By Marianna Parraga
HOUSTON (Reuters) -The U.S. federal court officer overseeing an auction of shares in oil refiner Citgo Petroleum's parent to pay Venezuela-linked creditors said on Monday he will not seek a "stalking horse bid" to set a minimum price for the shares.
U.S. District Court Judge Leonard Stark on Monday kicked off what could become the largest court auction ever held, tentatively setting a final sale hearing date for next July 15. No stalking horse bid would be sought to set a reserve price in the auction, according to a court filing.
Potential bidders will be approached by the court, or they may also seek to be included in the sales process, Special Master Robert Pincus, who is overseeing the auction process, wrote in the filing. The auction will have two rounds of bidding, with the first for submitting non-binding bids set for Jan. 22.
Creditors have flocked to U.S. courts to press some $23 billion in claims, almost double the estimated value of Citgo Petroleum, which operates an 807,000-barrel-per-day oil refining network in the United States.
Investment bank Evercore Group was hired to carry out a marketing process that has received pre-clearance from the U.S. Treasury Department. Treasury has protected Citgo, Venezuela's foreign crown jewel, for four years from being seized by creditors owed billions of dollars in claims against Venezuela.
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has criticized the auction and said the refining company has been "kidnapped" by the United States.
A license protecting the refiner last week was extended by the Treasury until January as a way to encourage payment negotiation between boards supervising Citgo and some creditors, which could limit the auction's scope.