or '''Citgo''' , a subsidiary of the national oil company of Venezuela controlled by Hugo Chavez , is a United States incorporated firm [refiner and marketer of
Gasoline , lubricants,
Petrochemicals and other petroleum products. The Citgo gasoline brand was inaugurated in
1965 by the Cities Service Company, an energy company that first rose to prominence in the early
1900s . Cities Service Company was acquired by
Occidental Petroleum Corporation in
1982 . That same year, Cities Service Company transferred all of the assets of its Refining, Marketing and Transportation division (which comprised its refining and retail petroleum business) into the newly formed Citgo Petroleum Corporation subsidiary, to ease the divestiture of the division. In
1983 , Citgo and the Citgo brand was sold by Occidental to
Southland Corporation , owners of the
7-Eleven chain of
Convenience Store s; 50% was sold to
Petróleos De Venezuela in
1986 , and the remainder in
1990 . As of
2004 , it is headquartered in
Houston, Texas , with over 4,000
Employee s and annual
Revenue in excess of $32 billion. Citgo also supplies 14,000
Retailer s. Before relocating its headquarters to Houston, Citgo was headquartered in
Tulsa, Oklahoma . (Cities Service Company continued on under various Occidental names as a part of OXY's domestic exploration and production business, but all Cities Service trademarks are now owned by Citgo.)
A number of
7-Eleven stores in the U.S. are licensed to sell motor fuel and lubricants under the Citgo brand.
The company traces its heritage back to the early 1900s and an oil entrepreneur named
Henry Latham Doherty . After quickly climbing the ladder of success in the manufactured gas and
Electric Utility world, Doherty in
1910 created his own organization, Cities Service Company, to supply gas and electricity to small public utilities. He began by acquiring gas producing properties in the mid-continent and southwest.
The company then developed a
Pipeline system, tapping dozens of
Gas Pools . To make this gas available to consumers, Doherty moved to acquire distributing companies and tied them into a common source of supply. Cities Service became the first company in the mid-continent to use the slack demand period of summer to refill depleted fields near its market areas. In this way, gas could be conveniently and inexpensively withdrawn during peak demand times. In
1931 , Cities Service completed the nation's first long-distance high pressure natural gas transportation system, a 24-inch pipeline stretching some 1,000 miles from
Amarillo, Texas , to
Chicago, Illinois .
A logical step in the company's program for finding and developing supplies of natural gas was its entry into the oil business. This move was marked by major discoveries at
Augusta, Kansas , in
1914 , and in El Dorado a year later. In
1928 , a Cities Service subsidiary discovered the
Oklahoma City field, one of the world's largest. Another participated in the discovery of the East Texas field, which, in its time, was the most sensational on the globe.
At the height of Cities Service's growth, Congress passed the
Public Utility Holding Company Act Of 1935 , which forced the company to divest itself of either its utility operations or its oil and gas holdings. In a difficult decision, Cities Service elected to remain in the petroleum business. The first steps to liquidate investments in its public utilities were taken in
1943 and affected over 250 different utility corporations.
At the same time, the government was nearing completion of a major refinery at Rose Bluff just outside of
Lake Charles, Louisiana , that would eventually become the foundation of the company's manufacturing operation. Using designs developed by Cities Service and the Kellogg Co., the plant was dedicated only 18 months after the first concrete was poured. A month before Allied troops landed in
France , it was turning out enough critically needed 100-
Octane Aviation Gasoline to fuel 1,000 daily
Bomber sorties from
England to
Germany . Government funding through the
Defense Plant Corporation (DPC) also prompted Cities Service to build plants to manufacture
Butadiene , used to make
Synthetic Rubber , and
Toluene , a fuel octane booster and solvent.
The years that followed saw Cities Service grow into a fully diversified oil and gas company with operations around the world. Its green, expanding circle marketing logo became a familiar sight across much of the nation.
In 1965, Cities Service first started using the "Citgo" brand (officially styled "CITGO") for its refining, marketing and retail petroleum businesses. Since 1990, it has been owned by corporations controlled by the government of Venezuela.
Citgo was a sponsor of the Wood Brothers racing team in
NASCAR for many years, winning races with drivers such as
Kyle Petty ,
Neil Bonnett and
Dale Jarrett . They also sponsored the Roush Racing team of Jeff Burton before pulling out of the sport in
2003 . It is now a major sponsor of the Bassmaster Fishing Tour.
Citgo is also the sponsor of a charity
Golf tournament benefiting the
Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).
Citgo refers to its logo as the "trimark." A large, double-faced sign featuring this logo overlooks
Fenway Park in
Boston, Massachusetts and has become a landmark, partly because of its appearance in the background in televised
Baseball games. The current 60-foot by 60-foot incarnation, unveiled in March
2005 after a six-month restoration project, features thousands of
Light-emitting Diodes (LEDs). LEDs were selected for their durability, energy efficiency, intensity, and ease of maintenance. Earlier versions featured
Neon Lighting ; the previous sign contained some 5,878 glass tubes with a total length of over five miles.
The first sign, featuring the Cities Service green-and-white
Trefoil logo, was built in
1940 , and replaced with the trimark in
1965 . In
1979 Governor
Edward J. King ordered it turned off as a symbol of
Energy Conservation . Four years later, Citgo attempted to disassemble the weatherbeaten sign, and was surprised to be met with widespread public affection for the sign and protest at its threatened removal. The Boston Landmarks Commission ordered its disassembly postponed while the issue was debated. While never formally declared a landmark, it was refurbished and relit by Citgo in
1983 and has remained in operation ever since. A humourous interpretation of the name, given its location, is "See It Go" as in a homerun.
It was highlighted in the
1968 Short Film ''Go, Go Citgo'' and a
1983 ''
Life Magazine ''
Photograph feature, as well as a
1987 animated film as
Kenmore Square 's "neon god." The association with Fenway and the
Red Sox is so strong that some local
Little League fields often are decorated with replicas of the Citgo sign, as is
Hadlock Field in
Portland, Maine , home of the
Boston Red Sox ' AA affiliate
Portland Sea Dogs .
- In 1965, upon adopting the new trade name:
:Zoom-zoom-zoom-zoom, Citgo zoom
:We've changed it to something with zoom
:Watch our zoom, we'll show you how
