75 Years With Standard Oil Company
View of California’s first oil refinery, at Newhall, Calif. Now re
stored as a historical monument, this rudimentary plant was con
structed in 1876 by a predecessor company of Standard Oil Company
of California. From this modest beginning the company expanded its
refining operations to the present gian* tilities at Richmond, El
Segundo and elsewhere.
PRODUCTION:
In 1876, a small company later
to become part of Standard of
California, brought in Califor
nia’s first successful well. It
flowed 30 barrels a day. TODAY
the company’s U.S. production
totals nearly 125,000.000 barrels
a year from 7,000 wells. In addi
tion, its share of affiliats' pro
duction in the eastern hemis
phere totals 100.000.000 barrels
annually. Between them the par
ent company, its subsidiaries and
affiliates operate producing pro
perties in ten states and seven
foreign countries.
REFINING:
Also in 1876. a predecessor
company built California's first
refinery, at Newhall. Its capacity
was 22,000 barrels annually and
its principal output was kerosene
and grease. TODAY. Standard
and its wholly-owned subsidiar
ies operate six major refineries
in the United States with a com
ined capacity of 150.000.000 bar
rels a year. They manufacture
more than a thousand products.
A Standard subsidiary also oper
ates five asphalt refineries in the
U.S. and affiliated companies op
erate 10 oil refineries in eight
foreign countries.
TRANSPORTATION:
California's first pipe line —
seven miles long — was con
structed by a Standard predeces
sor in 1878. TODAY, Standard
of California and wholly-owned
subsidiaries maintain hundreds
of miles of pipe lines across eight
western states and have an in
terest in pipe lines in Arabia and
Canada.
In 1885, another Standard an
cestor placed in operation the
first all-steel tankship on the
Pacific Coast, the S. S. George
Loomis (capacity, G.600 barrels).
TODAY, the company and its
subsidiaries operate fleets of sea
going tankers on every ocean
(ranging in capacity from 130.000
to 240.000 barrels each).
MARKETING:
In 1884, a Standard of Califor
nia predecessor opened the com
pany's first marketing office in
the loft over a San Francisco
butcher shop. TODAY, more
than 7,000 Chevron dealers,
Standard Stations, airport and
waterside outlets serve consu
mers directly in the seven Pacific
western states. Wholly-owned
subsidiaries operate through hun
dreds of independent dealers in
the Rockies and on the Eastern
seaboard. Affiliates abroad alsc
market products in nearly 7C
countries outside the Iron Cur
tain.
RESEARCH:
In its 75 years, the company
has been in the forefront of dis
covery of new uses for petro
leum products and better ways
to manufacture them. TODAY,
California Research Corporation
with a thousand employees of
whom half are scientists and
technicians, functions as the re
search arm of Standard of Calif.
The efforts and achievements
of this subsidiary have kept
Standard a leader in the manu
facture of petrochemicals (such
as the basic ingredients in deter
gents. paints and lacquers, and
plastics) as well as foremost in
the development of new and bet
ter automotive fuels and lubri
cants.
FINANCIAL POSITION:
Pacific Coast Oil Company,
original predecessor of Standard
of California, was established by
a few businessmen in 1879 with
a capitalization of about a mil
lion dollars. By 1884, it was sel
ling $350,000 in petroleum pro
ducts annually. TODAY, the net
worth of the company is more
than $1.4 billion; net earnings
are over $170,000,000 yearly; the
company's owners -11^,000 sepa
rate stockholders - include chur
ches, hospitals, universities, phi
lanthropic funds, investment
trusts, small and large busines
ses, company employees, and
many individual investors.
Company To Observe
75th Anniversary
Standard Oil Co. of Calif, has
a significant birthday coming up
in 1954. This leader of the petro
leum industry observes the 75th
anniversary of its corporate his
tory on September 9, the date on
which a small group of visionary
oilmen organized the original
predecessor company of the pre
sent firm.
