Citgo
Encyclopedia
CITGO Petroleum Corporation (or CITGO) is a United States
-incorporated, Venezuela
-owned refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products. The company is owned by PDV America, Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., the national oil company of Venezuela. The company has its headquarters in the Energy Corridor area of Houston, Texas
.
. After quickly climbing the ladder of success in the manufactured gas and electric
utility
world, Doherty in 1910 created his own organization, Cities Service Company, to supply gas and electricity to small public utilities. He began by acquiring gas producing properties in the mid-continent and southwest.
The company then developed a pipeline
system, tapping dozens of gas pools
. To make this gas available to consumers, Doherty moved to acquire distributing companies and tied them into a common source of supply. Cities Service became the first company in the mid-continent to use the slack demand period of summer to refill depleted fields near its market areas. In this way, gas could be conveniently and inexpensively withdrawn during peak demand times. In 1931, Cities Service completed the nation's first long-distance high pressure natural gas transportation system, a 24-inch pipeline stretching some 1,000 miles from Amarillo, Texas
, to Chicago, Illinois.
A logical step in the company's program for finding and developing supplies of natural gas was its entry into the oil business. This move was marked by major discoveries at Augusta, Kansas
, in 1914, and in El Dorado a year later. In 1928, a Cities Service subsidiary, Empire Oil & Refining, discovered the Oklahoma City
field, one of the world's largest. Another participated in the discovery of the East Texas field, which, in its time, was the most sensational on the globe.
Over three decades, the company sponsored the Cities Service Concerts
on NBC
radio. The long run of these musical broadcasts was heard on NBC from 1925 to 1956, encompassing a variety of vocalists and musicians. In 1944, it was retitled Highways in Melody, and later the series was known as The Cities Service Band of America. In 1964, the company moved its headquarters from Bartlesville
, Oklahoma
, to Tulsa.
At the height of Cities Service's growth, Congress passed the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935
, which forced the company to divest itself of either its utility operations or its oil and gas holdings. In a difficult decision, Cities Service elected to remain in the petroleum business. The first steps to liquidate investments in its public utilities were taken in 1943 and affected over 250 different utility corporations.
At the same time, the government was nearing completion of a major refinery at Rose Bluff just outside of Lake Charles, Louisiana
, that would eventually become the foundation of the company's manufacturing operation. Using designs developed by Cities Service and the Kellogg Co., the plant was dedicated only 18 months after the first concrete was poured. A month before Allied troops landed in France, it was turning out enough critically needed 100-octane
aviation gasoline
to fuel 1,000 daily bomber
sorties from England
to Germany
. Government funding through the Defense Plant Corporation (DPC) also prompted Cities Service to build plants to manufacture butadiene, used to make synthetic rubber
, and toluene
, a fuel octane booster and solvent.
The years that followed saw Cities Service grow into a fully diversified oil and gas company with operations around the world. Its green, expanding circle marketing logo became a familiar sight across much of the nation. During this time CEOs such as W. Alton Jones
and Burl S. Watson
ran the company and commanded nationwide attention among journalists, wherever they traveled or whenever they spoke on matters pertaining to the petroleum industry.
Cities Service Company first inaugurated use of the Citgo brand in 1965 (officially styled "CITGO") for its refining, marketing and retail petroleum businesses (which became known internally as the RMT Division, for Refining, Marketing and Transportation). CITGO continued to be only a trademark, and not a company name, until the 1983 sale of what had been the RMT Division of Cities Service to Southland Corporation. (See following discussion of 1982–83 history.)
" take-over defense; i.e., a counter-tender offer initiated by a takeover target. Cities Service also threatened to dissolve itself by incremental sales rather than being taken over by Mesa, stating that it believed that the pieces would sell for more than Pickens was offering for the whole. Cities Service Company located what they thought would be a "white knight" to give them a better deal and entered into a merger agreement with Gulf Oil
Corporation. Late in the summer of 1982, Gulf Oil terminated the merger agreement claiming that Cities Service's reserve estimates were over-stated. Over fifteen years of litigation resulted. (For a more detailed discussion of the Cities Service vs. Gulf Oil litigation, see Gulf Oil#Demise.) Ironically, two years later, Gulf Oil itself would collapse as a result of a Pickens-initiated takeover attempt; something that might not have happened if Gulf Oil had incurred the debt necessary to conclude the Cities Service deal.
In the chaos that ensued after Gulf Oil's termination of its deal, Cities Service eventually entered into a merger agreement with, and was acquired by, Occidental Petroleum Corporation—a deal that was closed in the fall of 1982. That same year, Cities Service Company transferred all of the assets of its Refining, Marketing and Transportation division (which comprised its refining and retail petroleum business) into the newly formed Citgo Petroleum Corporation subsidiary, to ease the divestiture of the division, which Occidental had no interest in retaining. Pursuant to an agreement entered into in 1982, Citgo and the Citgo and Cities Service brands were sold by Occidental in 1983 to Southland Corporation, original owners of the 7-Eleven
chain of convenience store
s.
