CITGO Petroleum Corporation](https://www.goingcitgo.com) is touring 16 markets between Sept. 17 and Oct. 29 to brief its branded Marketer network on a new Walmart+ fuel-savings integration and a set of Club CITGO loyalty enhancements aimed at pulling more repeat traffic to the forecourt.
The Walmart+ tie-in lets eligible Walmart+ members stack additional per-gallon savings at participating CITGO locations when they enroll in the Club CITGO loyalty program — a cross-retail play that hands CITGO's roughly 4,000 independently operated branded outlets a competitively differentiated pump offer against grocery-anchored fuel programs run by Kroger, Albertsons, and others.
The Loyalty Play
Beyond the Walmart+ hook, the Roundtable agenda includes new Club CITGO reporting features designed to simplify performance tracking for single-location and multi-site Marketers alike. Updated loyalty analytics give operators a clearer read on fuel volume tied to enrolled members — data increasingly critical as fuel margins fluctuate and inside-sales attachment becomes a key profitability lever. The sessions will also cover the Good to Go marketing campaign and the Illuminate image program, which helps branded sites refresh forecourt and canopy presentation.
Greg Caponegro, General Manager of Light Oil Sales at CITGO, framed the Roundtable as an operational toolkit moment: "From Walmart+ Gas Savings to upcoming Club CITGO enhancements, we are focused on delivering more value to consumers while giving Marketers new tools to grow their businesses and compete in a changing marketplace."
Industry Backdrop
A dedicated State of the Industry session led by OPIS Chief Oil Analyst Denton Cinquegrana will give attendees a grounded read on wholesale price dynamics and downstream demand trends — useful context for Marketers setting rack-plus pricing strategy heading into winter. Fuel margin pressure has been a recurring theme across the channel: NACS data has shown branded independents leaning harder on loyalty programs and ancillary inside-sales to offset cpg volatility at the pump.
The meetings will also serve as a recognition event. CITGO plans to honor Marketers celebrating milestone anniversaries, with some partnerships stretching back 65 years — underscoring the branded-wholesale model's durability even as large integrated chains expand their footprints. That kind of tenure is increasingly rare in a channel shaped by consolidation and M&A activity.
For c-store operators evaluating branded fuel affiliations, CITGO's Walmart+ partnership represents a meaningful consumer value proposition at the dispenser — one that competes directly with fuel-rewards programs tied to mass-market grocery chains. As loyalty becomes a front-line tool in the fuel and forecourt competition, programs that bridge a high-frequency retail membership (Walmart+) with a fuel brand have demonstrated measurable volume lift in similar cross-brand executions.
CITGO branded customers can register for the remaining Roundtable dates through the CITGO MarketNet online portal or via their local CITGO representative.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
