HOUSTON, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Lawyers representing

Venezuela, refiner Citgo Petroleum, its parent companies and

miner Gold Reserve ( GDRZF ) on Monday appealed against an order

last week from a Delaware judge that approved the sale of PDV

Holding's shares.

Delaware Judge Leonard Stark last week authorized the sale

of Citgo parent PDV Holding to an affiliate of hedge fund

Elliott Investment Management, following the confirmation of the

company's $5.9 billion bid in a court-organized auction.

The transaction is pending approval from the U.S. Treasury

Department, but Elliott's affiliate Amber Energy has said it

expects it to close next year.

"The forced sale process has been marked by deficiencies and

irregularities, including a conflict of interest involving

advisers to the court," the Venezuelan parties said in a release

last week. Amber and a court officer overseeing the auction have

denied any wrongdoing.

Gold Reserve's ( GDRZF ) appeal, filed before the U.S. Court of

Appeals for the Third Circuit, challenges the sale order and all

prior orders and decisions supporting it, including Judge

Stark's opinion on the best bid submitted.

Venezuela and rival bidder Gold Reserve ( GDRZF ) had previously filed

objections to Amber's bid and motions to disqualify the judge

and advisors the court selected to evaluate the offers, which

were denied by Judge Stark.

The sale process aims to compensate up to 15 creditors for

debt defaults and asset expropriations in Venezuela. If the

transaction is completed, companies including miners Crystallex

and Rusoro and oil producer ConocoPhillips ( COP ) are

set to recover billions from auction proceeds.