August 13, 2003

CITGO Studying Possible Move to Houston, Texas

TULSA, Okla. --- CITGO Petroleum Corporation confirmed today that it is considering moving its headquarters to Houston, Texas from Tulsa, Okla.  The company is studying the move as a part of PDVSA’s new global vision. 

Luis Marín, CITGO’s new President and Chief Executive Officer commissioned the study upon his arrival on August 1.  Marín has named Executive Vice President Antonio Rivero to head a task force to study the impact of such a move on the business.  The study will be completed by year end.

PDVSA’s new global vision includes consolidating all of PDVSA’s international investments into one strategic location in order to take advantage of the economies of scale and to maximize the synergies among the various PDVSA investments outside of Venezuela.  In addition to CITGO, Venezuela’s various foreign investments include:  PDV Services, Inc, the procurement affiliate, with offices in Houston; HOVENSA L.L.C., a joint venture in the Virgin Islands with Amerada Hess Corp.; the Chalmette Refining L.L.C. joint venture with ExxonMobil at the Chalmette, La., refinery; the Merey-Sweeney L.P. joint venture with ConocoPhillips in Sweeney, Texas; as well as PDVSA’s European investments. 

            CITGO employs approximately one thousand people in Tulsa.  The company has been at its present location since 1983 when it was spun off from the former Cities Service Company.  Cities Service was acquired by Occidental Petroleum in 1982.

             CITGO, based in Tulsa, Okla., is a refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals, refined waxes, asphalt and other industrial products.  The company is owned by PDV America, Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

                For more information, see CITGO’s website at www.citgo.com.

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