Shell Oil Company

Shell Oil follows the Royal Dutch/Shell Group's 'Blueprint for Success' and strives to be passionate in taking care of customers; to become the model of diversity for corporate America; to be an organization where people can achieve their full potential; to achieve the leading-edge in financial performance, health, safety, and environmental performance; and strives to have a strong national profile and identity. Key Dates: The company merges with Union Oil Company to form Shell Union Oil Corporation. Shell and Texaco Inc. form Equilon Enterprises LLC; Motiva Enterprises LLC is formed by Shell, Texaco, and Saudi Aramco. One of North America's leading producers of oil, gas, and petrochemicals, Shell Oil Company has distinguished itself through its commitment to industry innovation. It operates as the leading oil and gas producer in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico and its four major operating segments include Oil and Gas Exploration and Production, Downstream Gas, Oil Products, and Chemical Products. Shell Oil operates as a subsidiary of Royal Dutch/Shell Group, the second largest oil company in the world. In 1999, Shell Oil and its U.S.-based counterparts secured 22 percent of the Group's income. The Royal Dutch/Shell Group began selling gasoline imported from Sumatra in the United States in 1912, to capitalize on the growth of the country's automobile industry and to compete with the Standard Oil Company. Starting with the formation of the Seattle-based American Gasoline Company, Royal Dutch/Shell Group also founded Roxana Petroleum Company in 1912 in Oklahoma to locate and produce crude oil. This was followed by the opening of refineries in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1916 and in Wood River, Illinois, in 1918. It soon became clear to Royal Dutch/Shell Group that with so much gasoline already available in nearby California, it was impractical to continue importing the product for sale in the Pacific Northwest. Therefore, it acquired California Oilfields, Ltd. in 1913, which, when coupled with a new refinery built two years later in Martinez, California, gave the company the ability to fully integrate its operations. To reflect this new capability, the name of American Gasoline was changed to Shell Company of California in 1915. At this time, the company designed and built its first gasoline service station. Dubbed 'the crackerbox,' the station was originally constructed of wood. This structure was later replaced by a model made of prefabricated steel that required only a few days to erect. The oil boom of the early 1920s, particularly at Shell's Signal Hill, California site, provided the company with an opportunity to penetrate the Los Angeles area with sales of Shell gasoline and petroleum products manufactured in its new refineries nearby. In 1922, Shell Company of California and Roxana Petroleum merged with Union Oil Company of Delaware to form a holding company called Shell Union Oil Corporation. Approximately 65 percent of the holding company's shares was held by Royal Dutch/Shell Group. By the late 1920s, the company was actively laying pipeline across the country to transport oil from its Texas fields to the Wood River refinery. Shell Pipe Line Corporation, established in 1927 upon the acquisition of Ozark Pipe Line Corporation, also connected these fields to a new refinery built in Houston in 1929. This refinery was dedicated to manufacturing products destined for sale on the east coast of the United States and overseas. In 1929, Shell Petroleum Corporation, a forerunner of Shell Oil Company, purchased the New Orleans Refining Company, which later became one of Shell's largest manufacturing facilities. Upon developing the ability to synthesize 100-octane gasoline, Shell began supplying this fuel to the U.S. Air Corps in 1934, and gradually became one of the largest producers of aviation fuel. Because of the increased demands of the military during World War II, Shell shared this technology with the rest of the indus