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The auction could start a new chapter for the 113-year-old company, which has been owned by Venezuela for almost 40 years. Washington and Venezuela's political opposition wanted Citgo to anchor the country's economic future under a democratically elected government. The sale could become the biggest court auction ever held. Motiva, Valero and Citgo's ultimate parent, Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA, did not reply to requests for comment. "Citgo will be strategic for Venezuela in the next 20-25 years, not only as a refining company, but with an expanded role," director Medina said.

Persons: Biden, Citgo, Nicolas Maduro's, Matthew Blair, Tudor, Blair, Jose Ignacio Hernandez, Leonard Stark, PDVSA, PDV, Juan Guaido, Natalie Shkolnik, Wilk Auslander, Nicolas Maduro, Stark, Evercore, Conoco, Horacio Medina, Carlos Jorda, Medina, Hernandez, Marianna Parraga, Erwin Seba, Gary McWilliams, Anna Driver Organizations: U.S . State Department, Reuters, Marathon Petroleum, Motiva Enterprises, Valero Energy, Koch Industries, Valero, U.S . Treasury, Holt, U.S, Crystallex International, PDVSA, National Assembly, Citgo, PDV, Supreme, Evercore, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, Exxon, U.S . Treasury Department's, Foreign Assets Control, Thomson Locations: United States, Petroleum, U.S, Houston, Venezuela, Washington, Saudi, Pickering, Citgo, Delaware, Caracas

☆ Venezuela appeals to US Supreme Court in last ditch move to limit Citgo auction
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Aug 17 (Reuters) - Venezuela is making a last ditch attempt to limit the number of companies that could participate in a court-ordered auction of shares in a parent of oil refiner Citgo Petroleum, appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a lower court's ruling. Venezuela's petition is asking the Supreme Court to find the lower court's "alter ego" decision was faulty. It does not affect the case against Venezuela filed by miner Crystallex International, whose $970 million claim led to the proposed auction of shares. The petition seeks to have briefs filed by September 15 - just ahead of the start of the proposed auction. A Delaware court judge has set Oct. 23 as the start date for the auction.

Persons: Nicolas Maduro, Gary McWilliams, Deepa Babington, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Petroleum, U.S, Supreme, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, Tenaris SA, CITGO Petroleum Corporation, Venezuela, Crystallex, Thomson Locations: Venezuela, PDV, United States, Illinois , Louisiana, Texas, Delaware, Houston, PDVSA

REUTERS/Jonathan Bachman/File PhotoHOUSTON, July 21 (Reuters) - A U.S. court set Oct. 23 as the start date for a long-expected auction of shares in Venezuela-owned refiner Citgo Petroleum's parent to pay creditors with judgments against the South American nation. U.S. Judge Leonard Stark in Delaware this week accepted a recommendation by a court official in charge of organizing the auction. Proceeds from any sale of PDV Holding shares would be used to pay off creditors previously cleared by the court. Any sale of Citgo without the participation of Venezuela would be "hurtful," Pedro Tellechea, Venezuela's oil minister, said on Friday. "It's not a PDVSA asset.

Persons: Jonathan Bachman, Judge Leonard Stark, PDV, Pedro Tellechea, Horacio Medina, Stark, Venezuela's, Hugo Chavez, PDVSA, Marianna Parraga, Gary McWilliams, Richard Chang, Grant McCool Organizations: Citgo Petroleum, REUTERS, South, Petróleos, PDV, U.S . Treasury Department, PDVSA, Crystallex, ConocoPhillips, Siemens Energy, Tree Investments, Inc, Huntington Ingalls Industries, ACL1 Investments, Rusoro, Koch Industries, Thomson Locations: U.S, Stowell , Texas, Venezuela, South American, PDV, Delaware

July 7 (Reuters) - A U.S. court of appeals on Friday rejected Venezuela's bid to prevent six companies from joining a proposed court auction of shares in a Citgo Petroleum parent to enforce judgments for past expropriation of assets. The decision allows the six to move ahead with their about $3 billion in combined claims against Venezuela state oil firm PDVSA in a Delaware federal court. That court is in the initial steps of preparing an auction as soon as September. It also declined to consider PDVSA's request to bar the attachments from the district court case. Reporting by Gary McWilliams; Editing by Daniel WallisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Venezuela's, Crystallex, Gary McWilliams, Daniel Wallis Organizations: Petroleum, Huntington Ingalls Industries, ACL1 Investments, Koch Minerals, Rusoro Mining, PDV, Thomson Locations: Venezuela, Delaware

HOUSTON, May 8 (Reuters) - A U.S. court of appeals has granted Venezuela a temporary stay preventing six companies from joining a proposed court auction of shares in a Citgo Petroleum parent to enforce judgments for past expropriation of assets. The companies had won conditional attachments to a federal case in which the judge has approved a process to auction the shares to pay a $970 million judgment won by miner Crystallex. The six hold arbitration awards or judgments that total about $2.6 billion and wanted those awards to be included in the auction. The proposed auction, which could break up the seventh largest U.S. refiner to pay creditors, took a giant step forward last month with a greenlight from the U.S. Treasury. Washington has since recognized the opposition-led congress as the entity controlling the refining subsidiary, extending protection to prevent its breakup at the hands of Venezuela creditors.