President T. S. Petersen, who
has been with Standard since
1922, described the anniversary
to be celebrated this year as 'a
milestone iTi the growth and ma
turity that has been achieved by
the company,’ and declared:
In the years that this firm and
its predecessors have been in op
eration. we have been privileged
to be a part of one of the most
industrial developments of all
time.
'From modest beginnings, wes
tern oil companies such as ours
have flourished, expanded, and
During its 75 year history, Standard Oil Company of California and
its subsidiaries have built up a complex network of thousands of
miles of crude oil and products pipe lines throughout the West.
Above, a typical pipe line laying operation.
have gone on to additional suc
America and the world.
'Today, our operations are in
ternational in scope; we can no
longer be considered a purely re
gional concern. But we continue
to take great pride in our west
ern origins.
‘I sincerely believe the healthy
economic climate of the West has
been a key factor in all of our
progress and I would not hesi
tate to predict our long-range
pattern of growth will be con
tinued, to the benifit of all the
companies and customers con
cerned.’
Standard of California, which
traces its linage to both the
original Standard Oil Company
and the first native California
oil industry, dates its corporate
history from the founding of Pa
cific Coast Oil Company in 1879.
Pacific Coast Oil was later
purchased by the Standard Oil
interests and, in 1906, was merg
ed with another Rockefeller Co.,
Standard Oil Company (Iowa),
to form Standard Oil Company
(California).
The latter firm became a com
pletely independent co., with its
own directors and stockholders,
when the vast Standard Oil Co.
holdings were broken up by the
Supreme Court dissolution de
cree of 1911.
Continuing to operate entirely
First oil industry 8-hour day was introduced
by Standard in 1917. This was a major
step in our employee relations programs
which include health, pension, insurance
benefits and a stock purchase plan—95%
of eligible employees own Company stock.
On Lindbergh’s trans-Atlantic flight in 1927,
we fueled “The Spirit of St. Louis.” Now,
safer airliners, faster military planes mark
aviation progress whichStandard research
has served. Today we're making jet and
rocket fuels for tomorrow’s aircraft.
New power for transportation and industry
was born in 1935 when Standard’s first
compounded diesel lubricating oil made
high-speed diesel engines a practical real
ity. Now our scientists are working on
lubricants for the first atomic submarine.
Making housework easier, Standard made
detergents available for “soapless soaps’’
in 1946. Later we produced the basic in
gredients for wrinkle-proof clothing for
men and women, adding again to the more
than 1100 products we make from oil.
We pioneered peace-time useof atomic energy.
; In 1950, using radioactive piston rings,
Standard measured engine wear as it oc
; curs, used this research to develop better
motor oils, including a new oil so superior
it can boost gas mileage up to 15%.
yF. drive on tires born in a refinery,
whisk over asphalt super-high
ways, read about kerosene-powered
planes that crack the sound barrier.
And you live in a West undreamed of
by those 1879’ers who formed the
Company from which Standard grew.
What lies ahead? If the past is any clue,
oil will be saving you more work and
money, improving your transportation
and putting more luxury in your living.
And Standard will continue to play a
big part in this progress as we follow
our 75-year tradition of planning ahpad
to serve you and the nation better.
STANDARD OIL COMPANY
OF CALIFORNIA
independent of other major Std.
cesses in many other parts of
Oil companies to this day, Stan
dard Oil Company of California
acquired its present name in
1926, evolving out of a corporate
reorganization of Standard Oil
(California).
An acknowledged leader in
the petroleum economy of the
West, and of the world, Standard
of California has some signifi
cant ‘firsts’ to its credit:
Drilling of ‘Pico 4’, Califor
nia's first commercially suc
cessful oil well in 1876 and
erection of one of the earliest
refineries in the state at New
hall, a few months later.
Standard laid the first ma
jor pipe line up the San Joa
quin Valley to its Richmond
Refinery in 1903, and establi
shed the first automobile ser
vice station in America at
Seattle in 1907.
Probably the most interes
ting of all the company's
‘firsts’ wTas the discovery of oil
on Bahrain Island, in the Per
sian Gulf, in 1932, and in
Saudi Arabia in 1938.