During the 2000s, Citgo faced several legal actions over the operation of its Corpus Christi, Texas
oil refinery
. In 2007, it was convicted of a violation of the Clean Air Act
for operating an oil-water separator without proper pollution
-control equipment. It was found not guilty of a charge of emitting illegal levels of benzene
into the environment. In 2009, a fire at the alkylation
unit of the same plant resulted in the release of toxic hydrofluoric acid
and the injury of two workers, one with severe burns. In February 2011, the company was fined over 300 thousand dollars for the incident.
In October 2010, Hugo Chavez
announced the intention to have Petróleos de Venezuela sell its Citgo subsidiary calling it a "bad business" and citing low profits since 2006. The minimum sale price was set at 10 billion US dollars; however, Petróleos de Venezuela has been unable to find a buyer at that price.
Texaco
sold some Citgo gas stations in the southeast when Chevron
gained exclusive rights to the Texaco
brand name in the U.S.on June, 2006. On September 27, 2006 the 7-Eleven
chain of convenience stores announced its 20-year contract with Citgo was coming to an end and would not be renewed. 7-Eleven Spokeswoman Margaret Chabris said "Regardless of politics, we sympathize with many Americans' concern over derogatory comments about our country and its leadership recently made by Venezuela's president. Certainly Chavez
' position and statements over the past year or so didn't tempt us to stay with Citgo."
Citgo launched a national ad campaign in the fall of 2006 emphasizing the company's corporate social responsibility
. National television ads featuring Joe Kennedy
also aired through February 2007 featuring ordinary Americans thanking Citgo and Venezuela for providing discounted heating oil
to low-income people.
for many years, with drivers such as Elliott Sadler
, Kyle Petty
, Neil Bonnett
, Morgan Shepherd
and Dale Jarrett
. They also sponsored the #99 Roush Racing
team of Jeff Burton
from late 2000 until pulling out of the sport in 2003.
The company sponsored the Citgo Pontiac
-Riley
of Venezuelan Milka Duno
in the Rolex Sports Car Series
. Duno has three overall wins in the Rolex Series and finished second at the 2007 24 Hours of Daytona
, becoming the highest-finishing female in the history of the famous race. Midway through the 2007 season, Citgo sponsored the #23 SAMAX Motorsport
entry in the IndyCar Series
for Duno. In 2008 and 2009 this sponsorship went with Duno to the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
#23 entry. She took the sponsorship to Dale Coyne Racing
in 2010.
Citgo is now a major sponsor of the Bassmaster Fishing Tour, and is also the sponsor of a charity golf
tournament benefiting the Muscular Dystrophy Association
(MDA). The company's relationship with the MDA goes back to its 1983 purchase by Southland, an existing MDA sponsor. Citgo is currently MDA's biggest corporate sponsor, and its executives have appeared on the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon
.
Consistent with its former sponsorship of the Boston Marathon, CITGO has for the past few years sponsored an elite level multisport team that competes in both adventure racing and triathlon events throughout the United States.
Citgo refers to its logo as the "trimark". A large, double-faced sign featuring this logo overlooks Fenway Park
in Boston, Massachusetts and has become a landmark, partly because of its uncanny resemblance to the Eye of Providence
and its appearance in the background in televised baseball
games. The current sixty-foot-square sign, unveiled in March 2005 after a six-month restoration project, is illuminated by thousands of light-emitting diodes (LEDs); this means of illumination was chosen for its durability, energy efficiency, intensity, and ease of maintenance. (Earlier versions of the sign were illuminated by neon lighting
; the previous sign contained some 5,878 glass tubes with a total length of over five miles.) The sign sits atop the campus bookstore of Boston University
.
The first sign featuring the Cities Service green-and-white trefoil
logo was built in 1940, and was replaced with the trimark in 1965. In 1979 Governor Edward J. King
ordered the sign turned off as an example of energy conservation
. Four years later, Citgo attempted to disassemble the weatherbeaten sign, and was surprised to be met with widespread public affection for the sign and protest at its threatened removal. The Boston Landmarks Commission ordered its disassembly postponed while the issue was debated. While never formally declared a landmark, it was refurbished and relit by Citgo in 1983 and has remained in operation ever since. Rising next to Boston's Fenway Park, the sign has been nicknamed "See It Go"—especially when a home run is hit during a Red Sox game.
The shutoff and refurbishing was marked by a loss of functionality. The earlier sign had a seemingly endless set of variations in appearance, while the current one runs through a much shorter routine.
