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MOBIL- History in short
Mobil
1866: The Vacuum Oil Co. incorporated founded.
1879: Standard Oil Co., headed by John D. Rockefeller, purchases a three-quarter interest in Vacuum
1870: Rockefeller and four partners organize Standard Oil Company in Ohio
1882: Rockefeller organizes his various oil holdings into the Standard Oil Trust, with headquarters in New York
1882: Standard Oil of New York formed
1911: Standard Oil Company of New York (Socony) founded with dissolution of Standard Oil
1918: Socony purchases a 45% interest in Magnolia Petroleum Co.
1926: Socony purchases the properties of General Petroleum Corp. of California
1929: Vacuum acquires the Lubrite Refining Co., a refining and marketing company based in St. Louis
1930: Socony acquires White Eagle Oil & Refining Co.
1930: Vacuum acquires Wadhams Oil Corp., and the White Star Refining Co.
1931: Socony acquires all the assets of Vacuum Oil Co. and changes its name to Socony-Vacuum Corp.
1933: Socony-Vacuum and Standard of New Jersey merge their Far East facilities and interests into a 50-50 venture called
Standard-Vacuum Oil Co., or Stanvac
1934: Socony-Vacuum Corp. changes its name to Socony-Vacuum Oil Co., Inc.
1947: Anglo-Iranian, Jersey and Socony sign 20-year contract with Iran
1948: Jersey (30%) and Socony-Vacuum (10%) join Socal (30%) and Texaco (30%) in Aramco venture
1954: Consortium of oil companies, including British Petroleum, Exxon, Socony, Texaco and Socal, Gulf, Royal Dutch/Shell
Group, and CFP form the Iranian Oil Participants Ltd. (IOP) and negotiate agreement with Iranian government and for
oil production in Iran
1955: Socony-Vacuum changes name to Socony Mobil Oil Company
1959: Magnolia Petroleum and General Petroleum merged with other domestic subsidiaries into Socony Mobil Oil Company;
Two major operating divisions created within the company: Mobil Oil Co. for the U.S. and Canada, and Mobil International
Oil Co. for the rest of the world (except the areas in which Stanvac had interests)
1960: Mobil Chemical Co. formed
1960: Mobil Petroleum Co. Inc. formed to oversee Socony Mobil's 50% interest in Stanvac
1962: Assets of Stanvac split between Jersey and Socony Mobil
1966: Socony Mobil Oil Co. changes name to Mobil Oil Corporation. Mobil Oil Co. becomes the North American Division;
Mobil International becomes the International Division, with coordinating responsibility for Mobil Petroleum Co. Inc.
1971: Mobil enters joint venture with Iranian Oil Company
1972: Mobil’s 11.875% stake in Iraq Petroleum Company is nationalized
1975: Mobil increases its share of Aramco from 10% to 15%
1976: Mobil completes acquisition of Marcor, the holding company for Montgomery Ward Department Stores
1976: Mobil Corporation formed as holding company
1979: Mobil sells 51% of its Turkish refinery to Turkish Petroleum
1984: Mobil acquires 100% of Superior Oil
1985: Yanbu Petrochemical Company (YANPET), a joint venture petrochemicals complex at Yanbu, Saudi Arabia plant begins
operation; Mobil and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) are 50-50 partners in YANPET
1996: The Qatargas project, in which Mobil has a 10% interest, comes on line producing first LNG from Qatar
1996: Mobil commissions two new plants in Yemen and Syria
1997: Second Qatargas liquefaction train completed
1998: Exxon and Mobil announce plans for merger.
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Mobil
Mobil was a major American oil company which merged with Exxon in 1999 to form ExxonMobil. Today Mobil continues
as a major brand name within the combined company. Its former headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia are currently used as
ExxonMobil's downstream headquarters.
History
US oil company, known 1931 - 1966 as the Standard Oil Company of New York. In 1999 it merged with the Exxon Cor-
poration to create the world's largest privately-owned oil company. In February 2008 Exxon Mobil announced annual
profits of $40.6 billion, the largest ever recorded by a US company.
Mobil began as the Vacuum Oil Company, founded when Matthew Ewing, a carpenter in Rochester, New York, devis-
ed 1866 a way of making kerosene (paraffin oil) by distilling crude oil in a vacuum. He started manufacturing harness
oil and lubricants for horse-drawn carriages. In 1879 the company was bought by John D Rockefeller, who 1882 ma-
de it part of his newly organized Standard Oil Trust. The same year he also set up the Standard Oil Company of New
York (Socony) as the administrative arm of the trust. Vacuum now sold motor oil under the Mobiloil brand name and
in 1931 joined up with Socony to boost oil and petrol sales. In 1966 the company changed its name to Mobil.
