Citgo Petroleum Corporation, the refining branch of Venezuelan state oil giant Pdvsa in the United States, this week announced its board of directors has decided to realign the company's US retail gasoline network footprint by cutting by 14 percent the number of Citgo branded locations.

The move came after Pdvsa Refining Chief Officer Alejandro Granado, who is also chairman of Citgo board of directors, publicly complained about Citgo's recent purchases of oil by-products in the spot market.

In a news release, the US-based corporation said such an action "will result in a stronger company presence in the East and Gulf Coast regions, and a transitioning from parts of the Midwest, Kentucky, Oklahoma and northern Texas by the end of March 2007."

"We are taking this action to best position the company for a strong future," said Félix Rodríguez, Citgo president and CEO.

"CITGO's current branded sales exceed our in-house production capabilities, straining our resources and potentially compromising our ability to provide optimum service to our customers. We will be focusing on strengthening our presence in marketing areas in the Northeast, South, mid-Atlantic and portions of the Midwest that are served by our refineries in Lake Charles, La., Corpus Christi, Texas, and Lemont, Ill., while reducing the current number of branded locations in markets in which we are less efficient," Rodríguez explained.

This moves results in Citgo terminating supply agreements with some 1,800 gas stations.

"At the end of this realignment, the number of Citgo branded locations will be reduced by approximately 14 percent with little impact on the more than 10 million customers who visit our locations each day," the communiqué added.