Pacific has become a major bust from the commodity downturn. At its peak, it was… BOGOTÁ, Colombia—Latin America’s largest privately owned oil producer said it was preparing to file for bankruptcy-court protection after reaching a tentative restructuring deal Monday that leaves shareholders with cents on the dollar. The deal would cap a humbling turn of events for Pacific Exploration & Production Corp. PEGFF -47.06 % , which once stood at the vanguard of South America’s oil boom. At its peak earlier this decade, Pacific was worth $8 billion, employed 30,000 people and had so much cash it flew pop star Marc Anthony to a corporate party. Pacific has become a major bust from the global commodity downturn, a slide that current and former directors and employees say was aggravated by mismanagement, wild overspending and poor investments. “Pacific was a big success story, but it didn’t make the right choices,” […]