José Enrique Arrioja to Fortune regarding Control of Venezuelan Subsidiary Citgo Petroleum
José Enrique Arrioja to Fortune regarding Control of Venezuelan Subsidiary Citgo Petroleum
Keeping Citgo's protection from being sold gives the U.S. "big leverage" in negotiating with Venezuela, said AQ's managing editor to the publication.
Early this year, it seemed all but certain that Citgo Petroleum—the Houston oil refiner familiar to American drivers, but little known as a Venezuelan subsidiary—was about to fall into the hands of a U.S. activist hedge fund.
In November 2025, a Delaware federal judge ordered the sale of the company to Elliott Management and its affiliate startup, Amber Energy. The court ruled that Citgo could be held liable for the Venezuelan government’s debts, and approved a sale that would send $9 billion to pay off a small number of Venezuela’s numerous creditors. All that was needed to close the sale was a green light from the Trump administration, at which point Citgo and its U.S. refineries would come under American ownership for the first time in nearly 40 years.
In the weeks after the dramatic ouster of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in early January, that approval appeared close at hand. Energy Secretary Chris Wright applauded the forced sale to Elliott and its GOP megadonor founder, Paul Singer. It was seen as a win-win deal. [...]
“What does Trump gain if he keeps the [Citgo] protection in place? He gets a bargaining chip that is very powerful, that says, ‘Don’t deviate from this path or you’ll pay for it,’” said José Enrique Arrioja, managing editor of the Americas Quarterly journal. “It gives you big leverage in negotiating with that partner...”
