Not Gulf or Cumberland Farms, really. Try Mobil.

I know a few people who have stopped filling up at Mobil stations as a low-key protest against Exxon Mobil's record profits.

But it's not so easy to avoid the gas behemoth, we find out today, thanks to Rob Gavin's article in the Globe

Quoting Rob: "Gulf Oil LP of Newton, for example, bought the delivery contracts for more than 500 company-owned and franchised Exxon stations in 2003 after they were divested following the merger of Exxon and Mobil. Gulf, a fuel wholesaler and New England's only major locally owned gasoline brand, switched 11 stations it operates on the Massachusetts Turnpike to Gulf from Exxon. Next year, it plans to switch another 158 Exxon-branded stations in New York and New England owned by its parent, Cumberland Farms of Canton, to Gulf. Gulf supplies gasoline to another 300 Exxon stations in the region. Gulf expects about two-thirds of those stations to operate under the Gulf flag.''

Now Gulf chief says he's interested in the New England contingent of 820 Exxon stations that Exxon says it's selling.

For those people who thought they were making a statement by snubbing Exxon (which had snubbed Rockefeller family pressure to move toward alternative fuels), does that mean that Gulf or Cumby gas comes from Exxon Mobil in the end?

I'm trying to figure this out, and if you can help our, join the conversation in our Comments section below.