Venezuela’s state-run oil company, PDVSA, has spent at least a decade trying to build business ties and boost shipments to refineries in India, where crowds once welcomed the late socialist leader Hugo Chavez with cries of “Viva!” Now, the ailing firm is being forced to slash sales to its crucial trade partner. Venezuela has given up the fight for coveted market share in India because of a combination of declining crude production and heavy obligations under oil-for-loan deals with China and Russia, according to internal PDVSA data and two people familiar with the company’s strategy and operations. (For a graphic on PDVSA’s falling market share in India click tmsnrt.rs/2lWvHcq ) Caracas needs the oil to pay debts to China and Russia, key political allies that have together lent […]