| The 1970–2002 logo | |
| Industry | Oil |
|---|---|
| Fate | Acquired by BP |
| Founded | 1889 |
| Defunct | 2001 |
| Headquarters | Amoco Building (now Aon Center) Chicago Loop, Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Website | Amoco.com |
Amoco Corporation, originally Standard Oil Company (Indiana), was a global chemical and oil company, founded in 1889 around a refinery located in Whiting, Indiana, United States.
It later absorbed the American Oil Company, founded in Baltimore in 1910 and incorporated in 1922 by Louis Blaustein and his son Jacob. Amoco merged with BP in December 1998 forming BP Amoco, later renamed to BP, though the Amoco name continued at most stations until 2002.
The firm's innovations included two essential parts of the modern industry, the gasoline tanker truck and the drive-through filling station.[1] Its headquarters were located in the Amoco Building (now the Aon Center) in Chicago Loop, Chicago, Illinois.[2]
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Standard Oil (Indiana) was formed in 1889 by John D. Rockefeller as part of the Standard Oil trust. In 1910, with the rise in popularity of the automobile, Indiana Standard decided to specialize in providing gasoline to everyday families and their cars. In 1911, the year it became independent from the Standard Oil trust, the company sold 88% of the gasoline and kerosene sold in the Midwest. In 1912 it opened its first gas service station in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
When the Standard Oil Trust was broken up in 1911, Indiana Standard was assigned marketing territory covering most of the Midwestern United States, including Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri. It had the exclusive rights to use the Standard name in the region. It purchased the Dixie Oil Company of Louisiana in 1919 and began investing in other oil companies outside its Standard marketing territory.
Blaustein incorporated his business as the American Oil Co. in 1922. In 1923 the Blausteins sold a half interest in American Oil to the Pan American Petroleum & Transport company in exchange for a guaranteed supply of oil. Before this deal, Amoco was forced to depend on Standard Oil of New Jersey, a competitor, for its supplies. Standard Oil of Indiana acquired Pan American in 1925, beginning John D. Rockefeller's association with the Amoco name.[3]
In the 1920s and '30s Indiana Standard opened up dozens more refining and oil-drilling facilities. Combined with a new oil-refining process, Indiana Standard created its exploration and production business, Stanolind, in 1931. In the following years, a period of intense exploration and search for oil-rich fields ensued; the company drilled over 1000 wells in 1937 alone.
While most oil companies were switching to leaded gasolines en masse during the mid-to-late 1920s, American Oil chose to continue marketing its premium-grade "Amoco-Gas" (later Amoco Super-Premium) as a lead-free gasoline by using aromatics rather than tetraethyllead to increase octane levels, decades before the environmental movement of the early 1970s led to more stringent auto emission controls which ultimately mandated the universal phase out of leaded gasoline. The "Amoco" lead-free gasoline was sold at American's stations in the eastern and southern U.S. alongside American Regular gasoline, which was a leaded fuel. Lead-free Amoco was introduced in the Indiana Standard marketing area in 1970.[4] The Red Crown Regular and White Crown Premium (later Gold Crown Super Premium) gasolines marketed by parent company Standard Oil (Indiana) in its prime marketing area in the Midwest before 1961 also contained lead.[5]
World War II followed this period of exploration; Indiana Standard participated in the war effort, discovering new means of refinement and even a way of producing TNT more quickly and easily. In addition, Indiana Standard significantly contributed to the aviation and land gasoline needed for the Allied armies. Also, during the war Indiana Standard created its chemical division, formed from the merger of the Pan American Chemicals Company and the Indoil Chemical Company.
In the late 1940s, after World War II, Indiana Standard returned to focusing on domestic oil refinement and advancement. In 1947 Indiana Standard was the first company to drill off-shore, in the Gulf of Mexico, and in 1948 Indiana Standard invented Hydrafrac, a hydraulic well fracturing process that increased oil production worldwide. Initially the Hydrafrac process was licensed exclusively to Halliburton.
