Pennsylvania Oil Companies
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United Refining Company
The United Refining Co. of Warren claims its origins date back to 1902 when there were ten distinct refining operations in Warren. Warren’s refineries processed wax-based Appalachian crude oil at the time and obtained their crude from locally owned gathering lines and the Pure Oil pipeline system owned by a confederation of independent oil interests.
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Sun Oil Company
The Sun Oil Co. of Ohio was organized March 17, 1890 by Joseph N. Pew and Edward Octavius Emerson, two Pennsylvania oil and gas producers. In 1886, Pew and Emerson began the development of a number of oil wells in the emerging Lima Field of Northwestern Ohio and bordering Indiana.
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South Penn Oil and Pennzoil
Standard Oil showed little interest in entering the production function of the oil business until the latter 1880’s. In response to what Standard perceived as a serious threat from the Producers Protective Association to its supply of crude in the Appalachian Field and to the viability of its refineries and extensive Appalachian pipeline network, Standard Oil organized the South Penn Oil Co. in 1889.
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L. Sonneborn Sons, Witco Chemical Co. and Amalie
late nineteenth century, Petrolia in Butler County was the site of the Petrolia Refining Company, a manufacturer of illuminating oils, valve and engine oils and petrolatum. In the early twentieth century, L. Sonneborn Sons of New York operated a refinery at this location.
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Quaker State Corporation
The origins of the Quaker State brand of motor oil date back to 1914 when Thomas G. Phinny of Oil City and his son, Hopewell, arranged to provide a motor oil to the H. H. Franklin Co. of Syracuse, New York. This Syracuse firm manufactured automobiles with air cooled engines that placed extreme demands on the engine’s lubricating oil.
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Pure Oil Company
The Oil Region’s independent producers and refiners met in January 1895 in Butler to discuss consolidation of their interests. As a result of those Butler meetings, the Pure Oil Co. was formed in the autumn of 1895 as a marketing company to serve the business interests of the independent refiners, producers and pipeline operators of the Pennsylvania Oil Region.
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Pennsylvania Refining Co.
The Pennsylvania Refining Co. was organized in Butler, Pa. in 1878 by John and George Beck. The Beck brothers purchased that year an existing one still refinery, the Producers Refining Co. plant, located in Karns City.
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Kendall Refining Co.
The Bradford refinery that became known as the Kendall Refinery was built in 1881 on a 4.5-acre site along Kendall Creek. This plant was very small and suffered through bankruptcy, three sales and fire over the next several decades.
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Gulf Oil Corporation
The success at Spindletop near Beaumont, Texas in January 1901 set events in motion that led to the formation of the Gulf Oil Corporation. The first well drilled at the site was drilled with cable tools and was a failure. The second attempt was with a rotary drill and succeeded, succeeded spectacularly.
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Galena Oil Co. and Signal Oil
The Franklin heavy crude district in Sugarcreek Township produced an unusual oil naturally suitable for railroad car applications after simply reducing the crude to eliminate volatile components and screening it to remove grit. A small refinery at the base of Point Hill on lower French Creek in 1864 began mixing this reduced heavy crude with a lead oxide soap to improve its performance.