CITGO, the US-based subsidiary of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, is worth an estimated US $8 billion. The PDVSA 2020 bond is tied to CITGO as 50.1 percent of the company’s shares were pledged as collateral. The US government stepped in in late 2019 to block holders of the defaulted bond from seizing CITGO shares. Prior to the blockade, CITGO contributed over $1 billion a year in dividends to the nation’s coffers. The Houston-based firm has a license to discuss debt settlement with the Venezuelan state oil firm.