Editing Citgo (section)

==Controversies==
===United States–Venezuela relations===
{{further|United States–Venezuela relations}}
[[File:7-11 Citgo message.jpg|thumb|right|Sign on a 7-Eleven gas station pump]] [[Texaco]] sold some Citgo gas stations in the southeast when [[Chevron Corporation|Chevron]] gained exclusive rights to the [[Texaco]] brand name in the U.S. in June 2006. On September 27, 2006, the [[7-Eleven]] chain of convenience stores announced its 20-year contract with Citgo was coming to an end and would not be renewed. 7-Eleven spokeswoman Margaret Chabris said "Regardless of politics, we sympathize with many Americans' concern over derogatory comments about our country and its leadership recently made by Venezuela's president. Certainly [[Hugo Chavez|Chavez]]'s position and statements over the past year or so didn't tempt us to stay with Citgo."<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/28/AR2006092800262.html| title=7-Eleven Drops Citgo As Gas Supplier| last=Koenig| first=David| newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]| date=September 28, 2006| agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

7-Eleven stations subsequently went either unbranded or switched to competitor brands, most notably [[Marathon Petroleum|Marathon]], which owned rival chain [[Speedway (store)|Speedway]] at the time. (Marathon coincidentally sold Speedway to 7-Eleven in 2021.) Marathon purchased Citgo's assets in [[Ohio]] during this time and led to the near-complete withdrawal of the Citgo brand from the state except in the [[Youngstown, Ohio|Youngstown]] area, which were supplied by Citgo terminals in neighboring [[Pennsylvania]] due to its proximity to the Ohio-Pennsylvania border.<ref>{{cite news |date=October 22, 2007 |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2007/10/22/daily1.html |title=Marathon buying Ohio Citgo terminals |work=Columbus Business First}}</ref> In the years since, Marathon has had periods of considering buying Citgo outright, with the Venezuelan ownership being a major roadblock.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://cspdailynews.com/mergers-acquisitions/marathon-now-interested-citgo-assets | title=Marathon Now Interested in CITGO Assets? }}</ref> In 2024, the Folk Oil Company of Homer, Michigan began rebranding 43 PS Marts from Sunoco to Citgo.  The rebranding spans south east Michigan and Northwest Ohio.

Citgo launched a national ad campaign in the fall of 2006 emphasizing the company's [[corporate social responsibility]].<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.brandweek.com/bw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003314396| title=Citgo To Gush About Its Charitable Side| magazine=[[Adweek]]| date=October 25, 2006| access-date=2007-04-04| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927045907/http://www.brandweek.com/bw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003314396| archive-date=2007-09-27| url-status=dead}}</ref> National television ads featuring [[Joseph Patrick Kennedy II|Joe Kennedy]] also aired through February 2007 featuring ordinary Americans thanking Citgo and Venezuela for providing discounted [[heating oil]] to low-income people.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/23/AR2007022302000.html| title=Is Citgo Program for Poor, or for Chávez?| first1=Jeffrey H.| last1=Birnbaum| first2=Steven| last2=Mufson| newspaper=The Washington Post| date=February 24, 2007}}</ref>