Irrespective of its past accom
plishments, however, Standard
of California continues to main
tain a policy of planned expan
sion . In the budget for
the current year, approximately
$275,000,000 has been earmarked
for capital and exploratory pur
poses.
Nearly two-thirds of the total,
or about $175,000,000 will be
spent to find new oil reserves
and for the development of pro
duction in existing fields. The
balance will be spread through
out other operations.
The 1954 spending program,
an all-time record high for the
company, will exceed 1953 ex
penditures by about $50,000,000.
It will be financed by funds on
hand and those generated by
operations.
jiiiiiiiiiiimiuiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMuiiiiiiiiiiiumiiiiimiHiiiiiiimiiiMtiiiiUMu
Kathryn Galen
Special Agent
) NEW YORK LIFE j
Insurance Co.
SPOKANE ROOMS
No. 9 1
1 137 4th Ave. • Adams 263 e
SF’VARD. ALASKA
Hera’s to good friends —
Anti to times that are pleasant
and good.
UMdt jfjmh 'BouAboic
fiiMtLt7QS
IH WEE'S nXBTBOOSBOH
Salute your
friends with
Beam . . .
the way
friends have
done ever
since 1795.
Toasting
with Beam
is a
compliment
everybody
appreciates.
^ *«*
* CTOliruT
KENTUCKY STHAIMT
BOURBON WHISKEY
8S PROOF
S*m 7NK ’**“*
U»TUCKTJVrSTHAIEHT
aiHUOK WHISKY
JAMES B. BEAM
DISTILLING U.,
CLERMONT, KENTUCKY
THAT'S n FI1CT
EARL O. SHREVE,
NEW NATIONAL
DIRECTOR OP U.f.
SAVINGS BONDS OMSfeN.
£&UNG EARL ARRIVED IN SAN FRANCBCC
SHORTLY AFTER THE FAMOUS EARTHQUAKE.
HE MOVED ON TO NEVADA, WHERE THE
LIFE EXPECTANCY WAS DANGEROUSLY LOW
IN 1907 BUT YOUNG EARL WEATHERED
THESE HAZARDS TO BECOME A SUCCESS
FUL BUSINESS MAN AND PUBLIC
SERVANT. TODAY HE LEADS AN
AMERICAN CRUSADE FOR THRIFT AND
SOUND MONEY. THE PRODUCT HE SELLS
IS V S SAVINGS BONDS- SAFE,
SUM. AND
PMF/TABie.
JARL TAUGHT HIMSELF
TELEGRAPHY AFTER RIGGING
HIS OWN SENDING SET OUT OP
OLD BATTERIES PLUS A FEW
YARDS OF STOVE-PIPE WIRE/
DQeNRY DAVID THOREAU ONCE SAID:
'TUB MORE ONE WANTS, THE BETTER ONE WANTS.’
IF YOU WANT SECURITY FOR THE FUTURE, THE BEST
WAY TO ACHIEVE FT IS BY BUYING US. SAVINGS BONDS REGULARLY/
\
"%otv It
fyoet 'Scyin
VERMONT GOT ITS NAME FROM THE
FRENCH WORDS VERT (GREEN),
AND MONT (MOUNTAIN)
SAVING AS LITTLE AS A COUPLE Of DOLLARS
EACH BAYDAY THROUGH THE SAVINGS BOND
PAYROLL SAVINGS PLAN WHERE YOU WORK,
So low and easy to load /
Alev
SM-RatedS’B'BMJJGKS
• Sharpest turning trucks on
the road • Unequalled visi
bility for added safety •
Greatest cab comfort • Most
powerful high-tonnage V-8’s
• Famous Dodge 6’s, too .
Wider doors, lower step, for
easy entry • New styling in
side and out • Priced with the
lowest!
OPPER
A better deal
man
at the wheel
minutes behind the wheel .. .
will Prove Dodge bonks a heller deal! See or phone os toda,!
bay city motors
3rd Ave. & D Street Sewos-d AUeskee