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 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 and ...

(later renamed ARCO). Tucson Azizona Street July 1939 Church and Richfield

History

The Richfield Oil Corporation was founded in 1905 and opened its first automotive service station in Los Angeles in 1917. After quick expansion, Richfield Oil Corp fell to the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

and went into receivership in 1931.

Cities Service Company Citgo Petroleum Corporation (or Citgo, stylized as CITGO) is a United States–based refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products. Headquartered in the Energy Corridor area o ...

(now known as Citgo) offered one share of stock for every four Richfield's and acquired a majority of the stock. Consolidated Oil Corporation (in 1943 renamed Sinclair Oil Corp), in 1932, offered to buy Richfield Oil. While this offer was not accepted, Harry Ford Sinclair, president of Consolidated Oil, continued to pursue Richfield Oil and prevented

Standard Oil of California Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object t ...

(now known as Chevron) from taking over the company. Consolidated Oil Corp, in 1935, bought Richfield's eastern United States operations. This maneuver removed Standard Oil of California's interest in Richfield Oil. The east coast gas stations would later be rebranded as Sinclair stations. Richfield Oil Corp emerged from receivership in 1936 after Rio Grande controlled by Consolidated Oil Corp and Cities Service Company agreed to a merger between Richfield Oil and Rio Grande. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, two Richfield Oil tanks were bombarded by the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emper ...

on February 23, 1942 in an attack on the Ellwood oil field, which is west of the city of Santa Barbara in California. This attack by the Japanese submarine ''I-17'' was the first attack on continental America during the war. Richfield Oil sponsored

Disneyland Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envisio ...

's model freeway '' Autopia'' from 1955 to 1970. The company merged with Atlantic Refining to form Atlantic Richfield Corp, later known as ARCO, in 1966. After spinning off Atlantic Refining to Sonoco, ARCO was purchased by BP plc in 2000.

Landmarks

The construction of the

Richfield Tower Richfield Tower, also known as the Richfield Oil Company Building, was an office tower constructed between 1928 and 1929 and served as the headquarters of Richfield Oil in Los Angeles, California. History It was designed by Stiles O. Clements a ...

in Los Angeles. This 12 story black and gold

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...

building was completed in 1929. This building served as Richfield's headquarters for many years. It was demolished in 1968. Opening of the California Carson Oil Refinery in 1938. The Richfield Oil Corp was the first to discover commercial quantities of oil in the state of Alaska. This occurred in 1957 on the

Kenai Peninsula The Kenai Peninsula ( Dena'ina: ''Yaghenen'') is a large peninsula jutting from the coast of Southcentral Alaska. The name Kenai (, ) is derived from the word "Kenaitze" or "Kenaitze Indian Tribe", the name of the Native Athabascan Alaskan tribe ...

. Richfield's success at Kenai helped push their leasing tracks at

Prudhoe Bay Prudhoe Bay is a census-designated place (CDP) located in North Slope Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2010 census, the population of the CDP was 2,174 people, up from just five residents in the 2000 census; however, at any give ...

, which later served to benefit ARCO.

Merger with Atlantic Refining Company

Atlantic Refining Company found itself needing more oil production. It first merged with Hondo Oil & Gas Company in 1962 . Later, with former Hondo president

Robert O. Anderson Robert Orville Anderson (April 12, 1917 – December 2, 2007) was an American businessman, art collector, and philanthropist who founded Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO). Anderson also supported several cultural organizations, from the Los Angele ...

at the helm, Atlantic Refining continued its mergers and acquisitions. On a fishing trip with Richfield Oil Chairman Charles S. Jones, Robert O. Anderson, by then Chairman of Atlantic, arranged a merger to form the

. The merger that would eventually become ARCO was completed in 1966.

Trademarks

* RICHCOTE * ROCOLUBE * RIO GRANDE * RIOMIX * CIRCLE C * SUPER CIRCLE C

Symbols and colors

Richfield used both a realistic drawing and a stylized eagle as its symbol. This was often done in blue and yellow since blue and yellow were used as corporate colors.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Oil Company Histories

Funding Universe retrieved 8/4/2011 Defunct oil companies of the United States Automotive fuel retailers Petroleum in California ARCO Companies based in Los Angeles County, California Defunct companies based in Greater Los Angeles Non-renewable resource companies established in 1905 Non-renewable resource companies disestablished in 1966 1905 establishments in California 1966 disestablishments in California