US court accepts $20.8 billion in claims against Venezuela in Citgo auction

A U.S. court on Friday approved claims by 14 Venezuela creditors, including ConocoPhillips, Rusoro Mining and Koch Industries, to get proceeds from an auction of shares in the parent of Venezuela-owned oil refiner Citgo Petroleum, to satisfy claims for expropriations and debt defaults.

The list, which reduced the scope of the claims to $20.8 billion from the $24 billion sought by creditors, comes after a court officer excluded arbitration awards and court rulings that had failed to satisfy the court's requirements.