After months of uncertainty, a United States court in Delaware accepted late last month Amber Energy Inc.’s bid to buy the beleaguered Venezuelan refiner and petroleum products marketer Citgo.
The resolution has since been thrown back into uncertainty, though, by bond and note holders in Venezuela who have filed competing claims in other U.S. courts.
Amber Energy through its backer Elliot Investment Management is now in line to be the owner of the seventh-largest refiner in the United States, and of a substantial lubricant marketing network.
Citgo was the international refining division of Venezuela’s state oil company PdVsa. Courts seized Citgo and its parent PDV Holding after a lengthy battle with creditors with claims of unpaid debts dating back to the Hugo Chavez era.
Citgo processes up to 807,000 barrels of oil per day at refineries in Louisiana, Illinois and Texas. The company also owns stakes in terminals, pipelines and lubricant manufacturing plants.
Amber offered to pay U.S.$7.3 billion when the deal is completed in mid-2025. Courts valued the company at $11 billion-$13 billion, while in 2023, it was valued at $32 billion, according to a report by Reuters.
ExxonMobil board member Gregory Goff is Amber’s new CEO and is joined by Jeff Stevens as president.
The Amber offer was accepted in late September by the court officer overseeing the auction of Citgo, which is being conducted through the U.S. District Court for Delaware. That decision was part of a broader plan that prioritized large corporate creditors, such as mining interests and other oil companies, ahead of other claimants. The Venezuelan claimants now seek to reverse that, according to another Reuters article.