A U.S. judge upheld the validity of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA's 2020 bonds on Thursday, in a blow to the company, which had argued that the defaulted bonds were not properly issued, Reuters reported. The bonds are secured by a majority stake in U.S. refiner Citgo , which is owned by PDVSA. The company defaulted on the bonds in 2019, putting the refiner at risk of seizure by creditors. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla in Manhattan ruled that the bonds were indeed properly issued under Venezuelan law.
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A long-awaited sale hearing expected to complete a U.S. court-organized auction of shares in the parent of Venezuela-owned U.S. refiner Citgo Petroleum is set to begin on Monday, with bidders and creditors locked in a bitter dispute over who should win, Reuters reported. The Delaware court will hear testimony from the involved parties, witnesses and experts in the four-day showdown before Judge Leonard Stark selects a final winner. Another set of arguments could be presented in October if the court decides more time and evidence are needed. At stake is the future of the seventh largest U.S.
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Venezuela's government is slowly allowing the use of dollar-tied cryptocurrencies in currency exchanges for the private sector, a dozen sources said, as U.S. restrictions on oil exports reduce available foreign currency, Reuters reported. Sanctions by the United States, which the Venezuelan government has characterized as "economic war," prevent many business transactions, forcing companies seeking to buy raw materials from abroad to exchange local bolivars for dollars that are generated by the oil trade and foreign card transactions and are injected into exchanges by the central bank.
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A U.S. judge on Monday authorized a court officer overseeing an auction of shares in the parent of Venezuela-owned refiner Citgo Petroleum to receive and negotiate improved bids this week before confirming or changing the winner recommendation he made last month, Reuters reported. A final winner recommendation in the complex court-organized auction is expected to be submitted by the end of this month, Judge Leonard Stark said in a hearing. Read more.
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Holders of a defaulted Venezuelan bond, some creditors and bidders that participated in a U.S. auction of shares in the parent of Venezuela-owned refiner Citgo Petroleum filed objections to the auction's recommended outcome, court documents released on Monday showed, Reuters reported. The challenge to the $7.4 billion offer by a group led by a unit of miner Gold Reserve could again derail the sale. Citgo, Venezuela's priced foreign asset, has been put on the auction block to pay creditors who lost billions to the South American country's expropriations and defaults.

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A court-appointed special master recommended a nearly $7.4 billion bid from Venezuela creditor Gold Reserve for the country’s state-owned oil refiner Citgo Petroleum, roughly double the prior leading offer, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Robert Pincus, the special master overseeing the forced sale of Venezuela’s stake in Citgo, said in court papers filed Wednesday that the bid from Gold Reserve’s Dalinar Energy is the highest and best offer.
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A U.S. court-organized auction of shares in the parent company of Venezuela-owned Citgo Petroleum has entered its final stages, with bidders submitting improved offers for the U.S. refiner and creditors hoping to recover a portion of the proceeds, Reuters reported. The auction stems from an eight-year-old case that Canadian miner Crystallex initiated in Delaware against Venezuela. The court found Citgo's parent, PDV Holding, liable for Venezuela's debts and expropriations, paving the way for over a dozen other creditors to pursue compensation of nearly $19 billion.

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Groups led by affiliates of Contrarian Funds, Gold Reserve and Vitol are working on improved offers for the parent of Venezuela-owned refiner Citgo Petroleum as the list of potential bidders narrows, Reuters reported. The three consortia, which participated in an earlier competition for setting a starting bid, have been in talks with banks to secure the financing needed for their offers in the court-organized auction of shares.
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A U.S. federal judge on Monday confirmed a $3.7 billion offer by Contrarian Funds' affiliate Red Tree Investments as the starting bid in an auction of shares in the parent of Venezuela-owned refiner Citgo Petroleum to pay creditors and bondholders, according to a court filing, Reuters reported. The offer had been recommended by a court officer overseeing the auction due to its certainty of closure. Read more.
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