Standard Oil - Successor Companies

Successor Companies

The successor companies from Standard Oil's breakup form the core of today's US oil industry. (Several of these companies were considered among the Seven Sisters who dominated the industry worldwide for much of the 20th century.) They include:

• Standard Oil of New Jersey (SONJ) - or Esso (S.O.) – renamed Exxon, now part of ExxonMobil. Standard Trust companies Carter Oil, Imperial Oil (Canada), and Standard of Louisiana were kept as part of Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup.
• Standard Oil of New York – or Socony, merged with Vacuum – renamed Mobil, now part of ExxonMobil.
• Standard Oil of California – or Socal – renamed Chevron, became ChevronTexaco, but returned to Chevron.
• Standard Oil of Indiana - or Stanolind, renamed Amoco (American Oil Co.) – now part of BP.
• Standard's Atlantic and the independent company Richfield merged to form Atlantic Richfield or ARCO, now part of BP. Atlantic operations were spun off and bought by Sunoco.
• Standard Oil of Kentucky – or Kyso was acquired by Standard Oil of California - currently Chevron.
• Continental Oil Company – or Conoco now part of ConocoPhillips.
• Standard Oil of Ohio – or Sohio, acquired by BP in 1987.
• The Ohio Oil Company – or The Ohio, and marketed gasoline under the Marathon name. The company is now known as Marathon Oil Company, and was often a rival with the in-state Standard spinoff, Sohio.

Other Standard Oil spin-offs:

• Standard Oil of Iowa – pre-1911 – became Standard Oil of California.
• Standard Oil of Minnesota – pre-1911 – bought by Standard Oil of Indiana.
• Standard Oil of Illinois - pre-1911 - bought by Standard Oil of Indiana.
• Standard Oil of Kansas – refining only, eventually bought by Indiana Standard.
• Standard Oil of Missouri – pre-1911 – dissolved.
• Standard Oil of Louisiana – always owned by Standard Oil of New Jersey (now ExxonMobil).
• Standard Oil of Brazil – always owned by Standard Oil of New Jersey (now ExxonMobil).

Other companies divested in the 1911 breakup:

• Anglo-American Oil Co. – acquired by Jersey Standard in 1930, now Esso UK.
• Buckeye Pipe Line Co.
• Borne-Scrymser Co. (chemicals)
• Chesebrough Manufacturing (now Unilever)
• Colonial Oil.
• Crescent Pipeline Co.
• Cumberland Pipe Line Co.
• Eureka Pipe Line Co.
• Galena-Signal Oil Co.
• Indiana Pipe Line Co.
• National Transit Co.
• New York Transit Co.
• Northern Pipe Line Co.
• Prairie Oil & Gas.
• Solar Refining.
• Southern Pipe Line Co.
• South Penn Oil Co. – eventually became Pennzoil, now part of Shell.
• Southwest Pennsylvania Pipe Line Co.
• Swan and Finch.
• Union Tank Lines.
• Washington Oil Co.
• Waters-Pierce.

Note: Standard Oil of Colorado was not a successor company; the name was used to capitalize on the Standard Oil brand in the 1930s. Standard Oil of Connecticut is a fuel oil marketer not related to the Rockefeller companies.