The US administration has declined to provide a federal appeals court with its view of refiner Citgo's pending sale, according to a court filing today.
The US "has no views to express at this time concerning this litigation," the Department of Justice said Tuesday in a filing to the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
The filing was in response to a third request from the court for the US to weigh in on the case.
Citgo's three US refineries, as well as its lubricant plants and midstream and retail assets, are being auctioned off to satisfy debt defaults and expropriations owed by Venezuela's state-owned PdV Holdings, the parent company of Citgo.
A US federal judge in November affirmed the winning $5.9bn bid from Amber Energy, an affiliate of New York hedge fund Elliott Investment Management. Amber's bid included a separate agreement to settle litigation claims with 75pc of a group of PdV bondholders for $2.13bn.
The government of Venezuela and other parties filed appeals in the case.
Lawyers representing Venezuela earlier this month asked the court to pause their appeal, arguing that the case might become moot because of new diplomatic ties between the two countries after the US recognition of interim president Delcy Rodriguez's government in March.
The fate of Citgo has been murky since the US ousted former president Nicolas Maduro on 3 January and subsequently lifted sanctions on Venezuela's oil exports.
Although the US recognizes the Rodriguez-led government, Washington has yet to allow Caracas-based PdV to reassert control over Citgo.
The US Treasury Department on 14 September updated a general license that in January set out conditions for PdV's oil sales and business transactions with the US and other companies to include an explicit prohibition against changing the governing structure of Citgo and its parent companies PdV Holding and Citgo Holding.
