From Venezuela to Warwick: low-cost oil comes to R.I.
JIM BARON, Special to The Call01/14/2006
WARWICK -- When Denise Bloomingburgh got an oil delivery to her Post Road home on Friday morning, the guy pumping the fuel into her basement was Felix Rodriguez, president and CEO of CITGO Petroleum Co.
Gathered around him in the driveway of the unassuming yellow house were Venezuela’s ambassador to the United States, Bernardo Alvarez-Herrera; U.S. Sen. Jack Reed; U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin; Lt. Gov. Charles Fogarty, and former Congressman Joseph Kennedy, president of Citizens Energy Corp. Around them was a ring of reporters, photographers and TV cameramen elbowing to record the scene for posterity.
It was a ceremonial first fill-up of oil from a pool of 3.3 million gallons of discounted oil provided by Houston-based CITGO, which is owned by Petroleos de Venezuela, the state oil company of Venezuela. The oil is to be distributed to low-income families, homeless shelters and community clinics to help defray the unusually high cost of home heating fuel this winter.
CITGO’s agreement to provide the low-cost oil -- recipients will pay about 40 percent below market price for the fuel -- was brokered by Reed.
Last October, Reed wrote a letter to the CEOs of the nine largest oil companies, asking them to donate a portion of their record-high profits to help low-income families, disabled citizens and the elderly pay their heating bills.
CITGO was the only company that responded, Reed said.
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