HOUSTON, July 2 (Reuters) -

A group led by commodities trading house Vitol submitted a

bid exceeding $10 billion in the final hours of a

court-organized auction of shares in the parent of

Venezuela-owned refiner Citgo Petroleum, two sources with

knowledge of the offer told Reuters on Wednesday.

A Delaware court officer overseeing the auction is expected

to recommend a winner on Wednesday unless he requests more time

to evaluate bids submitted in the last minute.

Proceeds from the auction of PDV Holding, parent of the

seventh largest U.S. refiner, are meant to compensate at least a

handful of the 15 creditors fighting since 2017 to recover

nearly $19 billion in U.S. courts after Venezuela expropriated

assets and defaulted on debt.

The Vitol-led group's offer includes about $5 billion in

cash and the remaining amount in credit bids covering up to 14

claims, and it also includes a provision to pay holders of a

defaulted Venezuelan bond, one of the sources said.

Vitol did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Vitol participated in a first bidding round for PDV Holding

last year and in a competition earlier this year to select a

starting bid, which was won by Red Tree Investments with a $3.7

billion offer. But new

bidders

have emerged in the last mile of the auction, following

court decisions in parallel legal cases that have encouraged new

and improved offers.

An

offer

approaching the same amount by a consortium led by

Chicago-based Black Lion Capital Advisors was also submitted in

recent days, while a consortium led by a subsidiary on miner

Gold Reserve ( GDRZF ) said it submitted two revised offers.

(Reporting by Marianna Parraga; Editing by Julia Symmes-Cobb and

Chizu Nomiyama )