American country is the main supplier of foreign oil to the region. Venezuela’s state-controlled oil company PDVSA has been trying to persuade bondholders to exchange as much as $5.325 billion of outstanding notes maturing in 2017 for longer-term securities that are due in 2020. The deadline for the swap was extended three times and is due Friday, according to a company statement. A failure in exchanging the bonds could make it “difficult” for the company to make payments on its existing debt, PDVSA said. A default would not only rattle bondholders, but also PDVSA’s suppliers and customers, with U.S. refineries among the first to feel the hit, said Lucas Aristizabal, […]