The sign was highlighted in the short film Go, Go Citgo and the movie Field of Dreams
. It was also featured in a 1983 Life
magazine photograph
feature, as well as a 1987 animated film as Kenmore Square
's "neon god". The association with Fenway and the Red Sox
is so strong that some local Little League fields often are decorated with replicas of the Citgo sign, as is Hadlock Field
in Portland, Maine
, home of the Boston Red Sox
' AA affiliate Portland Sea Dogs
. Citgo installed a similar (albeit smaller) sign high on the glass wall above left field in Minute Maid Park
, the home of the Houston Astros
. In 2007, the Astros'
AA affiliate, the Corpus Christi Hooks
, installed a 50-foot replica of the Boston sign in their ballpark, Whataburger Field
.
A large number of individuals in the United States have become uncomfortable with the prominence of this symbol given that the company is closely associated with Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez
.
On October 15, 2008 the Citgo Sign caught fire, causing about $5,000 in damage.
On July 22, 2010, it was announced that the sign was to be turned off the next day to allow for repairs and replacement of its LED lights as the style of bulb used on the sign since 2005 is no longer made. The sign was shut off until September 17, 2010, when it was turned on during the seventh inning stretch of the Boston Red Sox game against the Toronto Blue Jays
. The refurbishment was timed to celebrate Citgo's 100-year anniversary.
, United States
.
Before it was headquartered in Houston, Citgo had its headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma
. In 2003 Governor of Oklahoma
Brad Henry
met an executive of Citgo to discuss possible incentives that would keep the Citgo headquarters in Oklahoma. For eight months the company debated whether to move its headquarters or to keep its headquarters in Oklahoma. In 2004 the company announced that its headquarters were moving to Houston.
At that point the company had not decided which location in Houston would have the headquarters. The company wanted 300000 square foot of office space to house 700 employees. Citgo considered the 1500 Louisiana building in Downtown Houston
, the Williams Tower
in Uptown Houston
, the BMC Software
headquarters complex in Westchase, and the Aspentech Building in the Energy Corridor. In June of that year the company signed a lease in the five story Aspentech building so it could serve as a headquarters. In September 2004 the company began moving its headquarters; on September 24 of that month 150 employees were in the Energy Corridor offices.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
-incorporated, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
-owned refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products. The company is owned by PDV America, Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., the national oil company of Venezuela. The company has its headquarters in the Energy Corridor area of Houston, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
.
Cities Service Period
The company traces its heritage back to the early 1900s and an oil entrepreneur named Henry Latham DohertyHenry Latham Doherty
Henry Latham Doherty was an American financier and oilman. He was awarded the Franklin Institute's Walton Clark Medal in 1931.-Source:* -External links:*...
. After quickly climbing the ladder of success in the manufactured gas and electric
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
utility
Utility
In economics, utility is a measure of customer satisfaction, referring to the total satisfaction received by a consumer from consuming a good or service....
world, Doherty in 1910 created his own organization, Cities Service Company, to supply gas and electricity to small public utilities. He began by acquiring gas producing properties in the mid-continent and southwest.
The company then developed a pipeline
Pipeline transport
Pipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a pipe. Most commonly, liquids and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes that transport solid capsules using compressed air are also used....
system, tapping dozens of gas pools
Natural gas field
Oil and natural gas are produced by the same geological process according fossil fuel suggestion: anaerobic decay of organic matter deep under the Earth's surface. As a consequence, oil and natural gas are often found together...
. To make this gas available to consumers, Doherty moved to acquire distributing companies and tied them into a common source of supply. Cities Service became the first company in the mid-continent to use the slack demand period of summer to refill depleted fields near its market areas. In this way, gas could be conveniently and inexpensively withdrawn during peak demand times. In 1931, Cities Service completed the nation's first long-distance high pressure natural gas transportation system, a 24-inch pipeline stretching some 1,000 miles from Amarillo, Texas
Amarillo, Texas
Amarillo is the 14th-largest city, by population, in the state of Texas, the largest in the Texas Panhandle, and the seat of Potter County. A portion of the city extends into Randall County. The population was 190,695 at the 2010 census...
, to Chicago, Illinois.
A logical step in the company's program for finding and developing supplies of natural gas was its entry into the oil business. This move was marked by major discoveries at Augusta, Kansas
Augusta, Kansas
Augusta is a city in Butler County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 9,274.-19th century:The confluence of the Whitewater River and the Walnut River was originally inhabited by Native Americans , who found the land ideal for hunting and fishing. In 1868 C. N...
, in 1914, and in El Dorado a year later. In 1928, a Cities Service subsidiary, Empire Oil & Refining, discovered the Oklahoma City
Oklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
field, one of the world's largest. Another participated in the discovery of the East Texas field, which, in its time, was the most sensational on the globe.
Over three decades, the company sponsored the Cities Service Concerts
Cities Service Concerts
The Cities Service Concerts were musical broadcasts which had a long three-decade run on radio from 1925 to 1956, encompassing a variety of vocalists and musicians.The concerts began with trial broadcasts in the New York area during 1925 and 1926...
on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
radio. The long run of these musical broadcasts was heard on NBC from 1925 to 1956, encompassing a variety of vocalists and musicians. In 1944, it was retitled Highways in Melody, and later the series was known as The Cities Service Band of America. In 1964, the company moved its headquarters from Bartlesville
Bartlesville, Oklahoma
Bartlesville is a city in Osage and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 43,070 at the 2010 census. Bartlesville is located forty-seven miles north of Tulsa and very close to Oklahoma's northern border with Kansas. It is the county seat of Washington County, in...
, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, to Tulsa.
At the height of Cities Service's growth, Congress passed the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935
Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935
The Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 , , also known as the Wheeler-Rayburn Act, was a law that was passed by the United States Congress to facilitate regulation of electric utilities, by either limiting their operations to a single state, and thus subjecting them to effective state...
, which forced the company to divest itself of either its utility operations or its oil and gas holdings. In a difficult decision, Cities Service elected to remain in the petroleum business. The first steps to liquidate investments in its public utilities were taken in 1943 and affected over 250 different utility corporations.
At the same time, the government was nearing completion of a major refinery at Rose Bluff just outside of Lake Charles, Louisiana
Lake Charles, Louisiana
Lake Charles is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Located in Calcasieu Parish, a major cultural, industrial, and educational center in the southwest region of the state, and one of the most important in...
, that would eventually become the foundation of the company's manufacturing operation. Using designs developed by Cities Service and the Kellogg Co., the plant was dedicated only 18 months after the first concrete was poured. A month before Allied troops landed in France, it was turning out enough critically needed 100-octane
Octane
Octane is a hydrocarbon and an alkane with the chemical formula C8H18, and the condensed structural formula CH36CH3. Octane has many structural isomers that differ by the amount and location of branching in the carbon chain...
aviation gasoline
Aviation fuel
Aviation fuel is a specialized type of petroleum-based fuel used to power aircraft. It is generally of a higher quality than fuels used in less critical applications, such as heating or road transport, and often contains additives to reduce the risk of icing or explosion due to high temperatures,...
to fuel 1,000 daily bomber
Strategic bombing during World War II
Strategic bombing during World War II is a term which refers to all aerial bombardment of a strategic nature between 1939 and 1945 involving any nations engaged in World War II...
sorties from England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Government funding through the Defense Plant Corporation (DPC) also prompted Cities Service to build plants to manufacture butadiene, used to make synthetic rubber
Synthetic rubber
Synthetic rubber is is any type of artificial elastomer, invariably a polymer. An elastomer is a material with the mechanical property that it can undergo much more elastic deformation under stress than most materials and still return to its previous size without permanent deformation...
, and toluene
Toluene
Toluene, formerly known as toluol, is a clear, water-insoluble liquid with the typical smell of paint thinners. It is a mono-substituted benzene derivative, i.e., one in which a single hydrogen atom from the benzene molecule has been replaced by a univalent group, in this case CH3.It is an aromatic...
, a fuel octane booster and solvent.
The years that followed saw Cities Service grow into a fully diversified oil and gas company with operations around the world. Its green, expanding circle marketing logo became a familiar sight across much of the nation. During this time CEOs such as W. Alton Jones
W. Alton Jones
W. Alton Jones , who served as president of the oil and gas conglomerate Cities Service Company , was an influential industrialist, philanthropist, and close personal friend of United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower....
and Burl S. Watson
Burl S. Watson
Burl Stevens Watson, Sr. was the President and CEO of Cities Service Company during parts of the 1950s and 1960s. He became President in 1954 and was Chairman of the Board and CEO beginning in 1962, taking the place of W. Alton Jones, who died in the famous plane crash American Airlines Flight 1...
ran the company and commanded nationwide attention among journalists, wherever they traveled or whenever they spoke on matters pertaining to the petroleum industry.
Cities Service Company first inaugurated use of the Citgo brand in 1965 (officially styled "CITGO") for its refining, marketing and retail petroleum businesses (which became known internally as the RMT Division, for Refining, Marketing and Transportation). CITGO continued to be only a trademark, and not a company name, until the 1983 sale of what had been the RMT Division of Cities Service to Southland Corporation. (See following discussion of 1982–83 history.)
1982-1983: Demise of Cities Service and Birth of Citgo Petroleum Corporation
In 1982, T. Boone Pickens, founder of Mesa Petroleum, offered to buy Cities Service Company. Citgo responded by offering to buy Mesa, which was the first use of what became known as the "Pac-Man defensePac-Man defense
The Pac-Man defense is a defensive option to stave off a hostile takeover in which a company that is threatened with a hostile takeover "turns the tables" by attempting to acquire its would-be buyer....
" take-over defense; i.e., a counter-tender offer initiated by a takeover target. Cities Service also threatened to dissolve itself by incremental sales rather than being taken over by Mesa, stating that it believed that the pieces would sell for more than Pickens was offering for the whole. Cities Service Company located what they thought would be a "white knight" to give them a better deal and entered into a merger agreement with Gulf Oil
Gulf Oil
Gulf Oil was a major global oil company from the 1900s to the 1980s. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies...
