Wikipedia

Conoco

This article is about the company prior to its merger with Phillips. For the company today known sometimes as Conoco, see ConocoPhillips. For the American military airbase, see Mission Support Site Conoco.
Not to be confused with television production firm Conaco.

Conoco (/ˈkɒnəkoʊ/ KON-ə-koh),[2] formerly known as Continental Oil, is an American petroleum brand that is operating under the current ownership of the Phillips 66 Company since 2012 and is headquartered in the Westchase neighborhood of Houston, (Harris County), Texas. The brand is one of the several successors of the original Standard Oil Company ("oil trust" founded 1870 by industrial titan John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937). Conoco was a subsidiary of that dominant petroleum company from 1884 until its 1911 divestiture when the United States Supreme Court in the federal national capital city of Washington, D.C. in a major significant anti-trust legal case ruled to decouple and break up the monopolized entity of Standard Oil.

Conoco Inc.
Formerly
  • Continental Oil and Transportation Company (1875–1911)
  • Continental Oil Company (1911–1999)
  • Conoco, Inc. (1999–2002)
Company type
NYSE: COC (1998–2002)[1]
IndustryPetroleum
Predecessor
FoundedNovember 25, 1875; 149 years ago (1875-11-25) in Ogden, Utah
FounderIsaac Elder Blake
DefunctAugust 30, 2002 (2002-08-30) (as a company)
FateMerged with Phillips Petroleum, remaining as a brand
Successors
HeadquartersWestchase,
Houston, (Harris County), Texas
Area served
Worldwide
Products

Select locations

OwnerPhillips 66 Company
Websiteconoco.com

Alongside Phillips 66 and 76, it operates as one of the major fuel brands of the Phillips 66 Company.[3] Of those two brands, Conoco has a more dominant presence of gas refueling stations in the markets of the states of Colorado, Texas, Montana, Missouri, and Oklahoma in the Midwestern United States, as well as a growing presence in Eastern Pennsylvania following taking over the retail contracts of several Gulf Oil locations there, while having a complete absence in states such as California to the west and Florida to the far southeast.[4]

Continental Oil, originally based in Ogden, Utah was founded by Isaac Elder Blake in November 1875 as the Continental Oil and Transportation Company and was acquired nine years later in 1884 by the increasingly dominant Standard Oil Company (nicknamed the "oil trust", established 14 years earlier in 1870, by John D. Rockefeller, Sr. 1839-1937).

Eighteen years after Standard Oil’s federal court-ordered dissolution of 1911, Marland Oil Company (founded in 1921 by E. W. (Ernest Whitworth) Marland (1874-1941), oilman, businessman and later politician of Pennsylvania and later Oklahoma), would then acquire Continental Oil, moving its headquarters to Marland's home town of Ponca City, (Kay County), Oklahoma, in 1929.

As the Continental-Marland acquisition took effect, Marland Oil favorably phased out its own personal name and rebranded itself into the more nationally known titles of Continental and Conoco nameplates. As it eventually became one of the largest oil companies in the United States, Conoco further expanded its operations globally during the decade of the 1970s.[5]

Similar to other oil companies during the 1970s energy crisis, initially caused by the 1973-1974 Arab oil embargo, Conoco’s operations were negatively impacted and so in 1981, Conoco then the ninth-largest American oil company at the time, was embroiled in one of the most expensive corporate takeovers in U.S. history when the Mobil Corporation and Seagram attempted to acquire the company. The DuPont company, of Wilmington, Delaware who was conjured up by Ralph Bailey (the C.E.O. of Conoco at the time) was brought in and hired as a so-called "white knight"[6] and would eventually emerge triumphant defending Conoco from the two vendors (corporate predators).[7] DuPont’s acquisition of Conoco at US$1.5 billion dollars, made it the largest merger in U.S. history upon to that time, surpassing that of the earlier Shell Oil’s acquisition of the Belridge Oil Company at USD$3.5 billion dollars in 1979.[8] Almost two decades later, in 1998, DuPont and Conoco announced their intentions to split which was commenced when DuPont sold 30% of its interest that year and the remaining 70% the following year in July 1999, officiating their corporate separation.

