Trump Administration Extends Citgo Protections Until November — OPIS

The Treasury Department on Wednesday extended until November government protections shielding Citgo Petroleum from Venezuela's creditors.

The department's Office of Foreign Asset Control on Monday issued an order extending through Nov. 5 protections that have been in place since 2019. The order prevents Citgo from being seized by holders of defaulted bonds issued by its parent, Venezuelan national oil company PdVSA, which used its shares in Citgo as collateral.

The protections were initially issued during President Trump's first term in office and have been extended every three months or so since then. Protections issued in August were set to expire Thursday.

Wednesday's action is the second the department has taken this week regarding Citgo and PdVSA. On Monday, the department issued a license that included provisions preventing leadership in Venezuela from making unauthorized changes to governance of Citgo or its parent companies.

Members of Citgo's current board of directors were appointed by Venezuela's political opposition in 2019 after the U.S. imposed stiff sanctions on the country following a disputed presidential election that kept former President Nicolas Maduro in power.

With Maduro captured by the U.S. in January, Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodriguez has been moving to try to regain control of the U.S. refining major.

The Treasury Department license blocks "any transaction to affect or alter the governance of PDV Holding, Inc., Citgo Holding, Inc., or CITGO Petroleum Corporation, including the appointment, removal, or replacement of any director, officer, or other corporate governance official."

The latest extension comes as a legal fight over Citgo's eventual fate remains tied up in U.S. courts following a court-ordered auction of the company to pay another group of Venezuela's creditors, including ConocoPhillips.

A U.S. court in November declared Amber Energy the auction winner with a $5.89 billion bid. But a closing of the sale has been delayed by appeals filed by Venezuela and other participants in the auction.

This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

Reporting by Steve Cronin, steven.cronin@dowjones.com; Editing by Michael Kelly, mkelly@opisnet.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 16, 2026 16:56 ET (20:56 GMT)