Venezuela's PDVSA pays $1 bln bond, foreign reserves tumble

(Recasts with PDVSA confirmation, reserves)

CARACAS, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA has paid down its $1 billion 2016 bond that matured on Friday, the company said in a statement, pushing the OPEC nation's international reserves to their lowest level in 20 years.

Venezuela's reserves dropped by $909 million to $10.898 billion, according to central bank data, their lowest level since June 1996.

The payment comes days after PDVSA announced the completion of a $2.8 billion bond swap that exchanged bonds maturing in 2017 for new bonds maturing in 2020 as a way of easing a heavy payment burden over the next year.

Investors have in the past been concerned the company could default on its debt obligations due to low oil prices, heavy debt payments, and an unraveling socialist economy.

But President Nicolas Maduro calls default talk a right-wing conspiracy and notes the ruling Socialist Party has never missed a bond payment.

(Reporting by Corina Pons and Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Matthew Lewis)