CARACAS, Venezuela --- Venezuela-owned Citgo Petroleum Corp. plans to halt gasoline distribution to about 1,800 U.S. stations, forcing station owners to secure other suppliers. The move isn't expected to have a major impact on the U.S.'s overall fuel supply, according to a report from Yahoo News. Citgo is wholly owned by Venezuela's state oil company. The company currently must buy 130,000 barrels a day from third parties to meet its service contracts at 13,100 stations across the U.S. This makes the enterprise less profitable than selling gasoline directly from Citgo refineries. So instead, Houston-based Citgo is opting to sell to retailers only the 750,000 barrels a day it produces at its three U.S. refineries. The refineries are in Lake Charles, La.; Corpus Christi, Texas; and Lemont, Ill. As a result, Citgo over the next year will halt distributing gasoline in 10 states and stop supplying some stations in four other states, the company told reporters. Those 10 states are Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma and South Dakota. Some stations in Illinois, Texas, Arkansas and Iowa will also be affected, Yahoo News reported.
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