An affiliate of hedge fund Elliott Investment Management has increased its bid for PDV Holding, the US parent of Venezuela-owned refiner Citgo Petroleum, to $8.82bn amid a heated court-supervised auction in Delaware, according to a report by Reuters.

The process, designed to repay creditors following Venezuela and PDVSA’s defaults and expropriations, has drawn competing offers from hedge funds and commodities players.

Amber Energy’s revised offer includes provisions to pay holders of PDVSA 2020 bonds, a key sticking point that rival bids have struggled to address. The court-appointed officer had previously recommended a $7.4bn offer from a group led by miner Gold Reserve as the winning bid, but ongoing “unsolicited offers” from Amber and Vitol have kept the race alive.

Creditor Red Tree Investments has thrown its support behind Amber, calling it “the highest bidder” under Delaware law. Gold Reserve has objected, arguing Amber’s valuation inflates the true purchase price. Vitol’s $8.45bn bid remains in contention, but court filings show missing agreements on bondholder payments.

A final sale decision is pending, with the outcome likely to hinge on creditor alignment and court approval.