Aug 15 (Reuters) -

A defaulted Venezuelan bond hit a three month high of 94

cents on the dollar on Friday as bidders in a court-organized

auction of shares in the parent of refiner Citgo Petroleum

rushed to tie up a payment agreement with bondholders that can

grant them a winning offer.

This is the only one of Venezuela's bonds that trades near

par, after the South American country defaulted on its debt in

2017.

(Reporting by Marianna Parraga in Houston and Rodrigo Campos in

New York)