Gulf expanded on a worldwide basis from the end of the Second World War. The company leveraged its international drilling experience to other areas of the world, and by mid-1943 had established a presence in the eastern oil fields of Venezuela as Mene Grande Oil Company. Much of the company's retail sales expansion was through the acquisition of privately owned chains of filling stations in various countries, allowing Gulf outlets to sell product (sometimes through "matching" arrangements) from the oil that it was "lifting" in Canada, the Gulf of Mexico, Kuwait, and Venezuela. Some of these acquisitions were to prove less than resilient in the face of economic and political developments from the 1970s on. Gulf invested heavily in product technology and developed many specialty products, particularly for application in the maritime and aviation engineering sectors. It was particularly noted for its range of lubricants and greases.