Venezuelan Vice President and Oil Minister Delcy Rodriguez said on the South American country rejects the 'fraudulent' and 'forced' sale of the parent company of refiner Citgo Petroleum in a legal process in the United States, after the sale was authorized by a U.S. judge last week.
"We energetically reject the decision adopted in the judicial process", Rodriguez said in a statement read on state television. The Venezuelan government has always opposed the sale.
Lawyers representing Venezuela, Citgo, its parent companies and miner Gold Reserve GRZ.V on Monday appealed against an order last week from a Delaware judge that approved the sale of PDV Holding's shares.
Delaware Judge Leonard Stark last week authorized the sale of Citgo parent PDV Holding to an affiliate of hedge fund Elliott Investment Management, following the confirmation of the company's $5.9 billion bid in a court-organized auction.
Elliott Investment Management's affiliate Amber Energy plans to keep Citgo Petroleum's refineries, terminals and other connected assets once it takes over the Venezuela-owned U.S. refiner, following the completion of a court-ordered auction, sources close to the preparations said.
The sale needs approval from the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control. Citgo and its Venezuelan-owned parent companies are appealing the auction results and the sale order, which means there is still a level of uncertainty to the takeover.
Considered the crown jewel of Venezuela's foreign assets, Citgo's 829,000 barrel-per-day refining network is a sophisticated operation supported by 43 terminals and 4,000 independently owned retail outlets across the U.S. The Houston-based company, which is the seventh largest U.S. refiner, employs some 3,300 workers.