Corporation. Late in the summer of 1982, Gulf Oil terminated the merger agreement claiming that Cities Service's reserve estimates were over-stated. Over fifteen years of litigation resulted. (For a more detailed discussion of the Cities Service vs. Gulf Oil litigation, see Gulf Oil#Demise.) Ironically, two years later, Gulf Oil itself would collapse as a result of a Pickens-initiated takeover attempt; something that might not have happened if Gulf Oil had incurred the debt necessary to conclude the Cities Service deal.
In the chaos that ensued after Gulf Oil's termination of its deal, Cities Service eventually entered into a merger agreement with, and was acquired by, Occidental Petroleum Corporation—a deal that was closed in the fall of 1982. That same year, Cities Service Company transferred all of the assets of its Refining, Marketing and Transportation division (which comprised its refining and retail petroleum business) into the newly formed Citgo Petroleum Corporation subsidiary, to ease the divestiture of the division, which Occidental had no interest in retaining. Pursuant to an agreement entered into in 1982, Citgo and the Citgo and Cities Service brands were sold by Occidental in 1983 to Southland Corporation, original owners of the 7-Eleven
7-Eleven
7-Eleven is part of an international chain of convenience stores, operating under Seven-Eleven Japan Co. Ltd, which in turn is owned by Seven & I Holdings Co...
chain of convenience store
Convenience store
A convenience store, corner store, corner shop, commonly called a bodega in Spanish-speaking areas of the United States, is a small store or shop in a built up area that stocks a range of everyday items such as groceries, toiletries, alcoholic and soft drinks, and may also offer money order and...
s.
Sale to Petróleos de Venezuela and later history
Fifty percent of Citgo was sold to Petróleos de Venezuela in 1986, which acquired the remainder in 1990, resulting in the current ownership structure.During the 2000s, Citgo faced several legal actions over the operation of its Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...
oil refinery
Oil refinery
An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas...
. In 2007, it was convicted of a violation of the Clean Air Act
Clean Air Act
A Clean Air Act is one of a number of pieces of legislation relating to the reduction of airborne contaminants, smog and air pollution in general. The use by governments to enforce clean air standards has contributed to an improvement in human health and longer life spans...
for operating an oil-water separator without proper pollution
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...
-control equipment. It was found not guilty of a charge of emitting illegal levels of benzene
Benzene
Benzene is an organic chemical compound. It is composed of 6 carbon atoms in a ring, with 1 hydrogen atom attached to each carbon atom, with the molecular formula C6H6....
into the environment. In 2009, a fire at the alkylation
Alkylation
Alkylation is the transfer of an alkyl group from one molecule to another. The alkyl group may be transferred as an alkyl carbocation, a free radical, a carbanion or a carbene . Alkylating agents are widely used in chemistry because the alkyl group is probably the most common group encountered in...
unit of the same plant resulted in the release of toxic hydrofluoric acid
Hydrofluoric acid
Hydrofluoric acid is a solution of hydrogen fluoride in water. It is a valued source of fluorine and is the precursor to numerous pharmaceuticals such as fluoxetine and diverse materials such as PTFE ....
and the injury of two workers, one with severe burns. In February 2011, the company was fined over 300 thousand dollars for the incident.
In October 2010, Hugo Chavez
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
announced the intention to have Petróleos de Venezuela sell its Citgo subsidiary calling it a "bad business" and citing low profits since 2006. The minimum sale price was set at 10 billion US dollars; however, Petróleos de Venezuela has been unable to find a buyer at that price.
Venezuelan controversy
Texaco
Texaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand....
sold some Citgo gas stations in the southeast when Chevron
Chevron Corporation
Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation headquartered in San Ramon, California, United States and active in more than 180 countries. It is engaged in every aspect of the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries, including exploration and production; refining,...
gained exclusive rights to the Texaco
Texaco
Texaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand....
brand name in the U.S.on June, 2006. On September 27, 2006 the 7-Eleven
7-Eleven
7-Eleven is part of an international chain of convenience stores, operating under Seven-Eleven Japan Co. Ltd, which in turn is owned by Seven & I Holdings Co...
chain of convenience stores announced its 20-year contract with Citgo was coming to an end and would not be renewed. 7-Eleven Spokeswoman Margaret Chabris said "Regardless of politics, we sympathize with many Americans' concern over derogatory comments about our country and its leadership recently made by Venezuela's president. Certainly Chavez
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
' position and statements over the past year or so didn't tempt us to stay with Citgo."
Citgo launched a national ad campaign in the fall of 2006 emphasizing the company's corporate social responsibility
Corporate social responsibility
Corporate social responsibility is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model...
