NOV 16, 4:15 PM

The Story Behind Those Expensive Exxon Gas Stations Wolf Blitzer Loves To Tweet About

Martin Austermuhle https://twitter.com/maustermuhle

As the longtime host of CNN’s “The Situation Room” and one of the most recognizable faces in American political journalism, Wolf Blitzer deals with a lot on a daily basis. But every now and again, his focus turns to much more pedestrian issues — namely the price of gas in Washington, D.C.

Twice this year Blitzer has tweeted out images of gas prices in the city, largely to point out how apparently high they are. “OY!” he remarked in a July tweet, showing the price of a gallon of regular at $4.29 at an Exxon station in the city. And just last week he was at it again, sharing an image of gas prices at another Exxon station in the nation’s capital, this one just down the block from Union Station. He kept the tone more neutral, merely remarking he was sharing the image as an “FYI.” (We reached out to Blitzer for comment, but have yet to hear back.)

{snip}

To start off, this fact is critical: The Exxon station Blitzer chose to highlight last week — on Massachusetts Avenue NE, a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol — is among the city’s most expensive. On the day Blitzer tweeted the image of that $4.29 gallon of gas it was selling, the citywide average was $3.62. It’s also expensive by national standards. According to AAA, the average price of regular gas across the nation last week was $3.41, with only California posting an average above $4.

And that it’s an Exxon station is additionally notable. (It’s probably worth noting that the Exxon is the closest gas station to CNN’s Washington studios.) Of the city’s 10 most expensive gas stations in D.C. as ranked by GasBuddy last week, six were Exxon stations — and all owned by the same businessman, Joe Mamo. In fact, eight of the city’s most expensive gas stations are owned, operated by, or linked to Mamo. (Interestingly, Mamo also owns the station that posted the cheapest gas in town — an Exxon on Georgia Avenue that was selling regular for $3.09 a gallon last week. He also owns one on Pennsylvania Avenue SE near the Supreme Court that was selling that same gallon of gas for $4.50.)

“They are not representative of gas stations in the District,” says Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3). “They are representative of Joe Mamo charging more because he’s a mini-monopolist.”

Mamo is the president of Capitol Petroleum Group, the Virginia-based business he founded in 1987 and which now owns, operates, or distributes gas to hundreds of gas stations in and around Washington and New York City. CPG is listed as the official distributor of Shell, ExxonMobil, Valero, Crown, and Citgo products; it runs 54 gas stations in D.C. and distributes to at least 14 more.

Whether merely a savvy and accomplished businessman or “mini-monopolist,” Mamo — who the Washington City Paper profiled in 2011 — is a big player in local gas stations, and has tussled on more than a few occasions with local officials and lawmakers, Cheh included. In 2011, Cheh proposed a bill that would have prohibited distributors of gasoline like Mamo (known in industry parlance as “jobbers”) from also owning gas stations, but the bill died amidst fierce opposition from Mamo and his supporters, including Jesse Jackson. A few years later, then D.C. Attorney General Irv Nathan sued Mamo, essentially accusing him of using his market power to set high gas prices at his many stations. (The lawsuit was later dismissed when a judge ruled the city did not have standing to sue.)

{snip}