All port talk, but that's not all...

[Jenny AU-92 0]

Altho headquartered in Houston, Citgo is owned by PDV America, Inc., an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Hugo Chavez, as you may recall is the socialist dictator of Venezuela, with a deep hatred for the United States. From WaPo:

Since threatening to cut off oil shipments to the United States, which buys 1.5 million barrels a day from Venezuela, Chavez has been traveling the globe looking for new markets and allies to unite against "the imperialist power." He recently signed energy deals with France, India and China, which is searching for new sources of oil to power its industrial expansion. Chavez also has made a series of arms purchases, including one for military helicopters from Russia.

And on Friday, Chavez hosted President Mohammad Khatami of Iran, a nation that has a secretive nuclear program and has been labeled by Bush as part of an "axis of evil."

"Iran has every right . . . to develop atomic energy and to continue its research in that area," Chavez said at a joint appearance with Khatami. "All over the world, there is a clamor for equality . . . and profound rejection of the imperialist desires of the U.S. government. Faced with the threat of the U.S. government against our brother people in Iran, count on us for all our support."

This guy is a much larger threat than having a UAE owned company unloading cargo at our ports - but no one is making any kind of stink about CITGO operating in the US - and the money from buying that gas goes right into his pocket, to buy more military helicopters! But hey, the gas is cheap, so we'll just overlook his politics, right?

Hypocrisy at work...

[Guest Tigrinum Major]

I was not aware of this. I buy at CITGO about half the time due to convenience. And they do tend to be a little cheaper in most places.

But are there any oil companies not affiliated with countries or governments that are anti-American?

[Jenny AU-92 0]

I was not aware of this.  I buy at CITGO about half the time due to convenience.  And they do tend to be a little cheaper in most places.

But are there any oil companies not affiliated with countries or governments that are anti-American?

222473[/snapback]

Yes and no. ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConnocoPhillips, etc. are all American owned companies who explore for, produce and refine oil from both domestic (Gulf of Mexico) and foreign (Middle East, West Africa) oilfields. The sources of oil may be foreign and under the control of foreign governments, but the companies themselves are American. They produce and sell their own gasoline, as well as purchase refined petroleum products from other producers for sale at their retail outlets. Public companies like ExxonMobil only hold about 18% of the world's oil reserves; the rest is owned by nations or state-controlled companies.

The biggest one is Saudi ARAMCO, the Saudi National Oil Company, but they do not have retail stores in the US like CITGO does. Chevron and BP, among others, buy the gas from Saudi Aramco, so technically, the money goes back to the Saudi government. Most, if not all, of the oil companies in the Middle Eastern are owned by the governments of their respective countries, but they do not have retail outlets in the US.

CITGO is OWNED by the Venezuelan government. The catch about CITGO is that each store is franchised - independently operated - that's how they claim to be American. But the ultimate boss is the little tin-pot Cindy Sheehan loving freak in Venezuela.

The largest state owned companies are Saudi Arabian Oil Co., Petroleos Mexicanos (Mexico), Petroleos de Venezuela (Venezuela), China National Petroleum, Nigerian National Oil Co., Iraq National Oil Co., and Kuwait Petroleum. There are some others who are state-owned (or partly state-owned), including YPF (Argentina), Petrobras (Brazil), Elf Aquitaine (France), Total (France), ENI/AGIP (Italy), Norsk Hydro (Norway), Statoil (Norway), Repsol (Spain), Sonatrach (Algeria), Chinese Petroleum (Taiwan), and Nippon Oil (Japan).

But again, you don't see retail outlets for these companies in the US - at least not where I live.

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

I was not aware of this.  I buy at CITGO about half the time due to convenience.  And they do tend to be a little cheaper in most places.

But are there any oil companies not affiliated with countries or governments that are anti-American?

222473[/snapback]

What about Murphy Oil, Wavaho, etc.?