Like the advertisement-girl who was often a bridesmaid but never a bride, Vacuum Oil Co. has many times been rumor-
ed as about to ally with Standard Oil of New York, has just as many times failed to complete the alliance. Last week the
merger was announced, with just one hitch. The hitch was that both companies are fragments of the old "Standard Oil
Trust," and strong will be the belief that what the Supreme Court has rent asunder no man may dare put together. To
argue against this, the companies will maintain, when the government brings a trial injunction, that after the dissolution
the Standard Oil companies were to pursue whatever lawful courses they chose, and that this course is distinctly lawful,
for Vacuum and Standard of New York are noncompetitive. In the U. S., Vacuum concentrates on lubricating oil (Gargoyle,
Mobil oil), Standard of New York on gasoline (Socony) Abroad, Vacuum markets gasoline and kerosene in Egypt, parts
of Europe, Africa, and Australasia, while noncompetitive Standard of New York does the same thing in the Near East,
India, Aden, and the Orient.
Standard of New York. One of the major sections of the "Oil Trust" was Standard of New York, whose 1928 income was
about $40,000,000. A distributing company itself, it controls Magnolia Petroleum Co. and General Petroleum Corp. of
California, through which it operates some 221,000 acres of oil land.
Vacuum. Reputedly the oldest of oil companies in existence, Vacuum was founded in 1866, seven years after the first
commercial production of petroleum, by Matthew Ewing, inventor, and Hiram B. Everest, grocer, on the basis of a va-
cuum distillation process which Mr. Ewing maintained could turn petroleum 100% into kerosene. This was a valuable
claim because the lighter distillations, such as are used for gasoline, were in those days dumped into rivers as waste-
products. When the process failed, Mr. Ewing dropped out, but Mr. Everest developed Vacuum Harness Oil, sold it in
second-hand oyster cans.
In 1880 Vacuum was absorbed by Standard Oil and developed rapidly when lubricating oil was needed for the stationary
engine, the automobile, and finally the electric generator, motor and transformer and the steam turbine.
Merger. The union of the two companies would create a concern with assets of about $900,000,000, with earnings far
above those of Standard of California, about equal to Standard of Indiana, but below Standard of New Jersey. The two
companies would distribute petroleum products equal to about 9% of the total U. S. consumption. Especially potent
would be the new combination in battling the Royal Dutch-Shell group which has been engaged in combat with Standard
of New York both here and abroad.
The merger would be accomplished through a new holding company, General Petroleum, in which New York holders
would receive share for share, and Vacuum three for one. Thus the identity of each company would be kept separate,
and the management preserved. At the head of Standard is Herbert Lee Pratt, whose family is said to be the dominant
stockholder. A few years ago the Rockefeller interests were revealed as having a 23.6% interest in Vacuum and a
17.8% interest in Standard of New York, but it is believed that to make the merger seem less a revival of the "Rockefeller
Dragon," these holdings have been diminished and placed in other Standard Oil companies while the Pratt family has
similarly withdrawn from others and concentrated in Standard of New York.
Following the break-up of Standard Oil in 1911 the Standard Oil Company of New York or Socony was founded, along with
33 other successor companies. In 1920 the company registered the name "Mobiloil" as a trademark.
Henry Clay Folger was head of the company until 1923, when he was succeeded by Herbert L. Pratt. Beginning February
29, 1928 on NBC, Socony Oil reached radio listeners with a comedy program, Soconyland Sketches, scripted by William
Ford Manley and featuring Arthur Allen and Parker Fennelly as rural New Englanders. Socony continued to sponsor the
show when it moved to CBS (1934-35).
In 1931, Socony merged with Vacuum Oil to form Socony-Vacuum. In 1955, Socony-Vacuum was renamed Socony Mobil
Oil Company. Its current logo was introduced in 1966, the same year it was named Mobil Oil Corporation. The name was
finally shortened to Mobil Corporation in 1976.
