Posted on 4/16/2002, 8:17:43 PM by houston1
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Claim: Spurning gasoline from Shell, Chevron, Texaco, Exxon, and Mobil will cut off the funding of terrorists. Status: False. Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2002] Where to buy gasoline and not support terrorism. . . . > Actually this is food for thought! >Yisrael Medad of the Begin Center sent the following information. Every >Nothing is more frustrating than the feeling that every time I fill-up >Here are some large companies that do not import Middle Eastern oil:
Origins: Nothing is more frustrating than all that's wrong with this exhortation to stop "funding terrorism" by not buying gasoline from companies who import crude oil from the Middle East. To wit: · The political naïveté that asserts "Middle Eastern" equals "terrorist," and that by purchasing gasoline refined from Middle Eastern crude oil you are "sending your money to people who are trying to kill you." Not everyone from the Middle East is a terrorist, nor does every terrorist hail from the Middle East. Moreover, groups such as the · The notion that because a refinery purchases crude oil from a non-Middle Eastern country, they're not buying Middle Eastern oil. A good deal of the crude oil purchased from Russia, for example, is oil from Iraqi fields sold through Russian middlemen, but it still shows up in the refineries' books as having been imported from Russia. · The implication that most of the oil exported to the U.S. comes from the Middle East. According to the Energy Information Administration (as reported by The New York Times), the biggest exporters of oil to the USA in 2000 were (in millions of barrels per day): Canada: 1.69 · The shaky grasp of supply and demand evidenced by the proffered scheme. Oil refineries generally operate at close to full capacity; if everyone in the USA stopped buying gasoline from Shell, Chevron, Texaco, Exxon, and Mobil, and instead purchased their gas only from Citgo, Sunoco, Conoco, Sinclair, Phillips, or BP Amoco-supplied service stations, the companies in the latter group wouldn't be able to come close to satisfying the sudden increase in demand for gasoline, because their refinery capacity is limited. Their supplies would run out, and prices would skyrocket. And even if they could somehow come up with extra refinery capacity necessary to fulfill the increased demand, they'd almost certainly have to turn to Middle Eastern exporters for the additional crude they'd need to supply those refineries. · After crude oil has been pumped out of the ground, put in tankers, shipped around the world, refined into gasoline, and delivered to service stations, that gasoline can't necessarily be traced back to its point of origin. Nor do oil companies sell only gasoline to their own branded stations Last updated: 12 February 2002 |
Quick, name 3 arab leaders which spoken out against terrorism (including suicide bombings).
In 1965, Cities Service Company changed its marketing brand to CITGO. The well-known green and white logo evolved into the CITGO "Trimark" logo of today, a symbol of continuing innovation and quality. In the 1990s, CITGO was purchased by Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
Here's my favorite line in the whole thing:
All of this information is available from the Department of Energy and can be easily documented.
I looked all over the DOE website for that kind of info and found nothing like that. On the otherhand, I found that CITGO is involved in a heavy exploration program over there with several other companies.
(It is politically naïve to assert that...) "Middle Eastern" equals "terrorist," and that by purchasing gasoline refined from Middle Eastern crude oil you are "sending your money to people who are trying to kill you." Not everyone from the Middle East is a terrorist, nor does every terrorist hail from the Middle East.
I, OTOH, think that Middle Eastern oil money does go to finance terrorism. Call me politically naïve, but when three quarters of the 9/11 hijackers come from one country, I tend to regard that country with suspicion. Then when I examine the actions and statements of the leadership in that country, and find them to be supportive and encouraging of terrorism, I tend to regard that country with contempt. And when I learn that that country is holding telethons to support homicidal bombers, I regard that country as my enemy.
If I can keep my money away from the Saudis by crossing the street to fill up my car, I will do so. If innocent Saudis (if there is such a thing) are hurt, well then maybe they should get off there butts and condemn their leadership.
Why would you not cross the street? Because Saudi gas is a half cent cheaper per gallon?
THAT is a neat idea!
Bravo!
Michael
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