===Environmental and safety concerns===
During the 2000s, Citgo faced several legal actions over the operation of its [[Corpus Christi, Texas]] [[oil refinery]]. In 2007, it was convicted of a violation of the [[Clean Air Act (United States)|Clean Air Act]] for operating an oil-water separator without proper [[pollution]]-control equipment. It was found not guilty of a charge of emitting illegal levels of [[benzene]] into the environment.<ref>{{cite news| last=Clanton| first=Brett| title=Citgo trial on dirty air tests federal law| newspaper=Houston Chronicle| access-date=2011-04-11| date=June 23, 2007| url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/4914124.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| last=Seba| first=Erwin| title=Citgo found guilty of violating U.S. Clean Air Act| website=Reuters| access-date=2011-04-11| date=June 27, 2007| url=https://www.reuters.com/article/trial-citgo-idUKN2735127220070627}}</ref> In 2009, a fire at the [[alkylation]] unit of the same plant resulted in the release of toxic [[hydrofluoric acid]] and the injury of two workers, one with severe burns.<ref>{{cite news| last=Seba| first=Erwin| title=Citgo Corpus refinery alky unit shut after fire| website=Reuters| access-date=2011-04-11| date=July 19, 2009| url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-refinery-operations-citgo-idUSTRE56I1T320090719}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| last=Seba| first=Erwin| title=Fire still burns at Citgo Corpus Christi refinery| website=Reuters| access-date=2011-04-11| date=July 20, 2009| url=https://www.reuters.com/article/refinery-operations-citgo-idUKN2013253620090720}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| last=McFarland| first=John| title=Feds urge new safety changes at Corpus Christi refinery| agency=Associated Press| newspaper=The Dallas Morning News| access-date=2011-04-11| date=December 10, 2009| url=http://www.dallasnews.com/news/state/headlines/20091210-Feds-urge-new-safety-changes-at-2682.ece}}</ref> In February 2011, the company was fined over $300,000 for the incident.<ref>{{cite news| last=Seba| first=Erwin| title=Citgo fined for 2009 Corpus Christi blast, fire| website=Reuters| access-date=2011-04-11| date=February 24, 2011| url=https://www.reuters.com/article/citgo-fine-fire-idUKN249507320110225}}</ref>

In 2015, [[Amazon Watch]] said 11 percent of crude oil processed at the Corpus Christi refinery and 1 percent processed at the Lake Charles refinery was sourced from the [[Amazon rainforest]].<ref>{{cite journal |date=September 2016 |title=From Well to Wheel: The Social, Environmental, and Climate Costs of Amazon Crude |url=https://amazonwatch.org/news/2016/0928-from-well-to-wheel |journal=[[Amazon Watch]] |access-date=30 January 2019}}</ref>

=== Oil Spill ===

==== Citgo Refinery - Calcasieu River Oil Spill - Calcasieu River, LA - June 2006 ====
On June 19, 2006, over 99,000 barrels of waste oil and millions of gallons of untreated oily wastewater overflowed from storage tanks and discharged into a containment area in CITGO’s Lake Charles Manufacturing Complex. An estimated 54,000 barrels of waste oil and an undetermined amount of oily wastewater flowed out of the containment area and into the Indian Marais, the [[Calcasieu River]], and adjoining waterways in the Calcasieu Estuary.

Approximately 150 linear miles of shoreline habitats were affected by the spill, including hundreds of acres of marsh, intertidal, and subtidal sediments. The oil directly impacted fish, benthic organisms, and several species of birds, including secretive marsh birds such as rails and larger birds such as gulls.

The released oil was in a highly volatile and acutely toxic form, requiring initial closure of oiled areas to responders and natural resource damage assessment teams. The highly toxic compounds in the oil were soluble, resulting in significant mixing into the water column. Between June 23 and June 28, numerous fish kills were observed in and around the floating oil.

In the days following the spill, fishing and other recreational activities in the area were shut down.

On August 31, 2021, the U.S Department of Justice finalized a Consent Decree valued at $19.69 million to restore natural resources injured by the Citgo Refinery oil spill.

This Consent Decree settled claims of injuries and will go towards restoration projects that benefit habitats, fish, wildlife, and outdoor recreational activities impacted by the oil spill.

On February 24, 2022, the trustees released the Final Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan,<ref>https://losms-api.losco.org/api/File/OpenOrDownload/Public/11154</ref> with selected projects to restore the resources injured by the spill. The selected restoration projects include

* Restoring 392 acres of saline marsh, including tidal creeks, in shallow open water in Cameron Parish, Louisiana,
* Creating approximately 18 acres of oyster reef habitat in Cameron Parish, Louisiana and,
* Contributing to an ongoing large project to create suitable nesting habitat for coastal island nesting birds in Terrebonne Bay, Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana

With the projects identified in this Final Restoration Plan, the trustees aim to restore approximately 432 acres of habitat near the Calcasieu estuary to compensate for injuries to shoreline habitats, oysters and birds.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Citgo Refinery - Calcasieu River {{!}} Oil Spills {{!}} Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program |url=https://darrp.noaa.gov/oil-spills/citgo-refinery-calcasieu-river |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=darrp.noaa.gov}}</ref>