. National television ads featuring Joe Kennedy
Joseph Patrick Kennedy II
Joseph Patrick Kennedy II is an American businessman and Democratic politician.He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the 8th congressional district of Massachusetts from 1987 to 1999. In 1979 he founded and led until election to the U.S...
also aired through February 2007 featuring ordinary Americans thanking Citgo and Venezuela for providing discounted heating oil
Heating oil
Heating oil, or oil heat, is a low viscosity, flammable liquid petroleum product used as a fuel for furnaces or boilers in buildings. Home heating oil is often abbreviated as HHO...
to low-income people.
Refinery locations
- Lake Charles, LouisianaLake Charles, LouisianaLake Charles is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Located in Calcasieu Parish, a major cultural, industrial, and educational center in the southwest region of the state, and one of the most important in...
- Corpus Christi, TexasCorpus Christi, TexasCorpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...
- Lemont, IllinoisLemont, IllinoisLemont is a village located in Cook, DuPage, and Will Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, and is roughly southwest of Chicago. The population was 16,625 at the 2007 Special Census.-History:...
(due to boundary shift no longer in Lemont)
Sponsorships
Citgo was a sponsor of the Wood Brothers racing team in NASCARNASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
for many years, with drivers such as Elliott Sadler
Elliott Sadler
Elliott William Barnes Sadler is a NASCAR driver. He currently drives the #2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet Impala for Kevin Harvick Inc. in the Nationwide Series. He is one of only 23 drivers to have won in each of NASCAR's top three series...
, Kyle Petty
Kyle Petty
Kyle Eugene Petty is a former American NASCAR driver and is currently a co-host for NASCAR RaceDay and panel member for NASCAR Smarts which are both on SPEED. He also commentates for TNT in the summer. He is the son of racer Richard Petty, grandson of racer Lee Petty, and father of the late Adam...
, Neil Bonnett
Neil Bonnett
Lawrence Neil Bonnett was a NASCAR driver who compiled 18 victories and 20 poles over his 18-year career. The Alabama native currently ranks 35th in all-time NASCAR Cup victories. He appeared in the 1983 film Stroker Ace and the 1990 film Days of Thunder...
, Morgan Shepherd
Morgan Shepherd
Clay Morgan Shepherd has been a NASCAR Sprint Cup driver since 1977. He has also raced in the Nationwide, and Camping World Truck Series. He is a born again Christian who serves as a lay minister to the racing community...
and Dale Jarrett
Dale Jarrett
Dale Arnold Jarrett is a former American race car driver and current sports commentator known for winning the 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship...
. They also sponsored the #99 Roush Racing
Roush Racing
Roush Fenway Racing is a racing team competing in NASCAR racing. As one of NASCAR's largest premier racing teams, Roush runs teams in the Sprint and Nationwide Series, and formerly in the Camping World Truck Series and ARCA RE/MAX Series.Roush first entered NASCAR competition in 1988, but had...
team of Jeff Burton
Jeff Burton
Jeffrey Brian "Jeff" Burton , also referred to as JB or The Mayor, is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver who drives the #31 Caterpillar Chevrolet Impala for Richard Childress Racing. Burton is the younger brother of Ward Burton, who is a former Sprint Cup driver...
from late 2000 until pulling out of the sport in 2003.
The company sponsored the Citgo Pontiac
Pontiac
Pontiac was an automobile brand that was established in 1926 as a companion make for General Motors' Oakland. Quickly overtaking its parent in popularity, it supplanted the Oakland brand entirely by 1933 and, for most of its life, became a companion make for Chevrolet. Pontiac was sold in the...
-Riley
Riley
- Animals :* Riley , an American Thoroughbred racehorse* Rileyasuchus, "Riley's crocodile," a genus of phytosaur from the Rhaetian of England- Canada :* Riley Park-Little Mountain, a neighborhood in Vancouver, British Columbia...
of Venezuelan Milka Duno
Milka Duno
Milka Duno is a Venezuelan race car driver who competed in the IndyCar Series, and competes in the ARCA Racing Series. She is best known for holding the record of highest finish for a female driver in the 24 Hours of Daytona....
in the Rolex Sports Car Series
Rolex Sports Car Series
The Rolex Sports Car Series is the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It is a North American-based sports car series that was founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed United States Road Racing Championship...
. Duno has three overall wins in the Rolex Series and finished second at the 2007 24 Hours of Daytona
24 Hours of Daytona
The 24 Hours of Daytona, currently known as the Rolex 24 Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on a combined road course, utilizing portions of the NASCAR tri-oval and an infield...
, becoming the highest-finishing female in the history of the famous race. Midway through the 2007 season, Citgo sponsored the #23 SAMAX Motorsport
SAMAX Motorsport
SAMAX Motorsport was a racing team owned by Peter Baron that competed primarily in the Rolex Sports Car Series but also spent one year in the IndyCar Series.The team was founded in 2005 by fielding a car for Mark Greenberg at the 6 Hours of Mont Tremblant...
entry in the IndyCar Series
IndyCar Series
The IZOD IndyCar Series is the premier level of American open wheel racing. The current championship, founded by Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George, began in 1996 as a competitor to CART known as the Indy Racing League . Citing CART's increasing reliance on expensive machinery and...
for Duno. In 2008 and 2009 this sponsorship went with Duno to the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing is an American motor racing team in the open wheel Indy Racing League IndyCar Series, with one series win by co-owner Robbie Buhl, who owns the team with Indianapolis BMW, Infiniti, Volkswagen and Maserati dealer Dennis Reinbold....
