HOUSTON, July 19 (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday renewed a license that protects Venezuela-owned refiner Citgo Petroleum from creditors seeking to seize the company’s assets to recoup claims against the country’s state oil firm.

The renewal would allow the supervisory board that oversees Citgo to continue efforts to reach settlements with nearly a dozen firms seeking an auction of shares in the parent of the seventh-largest U.S. oil refiner.

A negotiating team representing the South American country has held settlement talks with some of those creditors and holders of defaulted PDVSA bonds.

The U.S. has shielded Houston-based Citgo from creditors since the company in 2019 severed ties with its ultimate parent, Venezuela’s state oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela, which is controlled by President Nicolas Maduro.

Wednesday’s Treasury license bars transactions in PDVSA debt through Oct. 19.