TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- In a response to a state legislator's concern about the exclusive contract Florida's Turnpike has with CITGO gas stations, the state Department of Transportation said it will advertise other fueling options for motorists, said a South Florida Sun-Sentinel report.
The action stems from a letter by State Representative Adam Hasner (R), who raised the issue in September when Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called President Bush "the devil" during a speech at the United Nations. Hasner had asked state transportation officials to cancel [image-nocss] CITGO's contract to sell gasoline at turnpike stations.
The exclusive contract with the CITGO operator doesn't expire until December 2008, according to the report, citing an October 31 response letter from Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Denver Stutler. In the meantime, the transportation department will use signs to inform motorists of alternative fueling options off the turnpike, the letter stated.
Transportation workers will begin installing the signs along the tollway this winter, Chad Huff, a Florida's Turnpike spokesperson, told the newspaper. He did not know how much the signs will cost, or how many will be posted. "The signs are being installed to allow customers to know what is available at those exits," he said.
CITGO Petroleum Corp., the U.S. subsidiary of Venezuela's state-run oil company, supplies fuel for the eight stations located along the 312-mile tollway. The stations are owned by the turnpike and operated by Pompano Beach, Fla.-based Martin Petroleum Corp., which began its contract with the turnpike and CITGO in 1994.
That was long before CITGO became a political issue, Richard Wheeler, vice president of the Martin Petroleum, told the paper. "It's been difficult for us because obviously we're not in agreement with Mr. Chavez either," he said. "It's not something we're a party to."
Motorists who exit the turnpike to get gasoline will not be charged an additional toll to get back on, the report said. Wheeler said he supports the decision.
"The key for us is ensuring the folks who operate the CITGO retail outlets are treated fairly. That's our primary concern, CITGO spokesperson David McCollum told the paper.
Critcs said Hasner's campaign against CITGO will unfairly hurt small-business owners who own and operate the stations; however, Hasner said those complaints are"irrelevant" to his cause, which he calls a "wakeup call" about the need for energy independence.
"Florida taxpayers should not have to support an exclusive contract with CITGO and Hugo Chavez," said Hasner. "This goes back to the fact that I've been a leader in Tallahassee in the area of promoting energy independence and that's where this arises. It's my belief that we as a country and a state should not be dependent to countries that are hostile to us for our energy future."
After Chavez made his remarks about Bush, calls were made to boycott the stations. Wheeler said there has been "no significant change" in sales at the turnpike stations.
A spokesperson for Jeb Bush told the paper that the governor had already directed transportation officials to look for new fueling options for motorists.
Separately, Don Wildmon, chairman of the American Family Association, said sailors should not buy CITGO gasoline from the NEX (Navy Exchange) gas stations on naval bases because all of the corporation's profits go to the Venezuelan government, reported The Navy Times.
But officials from Navy Exchange Service Command, which has 53 CITGO-branded stations, said the company's relationship with CITGO is strong and they see no reason why that should change. We are about giving our customer the best price and most reliable supply of gasoline. For 17 years, CITGO has helped us do that, NEX spokesperson Phil Garcia, told the paper.
In 2005, NEX sold more than $378 million of gasoline at its stations40% of which was bought from CITGO for more than $160 million, Garcia said. NEX does not pay a franchise fee to CITGO for the branded stations, he added.
But critics said the Navy should not be doing business with any company that is completely owned by a government the State Department has branded as not fully cooperating with U.S. counterterrorism efforts.
Garcia said NEX officials have decided to rebrand each of its CITGO stations by 2007, but he insisted the decision has nothing to do with political tensions between the two governments, and he noted that the trend toward generic stations is spreading through the industry.
We want our customers to know that those are our stations, he said as a reason for the rebranding. But even after the CITGO signs come down, CITGO's status as the leading supplier of NEX gasoline will not change until at least 2008, when the first of CITGO's two contracts with NEX expires, the report said. CITGO has been a significant and reliable source of supply to NEXCom and will continue to supply gasoline to our stations under the existing contracts, Garcia said.
Even if NEX wanted to breach its contract and face possible legal action, federal laws would make CITGO eligible to bid for future contracts because it is registered as an American corporation, even after all its American board members were fired after an attempted coup in 2002 that Chavez said was instigated by the American government.
Noel Maurer, a Harvard business professor and energy market expert, said boycotting CITGO products would do more harm to Americans who own CITGO stations than to CITGO. Most of their profits come from refining, he told the paper. They could find other companies perfectly happy to sell their products. A boycott would hurt the retailers more. There would be some damage to CITGO, but not much.
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