Scattered Across Globe, PDVSA Roughnecks Wonder About Going Home

Now that Juan Guaido has put a shadow board of directors for Petroleos de Venezuela on standby, he needs a few thousand employees in the wings ready to come to the rescue.

That and a whole lot of money. But assembling a deep bench of experience and knowledge, as Guaido’s team is trying to do, may be the tougher nut. Much of the PDVSA professional staff left more than a decade ago for jobs in other countries. The rank-and-file payroll has thinned out as roughnecks and truck drivers joined the exodus from a country in economic and political crisis.