{"id":4129,"date":"2025-12-03T04:14:47","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T04:14:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=4129"},"modified":"2025-12-03T04:14:47","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T04:14:47","slug":"venezuela-denounces-us-ordered-forced-sale-of-oil-company-citgo-oil-and-gas-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=4129","title":{"rendered":"Venezuela denounces US-ordered \u2018forced sale\u2019 of oil company Citgo | Oil and Gas News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>A Delaware judge has ordered the sale to settle debts, as Venezuela says US military buildup is targeting its oil reserves.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 3 Dec 2025<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">3 Dec 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p class=\"tr-story-p1\">Venezuelan Vice President and Minister of Petroleum Delcy Rodriguez has condemned a US court\u2019s decision to authorise the \u201cfraudulent\u201d and \u201cforced\u201d sale of Venezuelan oil company Citgo in the United States to pay off billions of dollars in debts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe energetically reject the decision adopted in the judicial process\u201d, Rodriguez said in a statement read on state television about the sale, which the Venezuelan government has always opposed.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 4 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Delaware Judge Leonard Stark last week ordered the sale of Citgo\u2019s parent company to Amber Energy, an affiliate of the hedge fund Elliott Investment Management, for $5.9bn. Elliott Investment Management said in a press release that the court order was \u201cbacked by a group of strategic US energy investors\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Citgo, a Houston-based subsidiary of Venezuela\u2019s PDVSA (Petroleos de Venezuela, SA), a state-owned oil company, has been facing claims that it owes more than $20bn to creditors, reflecting the broader financial woes of the South American country under US sanctions, which have targeted its once profitable oil industry.<\/p>\n<p>The company\u2019s creditors include the Canadian firm Crystallex, which another US court said was owed $1.2bn by the Venezuelan government in 2019 over Caracas\u2019s 2008 seizure and nationalisation of the Las Cristinas mine, which is rich with gold, diamonds, iron and other minerals.<\/p>\n<p>The sale of Citgo comes as Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro claims that the US\u2019s recent military build-up in the Caribbean Sea surrounding his country is aimed at seizing Venezuela\u2019s vast oil reserves.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4147031\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4147031\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-4147031 size-arc-image-770\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/afp_692f9107301d-1764724999.jpg?w=770&amp;resize=770%2C512&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"(FILES) A man walks past a billboard of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), reading &quot;Return CITGO to the Venezuelans,&quot; in Caracas on June 27, 2023.\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4147031\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A man walks past a billboard of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), which reads, \u2018Return CITGO to the Venezuelans\u2019, in Caracas on June 27, 2023 [Federico Parra\/AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While Venezuela holds the world\u2019s largest proven oil reserves, estimated at 303 billion barrels as of 2023, it exported just $4.05bn worth of crude oil in 2023, far below other major oil-producing countries, in part due to US sanctions imposed during US President Donald Trump\u2019s first term.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, Maduro called on fellow members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to help his country counter \u201cgrowing and illegal threats\u201d from the US and its president.<\/p>\n<p>However, Paolo von Schirach, the president of the Global Policy Institute, said that he doubted that Venezuela\u2019s plea would elicit much support \u201cwithin OPEC itself\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration has claimed that its military actions in the region are focused on tackling drug trafficking.<\/p>\n<p>Venezuela was historically one of the largest exporters of oil to the United States, but sales declined sharply after Hugo Chavez was elected president in 1998.<\/p>\n<p>Then, facing strict sanctions under the first Trump administration, Venezuela shifted its exports to countries including China, India and Cuba.<\/p>\n<p>A slight easing of the trade tensions under former US President Joe Biden\u2019s administration saw US multinational company Chevron granted a limited oil production licence, before sanctions were again tightened at the beginning of the second Trump administration in March this year.<\/p>\n<p>PDVSA, the state-owned oil company that has dominated Venezuela\u2019s exploitation of its vast oil reserves, has faced other challenges, including ageing infrastructure, underinvestment and mismanagement, as well as the effects of international sanctions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Delaware judge has ordered the sale to settle debts, as Venezuela says US military buildup is targeting its oil reserves. Published On 3 Dec 20253 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Venezuelan Vice President and Minister of Petroleum Delcy Rodriguez has condemned a US court\u2019s decision to authorise the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4130,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latin-america-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}