Antar is a former French

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 ...

company, founded by Pechelbronn SAEM in 1927 in

Merkwiller-Pechelbronn Merkwiller-Pechelbronn () is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is notable as the original home of oil sands mining. Oil sands were mined from 1745 in Merkwiller-Pechelbronn, initially under the direc ...

Bas-Rhin Bas-Rhin (; Alsatian: ''Unterelsàss'', ' or '; traditional german: links=no, Niederrhein; en, Lower Rhine) is a department in Alsace which is a part of the Grand Est super-region of France. The name means 'Lower Rhine', referring to its low ...

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

. However, its origins go back to 1745 when a company was formed to develop the natural oil wells in the vicinity of Merkwiller-Pechelbronn. Prior to World War II it also used the brand Socaline for

petrol Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic c ...

. After the purchase of another domestic French marketer, the formal name changed to Antar Pétroles de l'Atlantique and the Antar name extended to use on fuels. Antar was largely active in France, although an affiliate had a Swiss joint venture (Socal Fina). The company may have been named after

Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...

's ''Antar'' Symphony about the Arab poet and warrior

Antarah ibn Shaddad Antarah ibn Shaddad al-Absi ( ar, عنترة بن شداد العبسي, ''ʿAntarah ibn Shaddād al-ʿAbsī''; AD 525–608), also known as ʿAntar, was a pre-Islamic Arab knight and poet, famous for both his poetry and his adventurous life ...

. In 1976 Elf-ERAP merged with Antar to form the Société National

Elf Aquitaine Elf Aquitaine is a French brand of oils and other motor products (such as brake fluids) for automobiles and trucks. Elf is a former petroleum company which merged with TotalFina to form "TotalFinaElf". The new company changed its name to Total ...

which with over 6,000 outlets became

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

's second largest petrol retailer. In 2000 Elf was purchased by TotalFina (now

Total S.A. TotalEnergies SE is a French multinational integrated energy and petroleum company founded in 1924 and one of the seven supermajor oil companies. Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas exploration and ...

). The final dissolution of the company occurred in 2005. The Antar name survives on Antargaz, one of France's leading brands of bottled liquefied petroleum gas, which was sold to a unit of

Paribas The Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas (“Bank of Paris and the Netherlands”), generally referred to from 1982 as Paribas, was a French investment bank based in Paris. In May 2000, it merged with the Banque Nationale de Paris to form BNP Paribas ...

after the TotalFina-Elf merger to satisfy the European Commission's antitrust concerns,LPG World, 2000, quoted by Access My Library
/ref> and in 2004 became a wholly owned subsidiary of UGI Corporation. The only French museum dedicated to the oil industry is located in Merkwiller-Pechelbronn and has resources devoted to Antar.

References

External links

Musée Français du Pétrole
(French Petroleum Museum)
PetrolMaps website

Total corporate website

Antargaz website
Oil companies of France Defunct oil companies Defunct energy companies of France Energy companies established in 1927 Non-renewable resource companies established in 1927 Non-renewable resource companies disestablished in 2005 TotalEnergies French companies established in 1927 Companies based in Grand Est French companies disestablished in 2005 {{Petroleum-company-stub