Marathon Oil in North America, including $600 million in the Eagle Ford and $200 million in the Bakken formation. The company owns 277,000 net acres in the Bakken formation. Marathon began as The Ohio Oil Company in 1887. In 1889, it was purchased by John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil. It remained a part of Standard Oil until Standard Oil was broken in 1911. In 1930, The Ohio Oil Company bought the Transcontinental Oil Company and established the "Marathon" brand name. In 1962, the company changed its name to "Marathon Oil Company". In 1982, Mobil made a hostile offer to buy the company;
Standard Vacuum Oil Company Standard Vacuum Oil Company The Standard Vacuum Oil Company was a joint venture by Standard Oil of New Jersey, and Mobil Oil to make and market products in the Far East. Around World War I, the market in the Far East was too large to leave unattended, but still small. Thus these two American oil companies started Standard Vacuum Oil as a joint venture. 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.