CITGO takes pride in helping our neighbors where we live and work.CITGO takes pride in helping our neighbors where we live and work.
The 1980s
CITGO Petroleum Corporation Created
1980 Ronald Reagan defeats incumbent Jimmy Carter for President.
1980 Charles J. Waidelich becomes Chief Executive Officer; Robert Sellers remains Chairman of Cities Service.
1980 Cities Service reports record profits.
1981 The United States introduces the first reusable spacecraft when it launches Columbia, the first in a series of space shuttles.
1981 T Boone Pickens’ Mesa Petroleum launches bid to take over Cities Service-a few months later, Canadian company Nu-West launches takeover attempt; merger attempt with Conoco falls through.
1981 IBM introduced Personal Computers (PCs).
1982 First artificial heart implanted.
1982 Takeover battle with Mesa Petroleum continues; merger attempt with Gulf Oil Corporation fails. Occidental Petroleum purchases Cities Service.
1982 MTV makes its first debut on cable television.
1983 CITGO Petroleum Corporation created as standalone refining, marketing and transportation company registered in the state of Delaware; purchased by the Southland Company, operators of the 7-Eleven chain of convenience stores.
1983 Sam Susser named President of CITGO Petroleum Corporation.
1983 U.S. invades Grenada.
1984 Apple Macintosh (Mac) introduced.
1984 Desmond Tutu wins Nobel Peace Prize.
1984 Lake Charles Refinery cuts runs to half its capacity due to poor company financial performance.
1984 Stephen Spielberg produces Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
1984 Venezuelan shortstop Luis Aparicio became first South American to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1985 Veteran oil man Ronald E. Hall joins CITGO as President and CEO; intensive business review concludes CITGO is worth saving.
1985 First long term crude contracts signed with Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA).
1985 Pete Rose breaks Ty Cobb’s career base hits record.
1986 Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, buys 50 percent of CITGO from Southland.
1986 First CITGO Presidents Meeting held with the theme: “Come on Along.”
1986 CITGO enters NASCAR racing with sponsorship of the Wood Brothers No. 21 car.
1986 CITGO begins its long-term relationship with the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), donating $750,000.
1986 Space shuttle Challenger explodes, killing all aboard.
1987 CITGO refineries receive more than half of their feedstocks from PDVSA.
1987 CITGO more than doubles its marketing presence over 1985; wholesale branded gasoline sales increase more than 22 percent.
1987 Chrysler launched the Chrysler New Yorker and Dodge Dynasty, so conservatively styled that Car and Driver Magazine described them as “flying bricks.”
1988 George Herbert Walker Bush defeats Michael Dukakis for the presidency.
1988 CITGO’s branded gasoline sales volumes increase 24 percent over 1988; CITGO branded outlets increase to nearly 7,700, a 22 percent increase over the previous year.
1988 The employee volunteer community service group “Team CITGO” is formed at Lake Charles.
1989 The Berlin Wall fell, ending the nearly 50-year Cold War.
1989 Branded CITGO outlets increased to 8,463.
1989 CITGO lubricants receive Ford’s prestigious Q-1 Preferred Quality Award.
1989 CITGO employees and Marketers raise a record $1.25 million for MDA
1989 The Exxon Valdez spilled millions of gallons of oil in Alaskan waters.

CITGO History

Through The Decades
The 1900s
The 1910s
The 1920s
The 1930s
The 1940s
The 1950s
The 1960s
The 1970s
The 1980s
The 1990s
The 2000s


 Text Color Key
Black Text =
Historical Events

Green Text =
Cities Service
Historical Events

Blue Text =
CITGO Historical Events

Red Text =
Venezuelan
Historical Events