Page 14 - NorthAmOil Week 38

NorthAmOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES NorthAmOil

PDVH is the parent
company of US-based
downstream operator
Citgo Petroleum.

Canada’s Crystallex asks US court

to set date for PDVH stock sale

US-VENEZUELA CRYSTALLEX, a Canadian mining company, security” was being used too broadly. So far,
has asked a judge in the US federal court system company representatives said, US officials have
to set a date for the sale of shares in PdV Hold- not yet outlined any scenarios under which a sale
ing (PDVH), a US-based affiliate of Venezuela’s might harm US national security.
national oil company (NOC) PdVSA. PDVH is Stark, in turn, sought input from the US
the parent company of US-based downstream attorneys, who replied that Elliott Abrams, US
operator Citgo Petroleum. President Donald Trump’s special envoy for
In documents submitted to the US District Venezuela, had explained the matter in a letter
Court for the District of Delaware, the Canadian to the Justice Department and to the Attorney
firm asked Judge Leonard Stark to set January General. That letter states that Crystallex can-
11, 2021, as the starting date for sales of PDVH not force the sale of PDVH shares unless it first
stock. It justified its request by pointing to pre- obtains a licence from the US Office of Foreign
vious developments in the case – namely, the Asset Control (OFAC), they said.
introduction in August 2018 of a motion assert- They also asked the court to wait before Citgo’s fate is
ing that there was no separation between Citgo’s authorising actions that had the potential to
management and the Venezuelan government affect US interests. inextricably
and the passing of that motion in July 2019 by Citgo’s fate is inextricably connected to dis-
Stark. putes involving the legitimacy of Venezuela’s connected to
Crystallex is trying to push forward with the government. The South American country is
stock sale in order to enforce a $1.4bn judgment nominally ruled by President Nicolas Maduro, disputes involving
against the Venezuelan government. The Cana- but Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido the legitimacy
dian company secured that judgment, which has asserted that Maduro used fraudulent means
called for Caracas to pay $1.2bn as compensation to secure re-election in late 2018. The US gov- of Venezuela’s
for the seized property and $200mn in interest, ernment supports Guaido, who has served as
from a World Bank arbitration tribunal in 2016. interim president since early 2019, and has government.
It had filed suit to protest Caracas’ move in 2008 imposed sanctions on PdVSA in the hope of
to nationalise its gold mine in Bolívar State. forcing Maduro out of power.
Stark noted during his audience last week In turn, Guaido and his allies have nominal
that Crystallex’s request might conflict with US control over Citgo and have nominated the com-
government policy. He was referring to a brief pany’s board of directors over the objections of
filed earlier this year by the US Justice Depart- Maduro’s supporters in the National Assembly.
ment, which argued that the sale of Citgo’s parent The opposition is reluctant to authorise a stock
company might pose threats to US interests and sale, since the US-based company is one of the
national security. few sources of revenue for Venezuela. (Sanctions
Crystallex responded to the judge’s com- have served to cut PdVSA off from most sources
ments by asserting that the term “national of income.)™

P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 38 24•September•2020