#23 entry. She took the sponsorship to Dale Coyne Racing
Dale Coyne Racing
Dale Coyne Racing is a motorsports team in the IndyCar Series owned by former driver Dale Coyne. It was founded in 1986 with Chicago Bears great Walter Payton as Payton/Coyne Racing. The team fields the No. 18 Acorn Stairlifts and No...
in 2010.
Citgo is now a major sponsor of the Bassmaster Fishing Tour, and is also the sponsor of a charity golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
tournament benefiting the Muscular Dystrophy Association
Muscular Dystrophy Association
The Muscular Dystrophy Association is an American organization which combats muscular dystrophy and diseases of the nervous system and muscular system in general by funding research, providing medical and community services, and educating health professionals and the general public...
(MDA). The company's relationship with the MDA goes back to its 1983 purchase by Southland, an existing MDA sponsor. Citgo is currently MDA's biggest corporate sponsor, and its executives have appeared on the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon
Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon
The MDA Labor Day Telethon is an annual telethon in the United States to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association . The first MDA telethon was during the Thanksgiving Day weekend of 1952 and titled Party for MDA. It has been held annually since 1966...
.
Consistent with its former sponsorship of the Boston Marathon, CITGO has for the past few years sponsored an elite level multisport team that competes in both adventure racing and triathlon events throughout the United States.
The Boston Citgo sign
Fenway Park
Fenway Park is a baseball park near Kenmore Square in Boston, Massachusetts. Located at 4 Yawkey Way, it has served as the home ballpark of the Boston Red Sox baseball club since it opened in 1912, and is the oldest Major League Baseball stadium currently in use. It is one of two "classic"...
in Boston, Massachusetts and has become a landmark, partly because of its uncanny resemblance to the Eye of Providence
Eye of Providence
The Eye of Providence is a symbol showing an eye often surrounded by rays of light or a glory and usually enclosed by a triangle...
and its appearance in the background in televised baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
games. The current sixty-foot-square sign, unveiled in March 2005 after a six-month restoration project, is illuminated by thousands of light-emitting diodes (LEDs); this means of illumination was chosen for its durability, energy efficiency, intensity, and ease of maintenance. (Earlier versions of the sign were illuminated by neon lighting
Neon lighting
Neon lighting is created by brightly glowing, electrified glass tubes or bulbs that contain rarefied neon or other gases. Georges Claude, a French engineer and inventor, presented neon tube lighting in essentially its modern form at the Paris Motor Show from December 3–18, 1910...
; the previous sign contained some 5,878 glass tubes with a total length of over five miles.) The sign sits atop the campus bookstore of Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
.
The first sign featuring the Cities Service green-and-white trefoil
Trefoil
Trefoil is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings used in architecture and Christian symbolism...
logo was built in 1940, and was replaced with the trimark in 1965. In 1979 Governor Edward J. King
Edward J. King
Edward Joseph "Ed" King was the 66th Governor of the U.S. state of Massachusetts from 1979 to 1983.Born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, and a graduate of Boston College and Bentley College, King played professional football as a guard with the All-America Football Conference Buffalo Bisons from 1948 to...
ordered the sign turned off as an example of energy conservation
Energy conservation
Energy conservation refers to efforts made to reduce energy consumption. Energy conservation can be achieved through increased efficient energy use, in conjunction with decreased energy consumption and/or reduced consumption from conventional energy sources...
. Four years later, Citgo attempted to disassemble the weatherbeaten sign, and was surprised to be met with widespread public affection for the sign and protest at its threatened removal. The Boston Landmarks Commission ordered its disassembly postponed while the issue was debated. While never formally declared a landmark, it was refurbished and relit by Citgo in 1983 and has remained in operation ever since. Rising next to Boston's Fenway Park, the sign has been nicknamed "See It Go"—especially when a home run is hit during a Red Sox game.
The shutoff and refurbishing was marked by a loss of functionality. The earlier sign had a seemingly endless set of variations in appearance, while the current one runs through a much shorter routine.
The sign was highlighted in the short film Go, Go Citgo and the movie Field of Dreams
Field of Dreams
Field of Dreams is a 1989 American fantasy-drama film directed by Phil Alden Robinson and is from the novel Shoeless Joe by W. P. Kinsella...
. It was also featured in a 1983 Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
magazine photograph
Photograph
A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...
feature, as well as a 1987 animated film as Kenmore Square
Kenmore Square
Kenmore Square is a square in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, consisting of the intersection of several main avenues as well as several other cross streets, and Kenmore Station, an MBTA subway stop. Kenmore Square is close to or abuts Boston University, Fenway Park, and Lansdowne Street, a...