In 1956, the Pan-Am stations in the southeastern U.S. were rebranded Amoco stations.
In 1961, Indiana Standard reorganized its marketing giving its American Oil Company unit responsibility for its retail operations nationwide under the Standard name inside the Indiana Standard marketing area (Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming) and under the American name outside that region. Both brands shared the same redesigned torch and oval logo for easy identification nationwide. The Utoco name used in Indiana Standard's southwestern region was replaced by the American name. The Amoco name continued to be used outside the U.S. and as a brand on certain American Oil products.
Soon after, the company began to expand. With an exploration office in Canada, Indiana Standard was now an international gas company. Indiana Standard created several new plants and claimed various new oil fields in this time period, as the company prospered in the post-war boom. By 1971, all the divisions of Indiana Standard bore the Amoco name including American Oil which was renamed Amoco Oil with American stations renamed Amoco stations. By 1975, Amoco began phasing in the Amoco name in the old Indiana Standard sales territory. Standard Oil Company (Indiana) was officially renamed Amoco Corporation in 1985.[6]
In the late 1950s and early 60s, Indiana Standard again led the way with scientific and technological discoveries. Indiana Standard discovered PTA, a chemical for polyester fiber production. In 1968, following that discovery, Indiana Standard acquired the Avisun Corporation and Patchogue-Plymouth, forming the Amoco Fabrics and Fibers Company.
In the following decades, Amoco expanded globally, creating plants, oil wells, or markets in over 30 countries, including Australia, Britain, Belgium, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan, Norway, Venezuela, Russia, China, Trinidad and Tobago, and Egypt. In addition, the company also acquired a division of Tenneco Oil Company and Dome Petroleum Limited, becoming one of the world's largest oil companies.
In 1976 Amoco (under the "Standard" name) sponsored the Barney Oldfield Speedway attraction at Marriott's Great America theme park in Gurnee, Illinois. Although the sponsorship deal ended when Marriott sold the park to Six Flags in 1985, the Standard logo can still be seen on all of the Barney Oldfield Speedway (now Great America Raceway) cars.
In 1988, legendary racer Mario Andretti drove the Amoco Ultimate Lola/Chevrolet for Newman/Haas Racing in the Indianapolis 500 and throughout the season in the CART/PPG IndyCar World Series. Andretti provided great publicity for Amoco by winning races at Phoenix and Cleveland that year, part of his 52 career IndyCar wins. Andretti, the 1969 Indianapolis 500 winner, 1978 Formula One World Champion and 1967 Daytona 500 winner, also appeared in Amoco television commercials that aired in local race markets as part of the IndyCar sponsorship campaign. In 1999, the Associated Press named Andretti and fellow legend A.J. Foyt jointly as the Racing Driver of the Century.
Dave Blaney drove a NASCAR Winston Cup #93 Pontiac Grand Prix under Amoco sponsorship from 1997 until the brand's demise in 2001.
On March 16, 1978, the very large crude carrier Amoco Cadiz ran ashore just north of Landunvez, Finistère, Brittany, France, causing one of the largest oil spills in history. More than a decade later, Amoco was ordered to pay $120 million in damages and restitution to France.
On October 21, 1980, an explosion at an Amoco plant in New Castle, Delaware, killed six people, caused $46 million in property damage, and eventually led to the loss of 300 jobs.[7]
In the 1980s and 1990s, six former Amoco chemical engineers at the firm’s Naperville, Illinois research campus developed a deadly form of brain cancer. Researchers who conducted a three-year study of the cancer cluster determined that the cancer cases were workplace-related, but they could not identify the source of the workers' ailments. In June 2010, BP demolished Building 503, where the workers had worked, because according to a company spokesperson, the building was "underused", and "required upgrades the company deemed too expensive." Heirs of one of the cancer victim workers won a $2.75 million suit against BP Amoco in 2000.[8]
On August 11, 1998, Amoco announced it would merge with British Petroleum (BP) in the world's largest industrial merger. Originally, the plan was for all US BP service stations to be converted to Amoco while all overseas Amoco service stations were to be converted to BP. But by 2001 BP announced that all Amoco service stations would either be closed or renamed to BP service stations, including the remaining stations still bearing the "Standard" name. However, BP rebranded its gas as "Amoco Fuels", including "Amoco Ultimate". By 2008, the "Amoco Fuels" brand had been mostly discontinued in favor of "BP Gasoline with Invigorate." In addition, few BP stations continue operation under the Amoco name. Most were either converted to BP, demolished and replaced with BP-style stations, abandoned, or switched to competitor brands. On April 1, 2010 in Mississippi Chevron purchased some BP gas stations which were Amoco, to convert them to the Texaco brand.
