NEWTON, Mass. -- Gulf Oil Ltd. is looking to expand by as many as 500 gas stations over the next three years, thanks partly to defections from CITGO, reported The Boston Herald. The company has been expanding at the rate of about 100 stations a year, CEO Joseph Petrowski told the newspaper.
But he said he sees the pace picking up, because large oil companies, such as Exxon and Shell, are increasingly focusing on the upstream and refining sides of the petroleum industry, not the wholesale and retail sides. Another reason, according to the report, is that [image-nocss] CITGO Petroleum Corp., the Houston-based oil company controlled by Venezuela's anti-American president Hugo Chavez, has been losing some of its U.S. gas station business as station owners have changed brands rather than risk being associated with the unpopular figure.
In a United Nations speech in September 2006, Chavez called President Bush the devil and an "alcoholic," prompting the displeasure of many in the U.S. petroleum industry.
CITGO also pulled out of many markets itself. As reported in CSP Daily News nearly a year ago, CITGO announced that it would halt distribution in 10 statesIowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma and South Dakotaand discontinue supply to a limited number of stations in four additional statesIllinois, Texas, Arkansas and Iowa. The company's shift toward the East and Gulf Coast regions was expected to result in the debranding of 1,800 U.S. stations.
Newton, Mass.-based Gulf provides gasoline to about 2,500 stations across the Northeast, 1,900 under the Gulf brand name and the rest under other distribution agreements with companies including Exxon. Gulf is owned by the Haseotes family, which also owns the Cumberland Farms chain. Gulf is no longer in the exploration business, and it is now a purely downstream oil company that owns terminals and a biodiesel plant, as well as overseeing its franchise operations.
Meanwhile, last week, the law firm of former New York mayor and current presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani announced that it no longer represents CITGO. Melanie Hillis, a spokesperson for the Houston-based law firm of Bracewell & Giuliani LLP, told the Herald that political considerations didn't figure into the decision to sever ties. She called it the nature of business and said the decision was mutual. The disclosure in March that Giuliani's firm represented CITGO brought unwelcome publicity to the candidate's campaign, said the report.
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