The president of the Citgo Board of Directors, appointed by the president of the National Assembly, Luisa Palacios, acknowledged that maintaining control of the refining company already depends exclusively on the will of the United States government, although she considers that the court decision that empowers The broken miner Crystallex to continue with her claim does not change the underlying situation .

Palacios in a brief statement to the Energy Advisor publication said that “ Crystallex currently does not have an OFAC license, without which it cannot sell or sell the Citgo shares to which it aspires in payment of a pending debt, and we do not expect that change This case continues to work through the appeals process, which means that it can still be reversed.

"For those and other reasons, we don't see any short-term impact on Citgo's operations or prospects," he said.

On the thorny issue of the next maturity, for $ 915 million, of the PDVSA 2020 Bonus, whose default would entitle holders to liquidate up to 51% of Citgo's shares to collect the credit, Palacios told Energy Advisor to save the refiner In this circumstance it depends on what the Executive of the United States decides.

“The Trump administration would be badly advised if it allows these creditors, who were part of a legally doubtful financing agreement with Maduro, to take Citgo. The ball is in your hands ».

In this way, the president of the Board of Directors of the PDVSA subsidiary seems to rule out the effectiveness of any additional or different effort to the issuance of an Executive Order that protects this asset, the most valuable that the Republic has abroad.

The executive said that the support of the United States government for the restoration of democracy in Venezuela must also pass to ensure the necessary assets for its recovery, in an eventual transition process, since the country is experiencing a very serious economic crisis .

The economist Francisco Rodríguez, now director of an organization called Petroleum for Venezuela, which advocates a "humanitarian unlocking" for the Venezuelan oil trade, has proposed that the UN be requested special protection for Venezuelan assets abroad, while The legal team of the president of the AN and interim president recognized by more than 50 countries, Juan Guaidó, evaluates the way to go to the United States Supreme Court.

In the same edition of Energy Advisor , Michael Lynch, president of the Strategic Energy & Economic Research consultancy, said that the actions of the plaintiffs, crystallex and the holders of the PDVSA 2020, can continue in Courts, so the risk that Venezuela Losing control over Citgo is real, because the Trump administration could "act too late."

“In any case, it seems less and less likely that Citgo remains under the control of Petróleos de Venezuela, as it continues to deteriorate and its operations become increasingly problematic. Perhaps the best result would be for an administrator appointed by the court to take control of the company so that it can continue to operate, but ultimately, it is almost certain that Citgo will be sold and merged with another operator, ”he concluded.