Core Insights - Citgo Petroleum, the last significant international oil asset of Venezuela, is being sold to Amber Energy, a startup backed by Elliott Investment Management, after a lengthy legal battle [1][2]. Group 1: Auction and Sale Details - Amber Energy won the court-ordered auction for Citgo at a price of $5.9 billion, with an additional obligation to pay over $2 billion to holders of defaulted Venezuelan bonds [2]. - The deal is expected to close by the end of the year, despite pending legal appeals from Venezuela and other bidders [2]. Group 2: Citgo's Operations and Assets - Citgo operates three U.S. refineries and has a network that refines 800,000 barrels of oil per day across Louisiana, Texas, and Illinois [4]. - The company has branding and fuel marketing agreements with 4,000 independently owned retail outlets throughout the East Coast, Midwest, and South [4]. Group 3: Historical Context and Legal Battles - Citgo has been fully owned by Venezuela and its state-owned oil company PDVSA since 1990, becoming a target in legal disputes to compensate creditors for expropriated assets under former President Hugo Chavez [5]. - The legal battle intensified in 2018 when Crystallex won a ruling allowing it to pursue Citgo's assets to recover over $1 billion lost due to expropriation [8]. Group 4: Implications for Other Oil Companies - ConocoPhillips, which holds over half of the creditors' claims totaling approximately $20 billion, is a significant beneficiary of the Citgo sale [6]. - Chevron, the only American company with a long-term presence in Venezuela, is positioned to increase its operations and potentially benefit the most from the influx of Venezuelan oil [16][17].