WM/SuperTech's use of CITGO sits poorly w/me

[BISCUT]

Originally Posted By: bvance554
I don't consider politics when i buy oil. What does it matter if it comes from Venezuela or the Middle East? I understand you have a personal beef with Venezuela, but maybe i have a female friend living under strict Islamic law in Saudia Arabia or Iran. Until i see a '100% product of the US of A' on an oil bottle it is 6 in one hand, a half dozen in the other.


Hard to find a large corp that doesn't have dirty hands in one region or another.

 

[A_Harman]

Originally Posted By: Zaedock
Originally Posted By: Doog
I refuse to drive Fords since they came out with the Vulcan engine.

Beam me up, Scotty...

 

[Danh]

Originally Posted By: hatt
Quote:
I began to get an uneasy feeling knowing that WM/ST also uses CITGO derived oils
Couldn't any oil you buy be Citgo derived? It's a commodity. The only way to not help Citgo is to stop buying any petroleum products.

I pretty much use Citgo gas exclusively. Not because I like Citgo but because I like the local guys that own the store and not buying there won't hurt Citgo at all. They were BP branded during the spill and those foolish boycotts.


While oil is a commodity, Venezuelan crude oil is extremely heavy and is refined using very specialized equipment. The only place Venezuelan crude oil is refined in the US is in Citgo's refinery, which is not easily converted to refining lighter crudes.

So, if you buy a Citgo-made oil, it's made with Venezuelan crude. And you're unlikely to find Venezuelan crude in any other product sold here.

 

[accent2012]

Originally Posted By: Doog
I only buy oil that comes from planet earth. I refuse to drive Fords since they came out with the Vulcan engine. I simply won't buy any automotive products made by extraterrestrials no matter how logical it seems.

but the vulcan engine is like the best engine ever. Period. *edit* that ford has ever come out with.*

 

[hatt]

Originally Posted By: Danh


While oil is a commodity, Venezuelan crude oil is extremely heavy and is refined using very specialized equipment. The only place Venezuelan crude oil is refined in the US is in Citgo's refinery, which is not easily converted to refining lighter crudes.

So, if you buy a Citgo-made oil, it's made with Venezuelan crude. And you're unlikely to find Venezuelan crude in any other product sold here.
You have no way of knowing if Citgo(or any other producer) products are in most of the finished products you buy. The stuff I buy never has it's provenance attached.

 

[Nayov]

*bites tongue; must resist*

Back in the day (80s) every Tom, **** and Harry (dealers and indys) used Citgo as their bulk oil. These days, not so much.

 

[kmrcstintn]

not sure if CITGO is a provider for SuperTech oils...the 2 that I can identify (in my area) by the packaging are Warren Performance Products/Warren Northeast and ExxonMobil; the vast majority for my local walmart are WPP/WNE...

despite our best 'patriotic' effort to avoid virtually anything imported, the world economy has become 'globalized' and we are stuck with fewer and fewer domestic manufactured products as we become lose more and more industrial jobs to oversea companies; U.S.A. has become a 'consumer' economy!

 

[bigt61]

Vote with your wallet. The free market will sort it out.

 

[motorguy222]

If it says WPP, it is not blended by Citgo, it is WPP.

WPP blends private label oil and puts it in their own bottles and when doing so, it will have WPP or WNE on the bottom of the bottle.

Citgo blending oil for the Walmart Super Tech brand has nothing to do with WPP.You are making it sound as if Citgo is blending the oil and WPP is putting it in the bottle. That would be kind of crazy to do. Citgo blend it and then send it hundreds or thousands of miles to WPP to bottle it?

Citgo would bottle it themselves if they were a supplier.

 

[dave1251]

Originally Posted By: Triton_330
Again with less sugar on top...

How does Citgo ST compare to WPP ST?


Pick either both will protect so close to each other neither could claim they help your engine last longer.

 

[wemay]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: Zaedock
My grandparents lives were turned upside down during WWII. I still buy GC.

I, and others respect your position on not wanting to buy oil from Citgo, but politics doesn't belong in the oil forum.

FWIW, when I see the Citgo logo, I think of Fenway.


So were mine, and they were ethnic Germans. People sweep the 2M of them killed under the rug like it didnt happen...

So I 100% agree - let's keep arguable history from other lands from 50+ years ago out of this. There have been a number of threads regarding German and Japanese automakers and whatnot, which have gone off the deep end. Hopefully we can keep this to supply chain and wal-mart operations centric. He is specifically speaking of CITGO and their business and practices today, so let's just leave that at that.

Perhaps more questionable than Citgo's (known) alignment is the business practices of Wal-Mart to buy from these vendors to minimize prices at all costs. That may not sit well with folks, as it appears to not with the OP.

So then the question is if buying WPP ST locally makes a difference with respect to supporting the sale of Citgo-branded ST elsewhere.

Im no fan of Wal-mart by a long shot, but I do like to look at their selection of oils because they carry a ton. And it strikes me that each store has a slightly different mix of what they carry... In some Ive seen Trop Arctic, in others Ive seen Maxlife ATF, and in others, Ive seen next to nothing good. Assuming that each does just in time inventory based upon their sales of products specific to their stores, my initial guess is that the demand signal for WPP in one store is completely irrelevant and unrelated to the demand signal for citgo ST in another store. It may well influence quantities and contracting when those supplier contracts are due for renewal... But I doubt that anyone is going to influence that - WM could change suppliers to WPP or Citgo the country over, IF they offer a lower price...

That some may be conscientious about stuff like this is a good thing, IMO. But if the OP is buying WPP, I dont see it relating back to the sale of Citgo ST elsewhere... Others who do get Citgo ST may want to make their buying decision accordingly though.


I tend to overthink and then have knee jerk reactions at times (they go poorly together). If Supertech synthetic were striclty a CITGO product, my thread may have made more sense or held more weight. But you are correct, WPP has no fault in this and it would not be fair to them, who make a great product, not to purchase Supertech anymore. So, as long as the bottle says WPP or anything other than CITGO (don't know their logo), i will continue to purchase.

 

[NightRiderQ45]

Originally Posted By: wemay
I recently started a thread where I questioned folk's opinions on ST. I appreciated all the responses. In doing more research based on some of the posts, I began to get an uneasy feeling knowing that WM/ST also uses CITGO derived oils. Even though the bottles I purchased say WPP, I felt like a hypocrite knowing in some regions, CITGO is the blender. My reasoning is based on the experiences of very close Venezuelan friend's families being turned upside down because of the turmoil in their country. This has now led to me not wanting to purchase oil from WM all together. I have no vendetta towards WM and encourage those that purchase their oil there, to continue doing so, I just cannot.

Are there injustices elsewhere? Sure, but Venezuela is one that hits home for me.
so I'm assuming you leave the house completely naked every morning then smh

 

[wemay]

We have all revisted some of our past statments and felt that with more deliberate thought, a better decision could have been reached. I'm there...

 

[wemay]

...and when it comes down to it, all of these companies are global and CITGO itself employs a large number of Americans right here in the USA... complicated topic to be sure.