's "neon god". The association with Fenway and the Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
is so strong that some local Little League fields often are decorated with replicas of the Citgo sign, as is Hadlock Field
Hadlock Field
Hadlock Field is a Minor League baseball stadium in Portland, Maine. It is primarily home to the Portland Sea Dogs of the Eastern League. It is also the home of the Portland Bulldogs and Deering Rams baseball teams. The stadium is named for Edson J...
in Portland, Maine
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
, home of the Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
' AA affiliate Portland Sea Dogs
Portland Sea Dogs
The Portland Sea Dogs are the Double-A minor league affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. Established in 1994 and based in Portland, Maine, the Sea Dogs play in the Northern Division of the Eastern League....
. Citgo installed a similar (albeit smaller) sign high on the glass wall above left field in Minute Maid Park
Minute Maid Park
Minute Maid Park is a ballpark in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States that opened in 2000 to house the Major League Baseball Houston Astros....
, the home of the Houston Astros
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field...
. In 2007, the Astros'
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field...
AA affiliate, the Corpus Christi Hooks
Corpus Christi Hooks
The Corpus Christi Hooks are a minor league baseball team of the Texas League, and are the Double-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Corpus Christi, Texas, and are named for the city's association with fishing. The team's ownership group is headed by Baseball Hall of Famer Nolan...
, installed a 50-foot replica of the Boston sign in their ballpark, Whataburger Field
Whataburger Field
Whataburger Field is the minor league baseball stadium located in Corpus Christi, Texas, USA. It is currently home to the Corpus Christi Hooks, the double-A affiliate of the Houston Astros...
.
A large number of individuals in the United States have become uncomfortable with the prominence of this symbol given that the company is closely associated with Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
.
On October 15, 2008 the Citgo Sign caught fire, causing about $5,000 in damage.
On July 22, 2010, it was announced that the sign was to be turned off the next day to allow for repairs and replacement of its LED lights as the style of bulb used on the sign since 2005 is no longer made. The sign was shut off until September 17, 2010, when it was turned on during the seventh inning stretch of the Boston Red Sox game against the Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a professional baseball team located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Jays are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball 's American League ....
. The refurbishment was timed to celebrate Citgo's 100-year anniversary.
Headquarters
Citgo has its headquarters in the Energy Corridor area of Houston, TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Before it was headquartered in Houston, Citgo had its headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
. In 2003 Governor of Oklahoma
Governor of Oklahoma
The governor of the state of Oklahoma is the head of state for the state of Oklahoma, United States. Under the Oklahoma Constitution, the governor is also the head of government, serving as the chief executive of the Oklahoma executive branch, of the government of Oklahoma...
Brad Henry
Brad Henry
Charles Bradford "Brad" Henry was the 26th Governor of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected governor in 2002...
met an executive of Citgo to discuss possible incentives that would keep the Citgo headquarters in Oklahoma. For eight months the company debated whether to move its headquarters or to keep its headquarters in Oklahoma. In 2004 the company announced that its headquarters were moving to Houston.
At that point the company had not decided which location in Houston would have the headquarters. The company wanted 300000 square foot of office space to house 700 employees. Citgo considered the 1500 Louisiana building in Downtown Houston
Downtown Houston
Downtown Houston is the largest business district of Houston, Texas, United States. Downtown Houston, the city's central business district, contains the headquarters of many prominent companies. There is an extensive network of pedestrian tunnels and skywalks connecting the buildings of the district...
, the Williams Tower
Williams Tower
The Williams Tower is a skyscraper located in the Uptown District of Houston, Texas. It was designed by architects Philip Johnson and John Burgee, in association with Houston-based Morris Architects , and erected in 1983. The tower is among Houston's most visible buildings...
in Uptown Houston
Uptown Houston
The Uptown District of Houston is located 6.2 miles west of downtown and is centered along Post Oak Boulevard, Westheimer Road , and the Galleria...
, the BMC Software
BMC Software
BMC Software, Inc. is a multinational corporation specializing in Business Service Management software, with record annual revenue in fiscal 2009 of $1.87 billion...
headquarters complex in Westchase, and the Aspentech Building in the Energy Corridor. In June of that year the company signed a lease in the five story Aspentech building so it could serve as a headquarters. In September 2004 the company began moving its headquarters; on September 24 of that month 150 employees were in the Energy Corridor offices.
See also
- Brands of gasoline
- PDVSA
- On the Oil Lands With Cities Service ([Tulsa, Okla.]: Cities Service Oil and Gas Corporation, 1983) (Company History Publication)
External links
- Citgo
- Petróleos de Venezuela (Spanish)
- Citgo Logos
- Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Cities Service Company
- Articles from CEOs of Citgo
- Icons Among Us: The CITGO Sign Article with slideshow
- Citizens for Environmental Justice Group concerned with environmental issues surrounding Citgo Corpus Christi refinery