☆ Exclusive: Venezuela's oil tankers at risk of sinking, fires, spills, report finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Mircely Guanipa | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The report by PDVSA's maritime branch, entitled "Critical deficiencies and risks of PDV Marina's tanker fleet," said years of deferred maintenance had left the entire fleet with "low levels of reliability," at risk of spills, sinking, fires, collisions or flooding. The report, dated March 2023, was among eight documents shared with Reuters describing the state of PDVSA's tanker fleet from the oil company's corporate office, trading division and maritime branch, as well as Venezuela's maritime authority. Five of PDVSA's tankers are at least 30 years old, past their recommended lifespan, according to the PDV Marina report. "The tanker fleet is showing a decline in the quality of its operations due to advanced physical deterioration, which implies higher maintenance and repair costs. Planning for sending the tankers to dry docks has been very affected by lack of payment to shipyards and providers," the PDV Marina report said.

The U.S. Treasury Department since 2020 has protected Citgo from creditors with claims against Venezuela, and its change of heart will allow claims to be settled by negotiation or through an auction of shares in Citgo parent PDV Holding. Citgo is PDV Holding's only asset. Houston-based Citgo is the seventh-largest U.S. oil refiner. Other creditors with at least $2.6 billion in claims against Venezuela have received conditional approvals to join the case. Pincus proposed starting the sales process on Sept. 5 with the highest bid reviewed by the court in June 2024.

☆ PDVSA's supervising board to appeal new creditors' move to go after Citgo
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HOUSTON, March 31 (Reuters) - A board that supervises Venezuela's overseas assets said it plans to file an appeal to a U.S. court's decision granting four firms the right to seize shares in one of the parent companies of Venezuela-owned U.S. refiner Citgo Petroleum. Other companies have sought to attach their own judgments to the case, leading to a feud this week among attorneys over priority. The decision by a U.S. judge in Delaware to approve the attachments is contingent on green light by the U.S. Treasury Department. An ad-hoc board created by Venezuela's National Assembly in 2019 to supervise PDVSA's foreign subsidiaries, especially Houston-based Citgo Petroleum, will oppose any conditioned auction, board's president Horacio Medina told Reuters. Reporting by Marianna Parraga and Gary McWilliams Editing by Marguerita ChoyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/5] A Venezuelan flag next to some flags of Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA is pictured near the company's headquarters, in Caracas, Venezuela March 20, 2023. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez ViloriaCARACAS, March 20 (Reuters) - Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro on Monday accepted the resignation of the country's powerful oil minister following the detention of at least six high level officials amid a corruption probe focused on state-run company PDVSA and the judiciary. Arresting government officials for corruption is rare in Venezuela, a country that rights groups such as Transparency International have described as opaque. The sources also said that at least 20 lower level officials at PDVSA have been arrested in recent days. The arrests are the largest recent crackdown on alleged PDVSA corruption.

☆ Former Rep. David Rivera of Florida is arrested in Venezuela probe
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

David Rivera, a Republican who served from 2011 to 2013, was arrested at Atlanta’s airport, said Marlene Rodriguez, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami. To justify the large payments, PDV USA allegedly created “phony contracts” backdated to March 20, 2017 — the day before the consulting agreement took effect. Rivera’s consulting contract had all the hallmarks of a sham, according to PDV USA, which since 2019 has been run by directors appointed by the U.S.-backed opposition. Rivera never met in person with anyone from Citgo or PDV USA while supposedly working on its behalf. “The written record is bereft of any evidence that Interamerican performed any of the contracted services,” PDV USA argues in the new filings.

☆ Ex-U.S. lawmaker arrested for conspiring to act as agent of Venezuela
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Former U.S. lawmaker David Rivera was arrested on Monday on charges of conspiring to launder money and to illegally act as an agent of the Venezuelan government, according to a U.S. official and an indictment. Rivera and associate Esther Nuhfer sought to improve bilateral ties and prevent further U.S. economic sanctions against Venezuela, without disclosing this as required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act, according to the indictment. "On November 16, 2022, Rivera was indicted by a federal grand jury sitting in the Southern District of Florida." In 2020, a PDVSA unit under opposition control sued Interamerican Consulting, stating it received $15 million from PDVSA but performed no meaningful services. Interamerican paid millions of dollars to a company managing yachts for a Venezuelan businessman, according to records that emerged from that lawsuit.

☆ Venezuela objects to U.S. court's calendar to sell Citgo parent's shares
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

CARACAS, Oct 12 (Reuters) - The Venezuelan government on Wednesday objected to what it called an "arbitrary decision" by a U.S. court that approved a calendar for auctioning shares in the parent of Houston-based refiner Citgo Petroleum, which is owned by Venezuela. Venezuela "categorically rejects this reckless decision," the government said in a statement on Wednesday. "All objections... are hereby overruled and denied on the merits with prejudice," Judge Stark ruled on the objections to the calendar, including Venezuela's. Venezuela said it will take action before international bodies and mechanisms to defend the asset, without providing details. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Deisy Buitrago; Written by Marianna Parraga; Editing by Josie KaoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. judge approves sales process for shares in Citgo Petroleum's parent
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterDelaware District court judge Stark last year approved the sale of shares in PDV Holding, whose only asset is Citgo shares, to pay Canadian miner Crystallex $970 million. Citgo is the crown jewel of Venezuela's overseas assets, and has split from its Caracas-based ultimate parent, Venezuelan state-run oil firm PDVSA. Judge Stark's process sets a nine-month calendar after the official launch date before he reviews a high bid. The number of shares sold would only be enough to cover the Crystallex judgment and any others the court attaches to the case. Koch Minerals and Koch Nitrogen last week applied to the Delaware District Court to link their $387 million judgment.

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