HOUSTON, April 30 (Reuters) – The U.S. won’t block a courtroom public sale of shares in oil refiner Citgo Petroleum Corp’s (PDVSAC.UL) father or mother, Justice Division officers informed a federal courtroom, paving the best way for a possible seizure by collectors of Venezuela’s most-prized international asset.
The U.S. Treasury Division since 2020 has protected Citgo from collectors with claims towards Venezuela, and its change of coronary heart will permit claims to be settled by negotiation or by means of an public sale of shares in Citgo father or mother PDV Holding. Citgo is PDV Holding’s solely asset.
Houston-based Citgo is the seventh-largest U.S. oil refiner. It has vegetation in Louisiana, Illinois and Texas, and power pipelines and a gasoline distribution community supplying 4,200 shops within the japanese half of the USA. It reported a file $2.8 billion revenue final yr and might be valued at $13 billion.
A Citgo spokesperson declined to remark.
The Treasury, which has blocked transactions involving Venezuela’s U.S. property, “won’t take enforcement motion” to halt the public sale or a negotiated settlement, the Justice Division wrote in a letter filed on Friday in U.S. District Courtroom in Delaware. The Treasury must challenge a license to finish any sale.
Robert Pincus, a court-appointed official who met with the Justice Division and Treasury, urged the courtroom to maneuver rapidly “to make the most of CITGO’s current monetary and operational efficiency and the present state of the refining trade …”
Canadian miner Crystallex Worldwide has a $970 million declare towards PDV Holding that spawned the proposed courtroom public sale.
A consultant for Crystallex declined to remark.
Different collectors with a minimum of $2.6 billion in claims towards Venezuela have acquired conditional approvals to hitch the case. Pincus proposed beginning the gross sales course of on Sept. 5 with the best bid reviewed by the courtroom in June 2024.
The courtroom has retained funding banker Evercore to evaluate market demand and conduct the sale.
Reporting by Gary McWilliams in Houston
Enhancing by Matthew Lewis
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