For many years, the company would operate its own oil refineries until 2002 when it was merged with the Phillips Petroleum Company to form ConocoPhillips. A decade later, ConocoPhillips would then divest its downstream operations that consisted of its gas stations refueling operations under the brands of Conoco, Phillips 66, and 76. The divestiture would eventually commence and the spin-off that contained the downstream operations of ConocoPhillips went under a separate company known as the Phillips 66 Company.[3]

History

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The "Continental Oil and Transportation Company" was founded by Isaac Elder Blake in November 1875.[9][10] Based in Ogden, Utah, the company distributed the recently discovered mineral resources of petroleum / oil (first found in August 1859 by Edwin Drake (1819-1880), in a well drilled at Oil Creek, near Titusville, (Crawford County), in the far northwestern corner of Pennsylvania) and its refined by-products of kerosene, benzene, and other products in the Western United States.[11] Continental Oil Company was acquired by Standard Oil Company in 1884, and was subsequently spun off during the Standard Oil divestiture in 1911.

 
Conoco logo of 1930, after its acquisition by Marland Oil Co.

The main office was later moved to Ponca City, Oklahoma, when in 1929, Marland Oil Company (founded by exploration pioneer E. W. Marland) acquired the Continental Oil Company.[10][12] Marland Oil acquired the assets (subject to liabilities) of Continental Oil Company for a consideration of 2,317,266 shares of stock. The merged company took the more recognizable Continental name along with the Conoco brand. However, it adopted Marland's red triangle logo, which it retained until 1970, when the now-familiar capsule logo was adopted.[13][14]

 
Conoco offshore oil well drilling platform, Gulf of Mexico, c.1955

Dan Moran (1888-1948, led company 1928-1947), who succeeded Marland Oil Company founder E. W. Marland as president of Marland Oil in 1928, and subsequently became the first president of the merged Conoco. Moran then ran Conoco for twenty years, seeing the company through economic hardships and challenges of the Great Depression of the 1930s, and retiring in 1947, the year before he died.[15] The company ran into early trouble when, shortly after acquisition, it was hit by the Great New York Stock Market Crash of October 1929. Conoco became a key supplier to the United States federal government and its world-wide deployment of the United States Armed Forces, along with several other Allied powers and their militaries during the Second World War (1939/1941-1945).[16]

Under the leadership of successor Leonard F. McCollum, Conoco grew from a regional petroleum company to a global corporation in the post-war years after World War II of the late 1940s and into the 1950s. Another rough patch for the company came two decades later during the 1970s energy crisis, beginning with the 1973-1974 Arab oil embargo (resulting from the fourth Arab-Israeli conflict of the Yom Kippur War of October 1973), from which it did not fully recover until 1981, when Conoco became a subsidiary of former corporate rival DuPont company of Wilmington, Delaware.[17][18]

 
Former Conoco service station in Commerce, Oklahoma, pictured in 2008

In 1981, Dome Petroleum made a tender offer for 20% of Conoco. More than 50% of Conoco shares were tendered, evidence that shareholders were unhappy, and several companies made their own tender offers to take over Conoco.[19] Cash rich and wanting to diversify, Seagram Company Ltd. engineered a takeover of Conoco. Although Seagram acquired a 32.2% stake in Conoco, DuPont was brought in as a "white knight" by the oil company and entered the bidding war. Mobil Corporation, the nation's second-largest oil company at the time, also joined the bid, and borrowed $5 billion dollars to bid for Cocono.[20] In the end, Seagram and Mobil lost out in the Conoco bidding war.[21] In exchange for its stake in Conoco Inc, Seagram became a 24.3% owner (almost one-quarter of stock / interest) of the DuPont company.[citation needed] By 1995, Seagram was DuPont's largest single shareholder with four seats on the board of directors.[22]

In 1998, DuPont sold 30% of Conoco,[23] and in 1999, DuPont sold the remaining 70% stake it holds in Conoco Inc.[24] When the independent Conoco went public in October 1998, under a retooled name, Continental Oil Company, it resulted in the largest IPO in history.[25][26] In 2001, Conoco announced it has agreed to buy Gulf Canada for C$6.7 billion dollars (Canadian), (equal to $4.3 billion dollars, in the United States currency).[27][28][29] Conoco merged with Phillips Petroleum in 2002 to form ConocoPhillips.[30][31]

Corporate headquarters

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Conoco Inc. headquarters in the Energy Corridor area of Houston, current ConocoPhillips headquarters

Before the merger, Conoco had its headquarters in what is now the current ConocoPhillips headquarters in the Energy Corridor of Houston; the complex was formerly known as the Conoco Center.[32][33]

