HOUSTON -- As a gasoline refiner and marketer, CITGO sells its products to wholesale marketers, who in turn sell to retailers at prices set by market forces, said CITGO chairman, president and CEO Alejandro Granado, Speaking at the opening of CITGO's first Supplier Diversity Networking Event. “Therefore, our company does not fix prices,” he added.
According to Granado, the international oil market is well supplied and news stories confirm this when they say that oil producers, such as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members, continue to produce enough [image-nocss] oil. He cited as an example recent news stories about Algeria having trouble placing its production in the international oil market.
He also indicated that in his opinion, a bill recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, known as Gas Price Relief for Consumers Act of 2008, does not make any sense. "Refiners' margins are seriously affected by a distorted oil market which is not responding to fundamentals, but rather to a combination of other factors, including geopolitical tensions, the weakness of the U.S. dollar and financial speculation," he said.
The ceremony was attended by dignitaries, business leaders and more than 600 potential vendors. Visitors toured a reverse trade show where more than 100 CITGO experts and end users were available to openly discuss the company's needs for services and materials.
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CITGO, based in Houston, is a 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 SA, the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
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