From the gasoline that helps your family take vacations to the advanced medical equipment at your community hospital, CITGO is fueling well.
Its amazing the difference petroleum-based products make in our everyday lives. Based in Houston, Texas, CITGO is a refiner and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products. In addition to these products, there's probably a CITGO in your neighborhood, a convenient place to fill up with gas and grab a quick snack.
The story of CITGO Petroleum Corporation as an enduring American success story began back in 1910 when pioneer oilman, Henry L. Doherty, created the Cities Service Company.
When Cities Service determined that it needed to change its marketing brand, it introduced the name CITGO in 1965, retaining the first syllable of its long-standing name and ending with GO to imply power, energy, and progressiveness. The now familiar and enduring CITGO Trimark logo was born.
Occidental Petroleum bought Cities Service in 1982, and CITGO was incorporated as a wholly owned refining, marketing, and transportation subsidiary in the spring of the following year. Then, in August 1983, CITGO was sold to The Southland Corporation to provide an assured supply of gasoline to Southlands 7-Eleven convenience store chain.
In September 1986, Southland sold a 50 percent interest in CITGO to Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A., (PDVSA), the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. PDVSA acquired the remaining half of CITGO in January 1990 and the company is owned by CITGO Holding, Inc., an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary. With a secure and ample supply of crude oil, CITGO quickly became a major force in the energy arena.