The Ghost of Snapped Shot

Or, welcome to my low-maintenance heck.

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Citgo takes off gloves?

It seems that Citgo is trying to respond to the backlash over Hugo "Oilman" Chavez's sycophantic speech to the United Nations. Check out how "sorry" they are, though:

In the first ad, which appeared Monday in the Washington Post, Citgo President Felix Rodriguez said critics are doing more damage to Citgo's thousands of U.S. employees and small-business owners who sell Citgo gasoline than to the company itself.

"We understand that, as a corporation, we cannot always control the environment in which we operate, but we feel compelled to set the record straight out of respect for our employees, business partners and consumers," he said.

Boy, they sound real sorry, don't they?

Let's look at this objectively—If the boycott hurts Citgo S.A., does it really hurt American employees of Citgo? In the short term, perhaps. But, looking long-term, depressing Citgo's market value could potentially lower the price for the American arm of the company enough for a, shall we say, more American company to buy the U.S. arm of Citgo.

Frankly, I'm all for breaking our ties with Venezuela, if they hate us so much. Keep up that boycott, folks! They're feeling it!

  #YourProtestStinks


Comments:

#1 Elisabeth A. 19-Oct-2006
You asked if the boycott hurts Citgo S.A., but if it *really* hurts American employees of Citgo? I think the answer is yes. Citgo doesn't own one station in the US--they're all owned by Americans, like this guy (http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/15776020.htm). Boycotting his Citgo station would certainly have long term effects on him, his family and his American employees. He's no fan of Chavez either...
#2 Brian 19-Oct-2006
Elisabeth,

Thanks for the comments! Lord knows I don't want any small businessmen to be hurt by Citgo's attachment to a maniac, but I still think that the pain will be short-lived, as the stations that are hurting will fairly quickly realign themselves with another oil company.

Maybe I'm not familiar enough with the industry to have an accurate picture of how the relationship between the oil companies and the individual gas stations work, though. Anyone out there who knows more is welcome to correct me, as usual. (As many times as I get corrected around here, it wouldn't bother me in the least to have it happen again!)

:)

Warmest Regards,
Brian
#3 Elisabeth A. 19-Oct-2006
Brian,

Thanks for making me feel so welcome. I don't know the specifics on what it takes to 'realign' from one oil company to another, but I'd bet there's considerable time and expense. Heck, if Verizon wants to charge me $200 for wanting to switch to a different cell phone provider, I can only imagine what a big oil company would charge their customers to make a switch! ;-)
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