Gas is fungible, which means every gallon that's produced is bought. Not pumping at CITGO is irrelevant, they'll still sell every gallon they make. Want to make a real difference? Stop buying gas. If a few percent of the regular purchasers of gas in this country were to reduce consumption using a variety of means such as carpooling, trip planning (combined errands, etc), and simply just drove less, the price of oil and therefor gas would drop like a stone. That drop is what makes companies take notice.
It is relevant, but not in the way you suggest. By not buying my gas at CITGO, my money isn't going to that company, and by extension Hugo Chavez. It wouldn't make an impact on CITGO, but it does allow me to control what companies/governments I personally support with my purchases.
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10:49 PM
olejoedad Member
Posts: 17901 From: Clarendon Twp., MI Registered: May 2004
It is relevant, but not in the way you suggest. By not buying my gas at CITGO, my money isn't going to that company, and by extension Hugo Chavez. It wouldn't make an impact on CITGO, but it does allow me to control what companies/governments I personally support with my purchases.
Except that most if not all the CITGO stations are actually American-incorporated, and Venezuela gets their money from selling gas to them, not to the end user. When you buy from anyone else they just buy the same gas from Venezuela and they still gets their money. This is true because there is no real unused capacity in the system. Every gallon made is sold, regardless of the brand names it goes through from Chavez to your tank.
And by the way, CITGO is indirectly owned by the people of Venezuela, not by Chavez who happens to be president at the moment. Also, the three refineries where American-sold CITGO gas is made are here in America, employing Americans. One unintended consequence of running CITGO out of the country, if that were even possible without damaging the entire US economy, would be the loss of several thousand high-quality jobs. But hey, what's a few thousand more unemployed Americans, eh? Casualties of war, or some such?
[This message has been edited by JazzMan (edited 06-01-2011).]
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12:52 PM
Formula88 Member
Posts: 53788 From: Raleigh NC Registered: Jan 2001
Good points, Jazz. It brings up arguments such as, which is the American car, a Honda made in Georgia, a Pontiac made in Australia, or a Chevy made in Canada?
And, as I already said,
quote
Originally posted by Formula88:
Keep in mind that the Citgo stores themselves are locally owned franchises. It's the fuel franchise that's owned by Uncle Hugo. Most gas stations are like that, only the parent company happens to be owned by a government instead of a corporation like Shell or Exxon.
Your refinery example contradicts your own fungible example. If everyone in the US stopped buying Citgo gas, they'd just sell to other countries. If the US stopped buying from Venezuela, we'd buy more from Canada, OPEC or Russa, etc. Those "Citgo" refineries would refine oil from other sources since, as you correctly pointed out, every gallon made is sold. No jobs lost, they just change the Citgo sign for a BP or Exxon one.
[This message has been edited by Formula88 (edited 06-01-2011).]
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12:55 PM
ShadowHawk Member
Posts: 376 From: Broward County, Florida Registered: May 2011
Here are some pics from a Venezuelan run website called "Solo En Venezuela" aka "Only In Venezuela"
At least they can laugh at themselves
Funny, when you hear the phrase ONLY IN AMERICA only good and triumphant things come to mind
Yeah over there electronics is about a decade behind us for the majority of people. It is not uncommon to go into a home and find a 90s PC or an old Sega or Super Nintendo . Newer technology is through the roof when it comes to price.
With only three major cities in the whole country, crime in them is huge
[This message has been edited by ShadowHawk (edited 06-01-2011).]
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01:31 PM
Scottzilla79 Member
Posts: 2573 From: Chicago, IL Registered: Oct 2009
And by the way, CITGO is indirectly owned by the people of Venezuela, not by Chavez who happens to be president at the moment. Also, the three refineries where American-sold CITGO gas is made are here in America, employing Americans. One unintended consequence of running CITGO out of the country, if that were even possible without damaging the entire US economy, would be the loss of several thousand high-quality jobs. But hey, what's a few thousand more unemployed Americans, eh? Casualties of war, or some such?
Wow now citgo is too big to fail? There WAS a citgo station one block from our house. My parents always went there because it was cheaper. I did for a while but heard it was cheap gas, so I tried Amoco. Seemed like I got a little better mileage but I'd still go to citgo for convenience, there wasn't an Amoco that close to home. Later I heard about Chavez and stopped going to citgo for anything, that includes the convenience store and subway or whatever else they have had in there. I convinced my mom to try using Amoco gas, because of the chavez thing. She found that she was better fuel economy as well, and she has a long commute to and from work. She has been loyal to Amoco, (I stopped using Amoco after they were bought out by BP, I only use Mobil gas now.) That citgo on the corner? It's now a BP. IMO American companies should not be allowed to be purchased by foreign governments.
Even IF everyone on this forum never bought at Citgo ever again, it wouldn't be a drop in the bucket. It would make absolutely NO difference. So why bother trying to tell us where to buy gas?
------------------ 1986 SE V6 Auto. 114K miles. 1995 F-150 4.9l Straight 6, Port and polished head, oversize valves, mild cam.
Even IF everyone on this forum never bought at Citgo ever again, it wouldn't be a drop in the bucket. It would make absolutely NO difference. So why bother trying to tell us where to buy gas?
Thats a pitch in and help attitude that made this Country. Just think if our forefathers thought that way
Haha, well I tend not to worry about what I can't control. I can't control where my 50 dollars for gas goes after I buy it. So why bring in politics into something that we can't control? Its just redundant to me.
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04:09 PM
PFF
System Bot
Cheever3000 Member
Posts: 12397 From: The Man from Tallahassee Registered: Aug 2001
There are very few boycotts that I bother with, because if I joined every boycott I believe in, there would be no place for me to buy what I need. But this is an easy one for me, because there are other stations to get my gas from. I also don't go to BP, because of what they did - and are still doing - to the Gulf Coast people. I don't understand why anybody around here goes to those gas pumps.
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04:24 PM
ShadowHawk Member
Posts: 376 From: Broward County, Florida Registered: May 2011
Your refinery example contradicts your own fungible example.
Incorrect.
Here's how it works:
Oil: Venezuela --> tanker --> Citgo refiner --> distribution --> Citgo store --> sale
Money: Citgo store --> bank --> Citgo refiner --> bank --> Citgo Venezuela
Here's what happens if you buy from anyone else besides Citgo:
Oil: Venezuela --> tanker --> Citgo refiner --> distribution --> non-Citgo store --> sale
Money: non-Citgo store --> bank --> Citgo refiner --> bank --> Citgo Venezuela
Note, it's not practical to ship gasoline to other countries, that's why the oil is refined here and not there. So, the oil from Venezuela still arives here, Venezuela still gets the profits from selling the oil here, and about the only thing you could hope to accomplish is changing the sign out in front of the refineries. Your stated goal is to keep Venezuelan oil out of this country, and you will have failed at that regardless of your success in changing the sign's name.
Want to make a difference? Reduce the amount of fuel you consume. If enough people did that, and it wouldn't take much, then suddenly there's enough surplus capacity for a boycott to work. Venezuela is the fourth largest source of imported oil Oil Import List. The list of countries feeding us oil is lengthy: List.