Unfulfilling stations
Citgo boycott leads owners to drop Venezuelan supplierBy Hugh Willet, business@knews.com
Tuesday, March 4, 2008The Bush administration may be trying to ignore Hugo Chavez, but some local gas station owners are moving to protect themselves from the backlash against the Venezuelan president’s anti-American rhetoric.
Calls by some across the country to boycott gasoline sold by Venezuelan-owned Citgo are cutting into sales, prompting some station owners to move to other suppliers.
George Vazquez, owner of a convenience store and gas station on Kingston Pike in West Knoxville, is among several local independent Citgo station operators who will be switching to Marathon Oil of Findlay, Ohio, in the coming weeks.
“My gas sales were down 30 percent last year,” Vazquez said. “People will come into the store and buy groceries, but they tell me they won’t buy gas from Citgo.”
The problems with Citgo increased after Chavez’s September 2006 visit to the United Nations where he referred to President Bush as “the devil.”
Calls for boycotts of Citgo were heard in states from Massachusetts to Florida following Chavez’s U.N. visit. Shortly after the U.N. speech, 7-Eleven stores announced they would cancel a 20-year contract with Citgo that supplied 2,100 stations. Several Internet sites also are devoted to promoting the boycott.
Vazquez said he began negotiations with Marathon late last year after discussing his problems with other Citgo station owners. He decided that the anti-Chavez sentiment was translating into a growing anti-Citgo sentiment among customers.
“The problem is not Citgo; the problem is who owns Citgo,” he said. “I decided we needed to change brands.”
Citgo, based in Houston, is owned by PDV America Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Petroleos de Venezuela SA, the national oil company of Venezuela.
Hat tip to the Blogfather.
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