The headquarters of Conoco moved to Houston, in 1949.[10] In 1965, the headquarters moved back East to Manhattan, in New York City. Seven years later in 1972, the headquarters moved northeast outside New York City to adjacent suburban Stamford, Connecticut; there in Stamford, Conoco occupied space in the three-story High Ridge Park commercial complex, remaining for a decade.[34] In 1982, the DuPont company announced that Conoco's headquarters would move again from Stamford, Connecticut further south down the East Coast to Wilmington, Delaware, where DuPont's headquarters were located since its founding almost 222 years earlier in 1802.[35] The move occurred in 1982.[23] Edward G. Jefferson, the chairperson then of DuPont, said that the headquarters relocation was to bring the head workforces of DuPont and Conoco together. DuPont also announced that it was closing the Conoco offices in Stamford; the lease in the Stamford commercial offices complex was originally scheduled to expire in 1992.[34]

Conoco–Iran deal

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In 1995, Conoco Inc. was awarded a contract by the Islamic Republic of Iran to develop a huge offshore oilfield in the adjacent Persian Gulf to the south. It was the first energy agreement involving Iran and the United States since Washington severed diplomatic relations 15 years before with Tehran in 1979-1980, during the American Embassy invasion, seizure and occupation there by mobs of student activists and taking U.S. diplomats hostage for a year in the Iran hostage crisis. The contract was signed after three years of protracted negotiations.[36] However, the company dropped the plan after the White House announced that after further consideration and consultation, that 42nd President Bill Clinton (born 1946, served 1993-2001), would issue a directive blocking all such transactions on grounds of national security.[37]

Museum

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The official Conoco historical museum was completed in 2007 and is located in Ponca City, Oklahoma, along with the preserved 1914 mansion Marland Grand Home on Grand Avenue, residence of co-founder E. W. (Ernest Whitworth) Marland (1874-1941) and his two wives and adopted children.[38]

Conoco brand

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Conoco gas station and quick shop in Miles City, Montana

Along with sister brands, Phillips 66, and 76, "Conoco" (IPA: [ˈkɒnəkoʊ]),[39] is a major American brand of oil and gas station that has been owned by Phillips 66 since 2012 and was originally the brand used by its originator, Conoco Inc., from 1875 to its merger with Phillips Petroleum in 2002. Although the Conoco brand can be used in any state in which the Phillips 66 Company operates, it is very rare to see the Conoco brand in California and Oregon where the 76 brand predominates.[40][41]

Leadership

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President

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Isaac E. Blake, 1877–1893
Henry M. Tilford, 1893–1907
Edward T. Wilson, 1907–1924
C. E. Strong, 1924–1927
Sidney H. Keoughan, 1927–1929
Daniel J. Moran, 1929–1947
Leonard F. McCollum, 1947–1964
Andrew W. Tarkington, 1964–1969
John G. McLean, 1969–1972
Howard W. Blauvelt, 1974
Dr John E. Kircher, 1974–1977
Ralph E. Bailey, 1977–1987
Constantine S. Nicandros, 1987–1995
Archie W. Dunham, 1996–2002

Chairman of the Board

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Edward T. Wilson, 1929–19??
Charles A. Perlitz Jr, 1963–1964
Leonard F. McCollum, 1964–1972
John G. McLean, 1972–1974
Howard W. Blauvelt, 1974–1979
Ralph E. Bailey, 1979–1987
Constantine S. Nicandros, 1995–1996
Edgar S. Woolard Jr., 1998–1999
Archie W. Dunham, 1999–2002

Bibliography

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  • Mathews, John Joseph (1992). Life and Death of an Oil Man: The Career of E. W. Marland (1951 ed.). Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-1238-7.
  • Conoco: The First One Hundred Years. Dell Publishing, 1975.

