Citgo Halts Heating Oil Donations To Poor

Program To Provide Heat To 400,000 U.S. Households Suspended By Venezuelan-Controlled Company

(AP)  Citgo has suspended its free heating oil program for low-income residents, Citizens Energy Chairman Joseph Kennedy announced Monday.

Kennedy said the Venezuelan government's Texas-based oil subsidiary cited falling oil prices and the world economic crisis for forcing the company to reevaluate all of its social programs, including the heating oil program aimed at 400,000 households in 16 states.

The program, started in 2005 with Citizens Energy, a nonprofit headed by Kennedy, sent 100 gallons of free oil a year to eligible households.

"It remains unclear how long this postponement, if it is one, will last," Kennedy said in a statement on the Citizens Energy Web site. "All of us at Citizens Energy continue to do everything we can to advocate for a continuation of this vital assistance."

Citgo donated 100 million gallons last year, according to Citizens Energy.

A news conference was scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at Citizens Energy's Boston's headquarters to discuss the suspension of the program.

Kennedy urged those who have been helped by the program to write Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to share their stories. Kennedy said that Citizens Energy will continue to run heating assistance programs for now.

Citizens Energy was founded by Kennedy in 1979 in the wake of the energy crisis of the late 1970s with the goal of reducing the cost of home heating oil for the poor and elderly.

Kennedy drew fire from critics of Chavez when he began the fuel assistance program with Citgo. Critics charged that Chavez, a socialist and staunch U.S. critic who famously called President Bush "the devil," was using the heating oil program as propaganda.

Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fla., accused Kennedy of working with "a sworn enemy of the United States" and betraying the legacy of President John F. Kennedy, his uncle, who spoke of the perils of communism.

Kennedy responded that critics should hold oil-exporting countries and other trade partners, like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Russia and China, to the same standards.

[judysvan123]

CBS ..are you that $$$ HUNGRY that you take ads from CITGO in April ??

[notfooled]

I find it comical that CBS wont let us comment on the recent story that Citgo has a figured a way to continue the help for the poor.

It must be quite irritating for the Bush/Cheney crime syndicate and their henchman worldwide to have the guy they paint as evil helping the poor.

[quapawsix]

Welcome to the New World Order whats sad is our own oil companies would not donate a drop of oil to the poor so I''m glade they can afford to pay while the rest of us try to figure out do we feed our families this week, or do we drive our cars to work, or do we heat our homes,or do we pay our credit card debt, tough choices.

[quapawsix]

Welcome to the New World Order whats sad is our own oil companies would not donate a drop of oil to the poor so I''m glade they can afford to pay while the rest of us try to figure out do we feed our families this week or do we drive our cars or do we heat our homes tough choises.

[impeach_o]

chave''s oil program is a pretty cheap version of POLITICAL propaganda..


it takes a liberal kennedy to THINK THAT chavez DO CARE ABOUT THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY..

[alarchdu]

This is unexpected?

[cadawa-2009]

Unfortunately, though commodity prices have declined, heating oil prices and natural gas have not. Rate payers are billed at the same inflated rates as they were before the bottom fell out.

[bayside1022-2009]

This is the man our republican propaganda bush media would have us believe is a bad man. A man who has given our poor at cost or free gas. One good thing is we have woken up and you cant put that back in the bag..

[jrcolmena]

Given the relationship between the US and Venezuela, one wonders why this program ever existed at all.
And why all the uproar over Chavez speaking the truth about Bush? Posted by omnibus66

1) this program existed because chavez is obsessed about showing the world whatever is wrong about the US, instead of solving our own country''s problems (im venezuelan)
2) the problem is not chavez speaking the truth about bush, the problem is chavez being a populist demagoge just like castro who wants to stay in power for 50 years, who doesnt solve the problems of his own people but survives on picking a fight with other contries: Bush is Chavez''s Bin Laden

[omnibus66]

Given the relationship between the US and Venezuela, one wonders why this program ever existed at all.

And why all the uproar over Chavez speaking the truth about Bush?

[nojoy01]

By the way, that is assistance for heating oil ''for the poor''

[nojoy01]

That said, yup, 100 million gallons of free heating oil is about 300 million dollars worth of assistance more than any US based oil company gave to our citizens last winter.

Posted by nojoy01

Actually you are wrong as Murphy Oil is paying 50 million in scholarships for the children of El Dorado, Arkansas. Murphy Oil is an american company.

Posted by au_fait at 11:21 PM : Jan 05, 2009

Always willing to learn and if/when in error to be enlightened. So now we are down to 250 million more in assistance than provided by US oil companies.

[cheetah-man7]

d7767w how long did it take you to become an idiot?


Posted by hitoyou11


Thanks, hitoyou11 - I was wondering the same exact thing about d7767w....

[easy3211]

dan_8951
Right on...

[spinproof]

This fake "caring" program was a "Gambit" from the very beginning designed to divide our nation and Americans should never have been allowed to accept the offer directly from a foreign power in the first place. Now that the program did not achieve its desired objectives, the drop in oil prices is being used as an excuse to end it. New York''s Rep. Charles Rangel, 15th, threatened to end the program outright when Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called Pres. Bush a "Devil" on the floor of the United Nations but backed off when Chavez briefly shut up! Venezuela has plenty of oil and a drop in oil prices should not affect the stated intent of this program!

[au_fait]

Our Govt can send $10 billion a year as welfare to Israel who continues to occupy Palestine and is now killing hundreds of Palestinians (Show me who Chavez killed) but we cannot even help our own people here.

Posted by Mrahaman

HMMM, maybe Palestine should have not broken the cease fire accord. Hamas chose this fight and instigated it after a cease fire agreement. I have no pity for those who get hurt or killed if they are harboring fighters.

[au_fait]

That said, yup, 100 million gallons of free heating oil is about 300 million dollars worth of assistance more than any US based oil company gave to our citizens last winter.


Posted by nojoy01

Actually you are wrong as Murphy Oil is paying 50 million in scholarships for the children of El Dorado, Arkansas. Murphy Oil is an american company.

[nojoy01]

I highly doubt that anyone who used his 100 million barrels of free heating oil here in the US would agree with you.

Posted by shanev137 at 05:53 PM : Jan 05, 2009

Just in the interest of accuracy shanev137, here is a quote from the story. ''Citgo donated 100 million gallons last year, according to Citizens Energy.'' That means your figure is off by about 3.2 Billion gallons. But what the h3ll, who pays any attention to the facts on any of these Blogs?

That said, yup, 100 million gallons of free heating oil is about 300 million dollars worth of assistance more than any US based oil company gave to our citizens last winter.

[hitoyou11]

d7767w how long did it take you to become an idiot?

[ginger20051]

A socialist stopping a program to help those in need? That can''t be true. The liberal democratic, socialist motto is "From each (Chavez) according to their ability - To each (the poor) according to their need". Did Chavez become a capitalist? Or did he give it all to the Russian navy for maneuvers in the Gulf of Mexico?
I wonder what the people who got the 100 million (really that much?) barrels of oil will say when Chevez and the Russian army are in the town square demanding payback?
Remember "There is no such thing as a free lunch".