In the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, there were reports in the press that BP was considering rebranding itself as Amoco.[9] Some independently owned BP stations, including former Amoco stations, switched to a different brand due to the public relations fallout as a result of the oil spill.[10]
The first Indiana Standard logo was unveiled in 1926 after a competition. The logo featured a circle, representing strength, stability, and dependability, with the words "Standard Oil Company (Indiana)" in red. The inner circle represents the cycle of service to customers. The word Service was written in the inside of the circles. In addition, the logo also had a torch with a flame, symbolizing progress. This logo appeared on gas station buildings. The roadside sign was a blue rectangle saying "STANDARD SERVICE" in white block letters.
Concurrently, American Oil introduced in 1932 a logo which was the first to bear the name "Amoco". It featured an ellipse divided into three sections horizontally; the top and bottom were red, and the middle had a black background with white lettering. This logo was used in the northeastern U.S.
A new logo was developed by Indiana Standard and introduced in 1946. It combined the Standard torch with the Amoco oval. The oval colors were, from top to bottom, red, white, and blue. The new logo was called the "Torch and Oval (T&O)". In parts of the country where the company could not use the name "Standard", the logo read "Utoco" or "Pan-Am". When the "Pan-Am" name was replaced by "Amoco", it marked the first time the torch and oval was used with the Amoco name. The red and black logo continued to be used in the northeast and maps distributed by Amoco in the late 1950s through 1960 showed both logos.[11]
In 1961, the torch and oval was redesigned with a flatter oval and a more contemporary torch design with the logo bearing the Standard or American name in the U.S. and the Amoco name outside the U.S.
The next updated logo in 1971 enhanced the previous one. It featured a blue bottom and a sleeker-looking torch. In addition, the word "Standard" become italicized and thicker. This was used by Midwestern station owners who had the option of using the Amoco name (more familiar in the East and South) or using the more familiar Standard name. Owners used it up until they were converted to BP or another brand.
The final Amoco logo simply changed the name on the logo to "Amoco". The logo featured the familiar torch and divided ellipse.[12]
Currently, BP still employs the Amoco name, albeit under another logo. BP currently uses the logo under the main BP helios logo. The italicized word "Amoco" is shown after red, white, and blue horizontal stripes, taken from the divided ellipse of the former Amoco logo. This logo existed prior to the acquisition, and was used primarily on pumps and service station canopies. Since the merger, the black background has been replaced with green, to symbolize the new parent company.[13]
Although a few Amoco stations still use their former logo, most have since been converted to the BP livery. In St. Louis, Missouri, near the highest point of the city, the largest Amoco sign in the world, both before and after the company's demise, still stands. It stands at the intersection of Clayton Road, Skinker Boulevard, McCausland Avenue, and Interstate 64/U.S. Highway 40. It is visible up to two miles away on the interstate. Most surviving BP stations are kept so BP can continue holding the trademarks for Amoco and Standard.
In May 2008, United States BP stations mostly discontinued use of the "Amoco Fuels" logo as BP introduced its new brand of fuel, "BP Gasoline with Invigorate". The only remaining usage of the Amoco name is the brand of BP's highest grade, 93-octane "Amoco Ultimate".
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