*

Crude utilization falls to 95% in Q1 from 98% in Q4

*

Liquidity down to $2.1 bln from $3.8 bln in previous

quarter

*

First quarter was second period of consecutive loss

(Adds details, context from paragraph 2)

By Marianna Parraga

HOUSTON, May 8 (Reuters) - Venezuela-owned refiner Citgo

Petroleum registered an $82 million net loss in the first

quarter, compared with a net income of $410 million in the same

period last year, amid weak refining margins, the Houston-based

company said on Thursday.

Citgo, whose assets are being pursued by expropriated

companies and bondholders defaulted by Venezuela through a U.S.

court-organized auction, registered red numbers again in its

latest period, following a $146 million loss in the fourth

quarter.

"Despite the unfavorable pricing environment, we

continued to focus on operational excellence and set a historic

quarterly crude processing rate at the Lake Charles refinery,"

said CEO Carlos Jorda in a release.

Average throughput of the seventh largest U.S. oil

refiner in the first quarter was 833,000 barrels per day (bpd),

of which crude runs were 768,000 bpd for an overall crude

utilization of 95%, below the 98% registered in the previous

quarter.

Utilization at the Lake Charles, Louisiana, refinery

rose to 99%, but fell at the Corpus Christi, Texas, refinery to

83% from 96% in the previous quarter as the facility underwent

planned maintenance work.

The company's profit plummeted to

$305 million last year

, below the $2 billion profit of 2023, which has changed

expectations from some creditors and investors about how much

can be recovered from the auction in Delaware.

Following a failed bidding round last year, the court

launched a new bidding round by choosing a $3.7 billion

starting bid

last month. A final sale hearing is scheduled for July

after rival bids are received and a winner selected in coming

months.

In the first quarter, Citgo's volume of marketing sales

declined slightly to 423,000 bpd, the company said.

Citgo reported equipment and turnaround expenditures of

$35 million between January and March. Its quarter-end liquidity

- an important metric for the auction - declined to $2.1 billion

from $3.8 billion at the end of the fourth quarter.