References

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  1. ^ "Conoco to cut 975 jobs – Dec. 29, 1998". money.cnn.com. CNN. CNN Money. 29 December 1998. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  2. ^ "NLS Other Writings: The ABC Book, A Pronunciation Guide". National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS) | Library of Congress. Retrieved 2022-01-07.
  3. ^ a b "Phillips 66 to Roll Out New Brand Images". Convenience Store News. Ensemble IQ. Convenience Store News. 15 July 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  4. ^ "Number of Conoco gas stations in the United States in 2023". Scrapehero. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  5. ^ "The Business Journal Interview with Ryan Lance, CEO and chairman of ConocoPhillips (Video)". Houston Business Journal. CNN. American City Business Journals. 26 September 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  6. ^ Gaines, William R. (1996). "Pre-Reorganization Continuity of Interest and the Historic Shareholder Concept: J.E. Seagram Corp. v. Commissioner". The Tax Lawyer. 50 (1) (50 ed.). American Bar Association: 249–263. JSTOR 20771863. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  7. ^ Rowe Jr., James L. (6 August 1981). "Du Pont Wins Costly Fight Over Conoco". The Washington Post. New York City, New York: Nash Holdings. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  8. ^ Noble, Kenneth B. (18 August 1981). "TAKEOVER OF CONOCO BACKED BY DU PONT'S SHAREHOLDERS". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  9. ^ "1909-1875". ConocoPhillips. Retrieved 2018-07-11.
  10. ^ a b c "ConocoPhillips Announces Museum Plans For Ponca City and Bartlesville" (Press release). ConocoPhillips. May 13, 2005. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  11. ^ "Our History: 1875–1909". ConocoPhilips. Archived from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  12. ^ "History of ConocoPhillips Canada". ConocoPhilips Canada. Archived from the original on 18 September 2012. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  13. ^ "Marland Oil Company | The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture". www.okhistory.org. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  14. ^ Mufson, Steven. "Marland estate, from an earlier oil boom". Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  15. ^ Conoco. "Our History 1910 – 1929" retrieved May 31, 2021.
  16. ^ Banham, Russ (2000). Conoco: 125 Years of Energy. Lyme, Conn.: Greenwich Publishing Group, Inc. p. 67. ISBN 0944641385.
  17. ^ Friedman, Thomas L. (1981-08-06). "DU PONT VICTOR IN COSTLY BATTLE TO BUY CONOCO (Published 1981)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  18. ^ Sloan, Allan (1998-11-03). "DUPONT'S 17-YEAR OWNERSHIP OF CONOCO WAS A LOW-OCTANE INVESTMENT". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  19. ^ Nocera, Joseph (October 1982). ""It's Time To Make a Deal"". Texas Monthly. Retrieved 2024-05-22.
  20. ^ Cole, Robert J. (1981-07-14). "MOBIL IS REORTED TO SEEK $5 BILLION TO BID FOR CONOCO (Published 1981)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  21. ^ Friedman, Thomas L. (1981-08-06). "DU PONT VICTOR IN COSTLY BATTLE TO BUY CONOCO (Published 1981)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  22. ^ Wayne, Leslie (1985-08-11). "SEAGRAM PUTS ITS FAITH IN CHEMICALS (Published 1985)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  23. ^ a b "DuPont, Conoco SplittingArchived 2001-07-15 at the Wayback Machine." Ponca City News. Monday May 11, 1998. Retrieved on February 3, 2010.
  24. ^ "Dupont announces "split-off" of Conoco unit – Jul. 9, 1999". money.cnn.com. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  25. ^ Hamilton, Martha M. (1998-10-22). "CONOCO RAISES $4.4 BILLION IN IPO". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  26. ^ "Conoco revamps IPO to draw $4.4 billion – Oct. 21, 1998". money.cnn.com. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  27. ^ "CNN.com – Conoco to buy Gulf Canada for $4.3B – May 29, 2001". edition.cnn.com. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  28. ^ Barrionuevo, Alexei; Carlisle, Tamsin (2001-05-30). "Conoco Reaches Deal to Buy Gulf Canada for $4.33 Billion". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  29. ^ "Oil patch merger: Conoco gets Gulf Canada for $9.8 billion | CBC News". CBC. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  30. ^ "ConocoPhillips". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  31. ^ "With Conditions, FTC Approves Merger of Phillips and Conoco". Federal Trade Commission. 2002-08-30. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  32. ^ ""Write Conoco!."". Archived from the original on February 19, 1997. Retrieved 2017-04-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) Conoco Inc. February 19, 1997. Retrieved on January 16, 2010.
  33. ^ ""Conoco World Headquarters Address."". Archived from the original on November 1, 1996. Retrieved 2017-04-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) Conoco Inc. November 1, 1996. Retrieved on January 17, 2010.
  34. ^ a b "Conoco Offices to Close[permanent dead link‍]." The New York Times at The Spokesman-Review. Sunday November 7, 1982. C10. Google News 48 of 67. Retrieved on February 3, 2010.
  35. ^ "DU PONT TO MOVE CONOCO'S OFFICES." The Philadelphia Inquirer. November 6, 1982. D08. Retrieved on February 3, 2010.
  36. ^ Iran Signs Oil Deal With Conoco; First Since 1980 Break With U.S. The New York Times – March 7, 1995
  37. ^ CLINTON TO ORDER A TRADE EMBARGO AGAINST TEHERAN The New York Times – May 1, 1995
  38. ^ "Homepage". Conoco Museum. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  39. ^ Per exhibit at the Conoco Museum in Ponca City, Oklahoma, viewed May 5, 2021.
  40. ^ Scrape Hero. "How many Conoco locations are there in the United States in 2021?" retrieved May 31, 2021.
  41. ^ Scrape hero. "76 gas station locations in the USA" retrieved May 31, 2021.
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