Canadian miner Gold Reserve Inc. said it submitted a credit bid for the shares of PDV Holdings Inc., the parent company of Citgo Petroleum Corp., according to a statement distributed by Business Wire.

Final bids were due on Tuesday as part of a process to sell PDV Holding, which controls Citgo, Venezuela’s most important foreign asset, in an auction to pay off creditors. The sale hearing is scheduled for July 15.

PDV is itself a subsidiary of state-controlled oil giant Petróleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA.

Gold Reserve is said to be among a group seeking funding from JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a US$7 billion bid. Gold Reserve’s statement did not disclose the bid’s amount.

Between them, the group is said to have more than $20 billion in judgments against Venezuela for arbitration awards, unpaid debts and defaulted bonds.

As part of the bid, Gold Reserve entered into an indication of interest with FJ Management Inc., which would participate in ownership, collaboration and operational oversight if the bid is successful, according to the statement.