thought this might fit here.
Has anyone ever received a forwarded email talking about not buying gasoline from certain companies, because those companies get their oil from nations with human rights violations and may fund terrorism?
my husband and i did, and he was so fed up with the stupid email, he did some research. only about 4 hours worth, so it definitely wasn't exhaustive, but it's a start.
Be warned, it's really long.
THE EMAIL:
Every time you fill up the car, you can avoid putting more money into the coffers of Saudi Arabia. Just buy from gas companies that don't import their oil from the Saudis. Nothing is more frustrating than the feeling that every time I fill-up the tank, I am sending my money to people who are trying to kill me, my family, and my friends. I thought it might be interesting for you to know which oil companies are the best to buy gas from. Major companies that import Middle Eastern oil (for the period 9/1/00 - 8/31/01).
Shell................ 205,742,000 barrels
Chevron/Texaco....... 144,332,000 barrels
Exxon /Mobil......... 130,082,000 barrels
Marathon............. 117,740,000 barrels
Amoco................ 62,231,000 barrels
If you do the math at $30/barrel, these imports amount to over $18 BILLION!
Here are some large companies that do not import Middle Eastern oil:
Citgo 0 barrels
Sunoco 0 barrels
Conoco 0 barrels
Sinclair 0 barrels
Phillips 0 barrels
Hess 0 barrels
All of this information is available from the Department of Energy and can be easily documented. Refineries located in the U.S. are required to state where they get their oil and how much they are importing. They report on a monthly basis.
MY HUSBAND'S REPLY
Wow. It looks like I can now only buy gas from these places:
> >Citgo 0 barrels
> >Sunoco 0 barrels
> >Conoco 0 barrels
> >Sinclair 0 barrels
> >Phillips 0 barrels
> >Hess 0 barrels
But wait, before you fill up your 2002 Dodge Durango (16 mpg on highways) you should probably check a couple of facts on those companies.
- CITGO - According to CITGO's website, CITGO "is owned by PDV America, Inc., an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Petr?leos de Venezuela, S.A., the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela." And while the CITGO Petroleum Corporation does not import directly from Persian Gulf,
PDV Midwest Refining, LLC an affiliate of PDV America, is the 11th largest importer of crude oil from the Persian Gulf. It gets all of its Persian Gulf oil supply from Iraq.
- Phillips - According to the Department of Energy, the Phillips 66 Company imports crude oil from Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Another division of the company, the Phillips Petroluem Company also imports from Saudi Arabia. Phillips also has gas processing facilities in Syria, and production facilities in Dubai, one of the United Arab Emirates.
- Conoco - Well, I guess if we can't buy from Phillips now, we can't buy from Conoco either. Why? The two companies merged on August 30, 2002, creating ConocoPhillips. For more information, visit
www.conocophillips.com. Check out their cool new logo.
- Sinclair - The Sinclair Oil Corporation operates mostly out of imports from Canada, but in 1969 it merged with ARCO. ARCO, BP, Amoco, and Castrol are all now part of the BP Corporation. The subsidiaries get oil from all over the Persian Gulf. ARCO gets oil from Iraq and Yemen. BP Oil Supply gets oil from Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Amoco Oil Company gets crude from Kuwait and
Saudi Arabia. For some interesting reading, look up the New York Times' article about BP's influence on the Iranian Revolution
(
http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/mideast/041600iran-cia-index.html).
This article talks about when BP, formerly called the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, influenced a coup in Iran that overthrew Iran's democratically elected Prime Minister, Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh (1951 Time Magazine Man of the Year).
+ Hess - Hess Gas Stations (owned by Amerada Hess
Corporation) doesn't do much in Persian Gulf at all. The only bad thing I could find out about Hess was that are a 50% owner of the HOVENSA refining facility, the other 50% is owned by Petr?leos de Venezuela, S.A. (see CITGO above). Not too bad really. So, stop by a Hess Express store, pick up a toy truck, get a Blimpie sub, and some TCBY yogurt.
+ Sunoco - According to Better World Handbook, Sunoco is one of the best places to buy gas. And according to my research that seems to be true. Sunoco does not get any of its oil from the Persian Gulf, it gets most of its oil from Nigeria. Unlike Shell Oil, which has contributed to some of the worst human rights violations in Nigeria (according to Amnesty International), Sunoco has managed to stay away from these problems. Sunoco
is the only oil company to sign the Coalition for Environmentally
Responsible Economies principles. They are also a member of the Business Environmental Leadership Council.
Sources:
"Crude Oil Imports From Persian Gulf 2001", US Dept of Energy,
http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/company_level
_imports/current/data/summary.html
"Gas Mileage of 2002 Sport Utility Vehicle", US Dept of Energy,
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/Sport_Utility_Vehicle2002.shtml
"The latest monthly Company Level Imports files", US Dept of Energy,
http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/company_level
_imports/current/data/import.xls
"CITGO Petroleum Corp., About CITGO", CITGO Petroleum Corp.,
http://www.citgo.com/AboutCITGO.jsp
"Home Page", Petr?leos de Venezuela, S.A.,
http://www.pdvsa.com/english/home_page_en.html
"ConocoPhillips - Global Operations", ConocoPhillips,
http://www.conocophillips.com/global/global.asp
"Hess - About Us", Amerada Hess Corporation,
http://www.hess.com/about/index.html
"Hess - Asia", Amerada Hess Corporation,
http://www.hess.com/worldwide/asia/asia_central.html
"Sinclair Oil Corporation: About Sinclair", Sinclair Oil Corporation,
http://www.sinclairoil.com/about_sinclair.htm
"New York Times Special Report: The CIA in Iran", New York Times,
http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/mideast/041600iran-cia-index.html
"Sunoco - Sunoco History", Sunoco, Inc.,
http://www.sunocoinc.com/aboutsunoco/sunhistoryf.htm
"The Better World Handbook Site", Better World Handbook,
http://www.betterworldhandbook.com/gasoline.html