APCO Oil Corporation was an

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

and

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

goods marketing and distribution company that operated in the

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

region from 1960–1979. It was a successor company to the

Anderson-Prichard Oil Corporation The Anderson-Prichard Oil Corporation (reporting mark: APCO), a regional oil refinery and gasoline distributor, began operation in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1919, founded by J. Steve Anderson and Lev H. Prichard, Sr. The partnership was incorpo ...

. The term “APCO” has also been used by other entities related to the Anderson-Prichard brand.

Name

“APCO” was a common acronym used within the Anderson-Prichard Oil Corporation since its founding in 1922. As early as 1926, Anderson-Prichard began attempts at trademarking the acronym, first through overtures to the American Pacific Company, and later through communications with the

American Oil Company Amoco () is a brand of fuel stations operating in the United States, and owned by BP since 1998. The Amoco Corporation was an American chemical and oil company, founded by Standard Oil Company in 1889 around a refinery in Whiting, Indiana, an ...

, whose trading name AMOCO was thought to be too similar. The two companies finally came to an agreement in 1954 permitting Anderson-Prichard to use the APCO name and logo.

History

APCO Oil Corporation was created in 1960 when outside investors purchased the remaining parts of the Anderson-Prichard Oil Company, particularly its marketing and distribution units. In 1961, APCO remained a Fortune 500 company. The company operated service stations around Oklahoma and neighboring states including

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

, and

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, as well as states further afield in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

such as

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

and

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. The company was dissolved in 1979. The APCO logo was still used after the company’s dissolution by many independent service stations, and can still be spotted occasionally in the region.{{cite news, title=About the APCO Oil Company, url=https://apcooil.org/about-apco-oil/, access-date=13 January 2020, publisher=APCO Oil Corporation History Page

Other Uses

The term “APCO” was frequently used informally to describe the pre-existing Anderson-Prichard Oil Company, most prominently in the case of APCO Tower in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

, were the company was headquartered. Since 2010, APCO Oil Corporation has been owned and operated by Anderson Prichard Oil Company founder J. Steve Anderson’s great grandson Thomas S. Austin to manage the Anderson Family’s legacy mineral rights as well as producing new wells in Texas & Oklahoma. The “APCO” name was again used by Lev Prichard III, grandson of Anderson-Prichard Oil co-founder Lev Prichard, when he created Apco Minerals, LLP in 1995 to manage the family’s legacy mineral rights. Since 2009, the company has been managed by Prichard’s widow, Ella Wall Prichard, and is participating in the current

shale oil Shale oil is an unconventional oil produced from oil shale rock fragments by pyrolysis, hydrogenation, or thermal dissolution. These processes convert the organic matter within the rock (kerogen) into synthetic oil and gas. The resulting oil ca ...

boom in Oklahoma. "APCO" is also the name used by the independent Australian service-station franchise Anderson Petroleum Company.http://apco.com.au/

References

Defunct oil companies of the United States