(Reuters) -A court officer overseeing the auction for PDV Holdings, the parent of Venezuela-owned U.S. refiner Citgo Petroleum, has recommended Gold Reserve's subsidiary Dalinar Energy's $7.38 billion bid, Gold Reserve said in a statement on Thursday.

A group led by commodities trading house Vitol had submitted a bid exceeding $10 billion for Citgo's parent during the final hours of the U.S. court-organized auction, two sources with knowledge of the offer told Reuters on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)