Atlantic Petroleum 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 ...

company in the

Eastern United States The Eastern United States, commonly referred to as the American East, Eastern America, or simply the East, is the region of the United States to the east of the Mississippi River. In some cases the term may refer to a smaller area or the East C ...

headquartered in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, and a direct descendant of the

Standard Oil Trust Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...

. It was also one of the companies that merged with

Richfield Oil Corporation Richfield Oil Corporation was an American petroleum company based in California from 1905 to 1966. In 1966 it merged with Atlantic Refining Company to form the Atlantic Richfield Company (later renamed ARCO). History The Richfield Oil Corporat ...

to form the "AtlanticRichfield Co.", later known as

ARCO ARCO ( ) is a brand of gasoline stations currently owned by Marathon Petroleum after BP sold its rights. BP commercializes the brand in Northern California, Oregon and Washington, while Marathon has rights for the rest of the United States an ...

. After an unsuccessful spinoff from ARCO, Atlantic was acquired by

Sunoco Sunoco LP is an American master limited partnership organized under Delaware state laws and headquartered in Dallas, Texas, that is a wholesale distributor of motor fuels. It distributes fuel to more than 5,500 Sunoco-branded gas stations, ...

in 1988. The remainder of ARCO was later acquired by BP, but BP later sold most of Arco's retail assets and

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

name were sold to

Tesoro Tesoro or El Tesoro may refer to: People * Ashley Tesoro (born 1983), American actress, model, and singer ** Tesoro Ministry Foundation, a charity *Donya Tesoro (born 1991), a Filipina politician *Giuliana Tesoro (1921–2002), Italian-born Ame ...

, renamed 'Andeavor' in 2017. The Arco brand is now owned by

Marathon Petroleum Marathon Petroleum Corporation is an American petroleum refining, marketing, and transportation company headquartered in Findlay, Ohio. The company was a wholly owned subsidiary of Marathon Oil until a corporate spin-off in 2011. Following it ...

History

Early years & Standard Oil

Atlantic was founded as the "Atlantic Petroleum Storage Company" in 1866 in the then-fledgling oil business. In 1874, the company, now known as "Atlantic Refining", was purchased by

John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was ...

and integrated as part of

Standard Oil Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...

. The acquisition gave Rockefeller a major presence on the East Coast in his growing empire. In 1886, after acquiring many other oil companies, the Standard Oil Trust organized territories for their companies. Atlantic's territory covered the entire state of

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

, the southern half of

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, and the southeasternmost corner of

, essentially giving Atlantic the entire

area. Due to

antitrust Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...

issues that would eventually lead to the demise of the Trust in 1911, Atlantic absorbed fellow Standards Acme Oil of Pennsylvania and

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

-based Standard Oil (of Pennsylvania) in 1892.

Post-Standard years

As a result of the

Sherman Antitrust Act The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 (, ) is a United States antitrust law which prescribes the rule of free competition among those engaged in commerce. It was passed by Congress and is named for Senator John Sherman, its principal author. Th ...

, the Standard Oil Trust was broken up, and Atlantic was one of 11 companies to acquire rights to the Standard name. (In all, 35 companies were formed from the breakup, the most notable ones without rights to the Standard name being the Ohio Oil Company, which became

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

and South Penn Oil Company, which though various mergers and acquisitions became

Pennzoil Pennzoil is an American motor oil brand currently owned by Shell plc. The former Pennzoil Company had been established in 1913 in Pennsylvania, being active in business as an independent firm until it was acquired by Shell in 2002, becoming a bra ...

.) Atlantic's rights were in the entire states of Pennsylvania and Delaware, as it had given up the southern half of New Jersey to Jersey Standard (later Exxon, now

ExxonMobil ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...

). However, like fellow baby Standard

Conoco Conoco Inc. ( ) was an American oil and gas company that operated from 1875 until 2002, when it merged with Phillips Petroleum to form ConocoPhillips. Founded by Isaac Elder Blake in 1875 as the "Continental Oil and Transportation Company". Curr ...

(now

ConocoPhillips ConocoPhillips Company is an American multinational corporation engaged in hydrocarbon exploration and production. It is based in the Energy Corridor district of Houston, Texas. The company has operations in 15 countries and has production in ...

), Atlantic found more marketing power in its own name than the Standard name (a rarity at the time), and declined the option to use the name. The rights to the Standard name in Pennsylvania would be acquired by a newly formed Standard Oil of Pennsylvania, which would be acquired by Exxon in the late 1930s. ExxonMobil still owns the rights to the Standard name in Pennsylvania and Delaware. Over the years, Atlantic would expand up across the East Coast of the U.S., mainly through acquisitions.