From 1936 to 1968, Mobil sponsored an economy run each year (except during World War II) in which domestic automobiles
of various manufacturers in several price and size classes were driven by light-footed drivers on cross-country runs. The
Economy Run originated with the Gilmore Oil Company of California in 1936 (which was purchased by Socony-Vacuum in
1940) and later became the Mobilgas Economy Run and still later, the Mobil Economy Run. The cars driven in the economy
run were fueled with Mobil gasoline and Mobiloil and lubricants were also used. The vehicles in each class that achieved the
highest fuel economy numbers were awarded the coveted title as the Mobilgas Economy Run winner.
Through the years, Mobil was among the largest sellers of gasoline and motor oils in the United States and even held the top
spot during the 1940s and much of the 1950s. Various Mobil products during the Socony-Vacuum and Socony-Mobil years
included Metro, Mobilgas and Mobilgas Special gasolines; Mobilfuel Diesel, Mobil-flame heating oil, Mobil Kerosine, Lubrite,
Gargoyle, Mobiloil and Mobiloil Special motor oils; Mobilgrease, Mobillubrication, Mobil Upperlube, Mobil Freezone and Per-
mazone antifreezes, Mobilfluid automatic transmission fluid, Mobil Premiere tires, Mobil Stop-Leak, Mobil Lustrecloth, a-
mong many others.
In 1954, Mobil introduced a new and improved Mobilgas Special in response to trends toward new automobiles powered
by high-compression engines that demanded higher and higher octane gasolines. The newest formulas of Mobilgas Spe-
cial was advertised as offering "A Tune-Up in Every Tankful" due to a combination of chemicals known as the "Mobil Power
Compound" which was designed to increase power, check pre-ignition ping, correct spark plug misfiring, control stalling
and combat gumming up of carburetors. Later Mobil campaigns advertised Mobilgas as the "New Car Gasoline" following
extensive testing during the annual Mobilgas Economy Run.
In 1962, the gasoline product lines marketed as Mobilgas and Mobilgas Special were rebranded as Mobil Regular and Mobil
Premium in a move to emphasize the shortened brand name "Mobil" in promotional efforts although Mobiloil continued as
a single word term until the 1970s. After a few years of advertising Mobil gasolines as "Megatane"-rated and as "High Energy"
gasolines, Mobil in 1966 began promoting both its Regular and Premium fuels as "Detergent Gasolines" due to additives
designed to clean carburetors and various internal engine parts. During the early 1970s, Mobil ran a TV commercial featu-
ring a character known as Mr. Dirt to show the ruinous effects that dirt had on automotive engines for which a tank of Mobil
Detergent Gasoline could provide a cure and preventive medicine against damage that could lead to costly repairs. Speaking
of detergent gasolines, as automakers were switching en masse from carbureted to fuel injected engines during the early
to mid 1980s and detergent additives which existed in most available gasolines were insufficient to prevent injection clogging
leading to drivability problems, Mobil received accolades from General Motors and other automakers for increasing the deter-
gency of its Super Unleaded gasoline in 1984 to prevent formation or deposit build-ups of the injectors but also remove ex-
isting deposits as well in normal driving. At the end of the 1980s Mobil sold its fuel stations in Norway, Sweden and Denmark
to Norsk Hydro, who converted them into Hydro stations.
William P. Tavoulareas was President of Mobil Corporation until succeeded by Allen E. Murray in 1984.
In 1998 Mobil and Exxon agreed on a merger to create ExxonMobil, which was completed on November 30, 1999. Lou
Noto was Chairman of Mobil at the time of the merger.
Mobil UK
Vacuum Oil Company started selling lubricating oils in Europe in the late 19th century. By the 1930s its Mobiloil had become
one of the main brands. Mobil gradually expanded its operation into fuels retailing as well, and opened its first UK service
stations in the early 1950s, after the wartime POOL monopoly was disbanded. Mobil grew to become the seventh largest
brand of petrol in Britain supplying 1,990 outlets in 1965, and claimed in the mid-1960s to be the first company to operate
100 self-service stations. As well as its downstream interests, Mobil was active in the North Sea and operated an oil refine-
ry in Coryton (opened in 1953), on the Thames estuary. In 1996, the Mobil's fuels operations in Europe were placed into a
joint venture 70% owned by BP and the Mobil brand disappeared from service stations. Mobil continued to sell lubricants
through BP and independent service stations. Following Mobil's merger with Exxon, at the start of 2000 BP acquired all the
petrol retailing assets as well as the Coryton refinery (but sold it to Petroplus in 2007). Mobil returned to being purely a lubri-
cant brand in Europe, and became the premium quality oil on sale at Esso service stations.