Is CITGO Changing Its Name to Avoid Boycott ?

An email sent to me by Adrienne stating CITGO is changing its name to avoid a boycott by Americans, couldn’t be conformed or denied at this time. Going to CITGO website located below makes no mention of the name change through there press room, and other blogs out there are promoting that it is happing. Another website listed below states the emails are bogus. Am not sure what’s real or not real with CITGO but I do know that I wouldn’t put it past Chavez to try something like this either.

Email being sent out
CITGO is NOW in the process of Changing Its Name to PETRO EXPRESS due to the loss of gasoline sales in the USA due to the recent publicity of ownership by Chavez of Venezuela .
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> Every dollar you spend with CITGO or PETRO EXPRESS gasoline will be used against you, your basic human rights, and your freedoms. He will start wars here in the Americas that will probably be the death of millions.
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> THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT because Chavez is starting to feel the loss of revenue from his holdings. HE OWNS CITGO. This is a very important move that everyone should be aware of.
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> ANNOUNCED JUST RECENTLY, CITGO , BEING AWARE THAT SALES ARE DOWN DUE TO U.S. CUSTOMERS NOT WANTING TO BUY FROM 'CITGO-CHAVEZ', HAVE STARTED TO CHANGE THE NAME OF SOME OF THEIR STORES TO: 'PETRO EXPRESS' DO NOT BUY FROM 'PETRO EXPRESS' EITHER!!! 'PETRO EXPRESS' IS ALSO 100% OWNED BY 'CHAVEZ.' KEEP THIS MEMO GOING SO THAT EVERYONE KN OWS WHAT IS HAPPENING. BOYCOTT 'CITGO' AND 'PETRO EXPRESS.'
> MAKE SURE THIS IS PASSED ON TO EVERYONE IN YOUR E-MAIL LIST IN THE UNITED STATES AND OUTSIDE OF AMERICA .

http://lonestartimes.com/2006/11/29/citgopetro-express-name-swap-i-think-not/

Browsing through the open comments I see the vestiges of the boycott Citgo movement. Some things you may not know and the store you boycott may not deserve that treatment……
Petro Express Inc is a Charolette N.C. company that is dropping Citgo gas in light of the Chavez comments. They are not affiliated with Chavez of Citgo. In fact Petro Express is joining the 7-11 chain of stores dropping Citgo fuel.
(NPNweb.com) Petro Express Inc., Charlotte, N.C., is phasing out Citgo Petroleum Corp. gasoline. By next year, the company will no longer sell the brand, The Charlotte Observer reported Oct. 17.

Citgo, the refining arm of Venezuelan national oil company PDVSA, has become the subject of a growing boycott in the United States since Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez referred to the president as “the devil” last month in a United Nations speech.
Petro Express hasn’t cited global politics as the reason for the change, but the brand is disappearing from 45 of its 66 locations this year. The company joins convenience store giant 7-Eleven, which this month dumped Citgo at its 2,100 locations.
Dallas-based 7-Eleven said it had a change in the works for several years, but noted in a written statement that “regardless of politics, we sympathize with many Americans’ concern over derogatory comments about our country.”
Petro Express announced last week an ongoing remodeling of its locations and called the changes “renewed emphasis on the Petro Express brand.”
“We have chosen to market the Petro Express fuel brand in lieu of any national brand,” the company said in a written statement. The statement did not mention Citgo. Petro Express spokesman Simon Moye didn’t return repeated telephone calls from the Observer.
And in further news Circle K is no longer selling Citgo gas. They are now selling Valero gas.
Valero is putting its name on the fuel stations, the popular Circle K store names will not change, only the Citgo signs will come down. The brand change is expected to begin immediately and you will see the Citgo signs coming down as early as September. The new signage could take up to a year to complete because of the large number of stations involved, but Valero reports to the industry that the changes will be made fast. Valero reports the deal is the largest single agreement with a single distributor in Valero history by fuel volume and number of sites, making Valero the No. 1 fuel marketer in Texas with a total of 1,900 locations. With the addition of the stations run by Susser, the largest independent convenience-store operator in Texas, Valero will have a total of about 5,500 sites in the U.S. and Canada.
There has also been questions about the Susser brand otherwise known as Stripes. Stripes is divesting itself from Circle K and again Stripes is NOT AFFILIATED WITH nor are they selling Citgo gas.
(The Monitor) Stripes are in. Circles are out.
Or so you may have noticed on your recent trip to a Circle K store. Nearly six dozen Circle K convenience stores are being outfitted with a new name.
“Very simply, we are re-branding from Circle K to Stripes,” said Otis Peaks, a spokesman for Corpus Christi-based Susser Holdings, Texas’ largest convenience store operator, running 320 Circle K stores in Texas and Oklahoma - including the 71 locations in the Upper Valley. (SNIP)
The new Stripes brand is Susser’s own creation.
There is an email going around about a Citgo name change. This email is bogus. I understand that we all want to direct our anger at Hugo Chavez for his statement. The convenient and most direct way to do this is through a boycott. According to the stories I have cited above, the franchising corporations have “gotten” the message. Also consider that many Citgo “stores” are mom and pop operations. They sunk their money into a store and agreed to sell Citgo gas through a franchising opportunity. See Autoblog for more information on this problem. I have no problems with boycotts but I feel we have to be careful because the person we hurt the most might be our next door neighbor.



The story of CITGO Petroleum Corporation

Enduring American success story began back in 1910 when pioneer oilman, Henry L. Dougherty, 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 Southland's 7-Eleven convenience store chain.In September, 1986, Southland sold a 50 percent interest in CITGO to Petróleos 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. With a secure and ample supply of crude oil, CITGO quickly became a major force in the energy arena.
CITGO TimelineCITGO was officially born in the spring of 1983, but the company traces its heritage back to the early 1900s and a pioneer oilman named Henry L. Dougherty. Learn more about the fascinating history behind CITGO.