The ARCO years

Trying to establish a national presence, Atlantic merged with

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

oil company

Richfield Oil Richfield Oil Corporation was an American petroleum company based in California from 1905 to 1966. In 1966 it merged with Atlantic Refining Company to form the Atlantic Richfield Company (later renamed ARCO). History The Richfield Oil Corpora ...

in 1966. The combined company became known as the Atlantic Richfield Company, eventually being better known by its acronym

. Also beginning in 1966, chiefly in the Delaware River basin urban regions of southeastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, ARCO sponsored a traffic-reporting service called "The ARCO Go Patrol," originally it was the "Atlantic Go Patrol". While the merger with Richfield and eventual rebranding of the stations to ARCO was successful, it did essentially make the company a

bi-coastal ''Bi-Coastal'' is the sixth studio album released in 1980 by Australian singer and songwriter Peter Allen. The album peaked at number 55 in Australia and number 123 on the ''Billboard'' 200. Background The album is Allen's most successful an ...

chain, having no presence from east of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

to west of the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...

(save for

Western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, covering the western third of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic ...

, since Atlantic was prominent in that state). This was remedied with the purchase of

Sinclair Oil Sinclair Oil Corporation was an American petroleum corporation, founded by Harry F. Sinclair on May 1, 1916, the Sinclair Oil and Refining Corporation combined, amalgamated, the assets of 11 small petroleum companies. Originally a New York corp ...

in 1969. To stay in compliance with antitrust laws, the Eastern assets of Sinclair as well as Atlantic's old assets in the

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

were sold to BP. The remaining Sinclair service stations were rebranded as ARCO.

Revival and demise

The former Sinclair retail operations struggled, and ARCO abandoned its national ambitions, pulling out of a number of states beginning in the mid-1970s. Meanwhile, ARCO began to find success in Richfield's old West Coast territory as a low-cost gasoline provider. In the early 1980s ARCO began blending

methanol Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an organic chemical and the simplest aliphatic alcohol, with the formula C H3 O H (a methyl group linked to a hydroxyl group, often abbreviated as MeOH). It is a ...

into its gasoline in the Northeast. Concerns over possible damage to automobile fuel systems limited consumer acceptance of the methanol blend and damaged the company's image. Management decided to concentrate on the West Coast market and ARCO sold off its Northeastern interests in 1985. Some were acquired by

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

, notably in New Jersey, but the larger portion went to a new company controlled by Dutch banker and oil trader John Deuss. The new company revived the Atlantic name, discontinued the use of methanol in its gasoline and launched its own

convenience store A convenience store, convenience shop, corner store or corner shop is a small retail business that stocks a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, snack foods, confectionery, soft drinks, ice creams, tobacco products, lottery ticket ...

brand, A-Plus. The new Atlantic struggled financially, and in 1988 was purchased by fellow Philadelphia oil company

. For the next few years Atlantic was marketed separately from Sunoco as a lower-cost brand, but by the mid-1990s Atlantic stations began to be rebranded as Sunoco outlets. The last known Atlantic station, in

Chambersburg, Pennsylvania Chambersburg is a borough in and the county seat of Franklin County, in the South Central region of Pennsylvania, United States. It is in the Cumberland Valley, which is part of the Great Appalachian Valley, and north of Maryland and the Mas ...

, was rebranded as Sunoco in 1996. It is now a company-owned Sunoco station with Atlantic's old convenience store, A-Plus.

Legacy

Many remnants of Atlantic still show with both Sunoco and ARCO (which is now owned by Marathon Petroleum and still uses the ARCO name except in Northern California, Oregon and Washington, where BP continues to operate ARCO stations). Besides the obvious reference with ARCO, Sunoco retained the A-Plus convenience store chain since Sunoco didn't have a chain of its own. Because of Sunoco's sponsorship as the "Official Fuel of

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

", A-Plus is currently "The Official Pit Stop of NASCAR". In addition, Sunoco still owned the former Atlantic Point Breeze refinery in Philadelphia, and had consolidated it with the former

Gulf Oil Gulf Oil was a major global oil company in operation from 1901 to 1985. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies. Prior to its merger ...

Girard Point refinery (which Sunoco had acquired from

Chevron Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to: Science and technology * Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines * Chevron (anatomy), a bone * '' Eulithis testata'', a moth * Chevron (geology), a fold in rock ...

) that was adjacent to the old Atlantic Point Breeze refinery. This Sunoco asset has since been reorganized as a separate company called Philadelphia Energy Solutions in which it holds a stake but is majority owned by

Carlyle Group The Carlyle Group is a multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services corporation based in the United States with $376 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, real assets, and pri ...

References

External links

History of Atlantic Petroleum "The Atlantic Story" Industrial Film 71402
(1947) on the Internet Archive {{Standard Oil Defunct oil companies of the United States Companies based in Philadelphia Defunct companies based in Pennsylvania American companies established in 1866 Energy companies established in 1866 Non-renewable resource companies established in 1866 Non-renewable resource companies disestablished in 1988 1866 establishments in Pennsylvania 1988 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Former components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average ARCO Sunoco LP