gasoline in the united states see gulf oil lp . gulf oil corporation former type public until 1985 industry petroleum fate merged with standard oil of california in 1985 subsidiary of cumberland farms since 1993 founded 1901 defunct 1984 headquarters framingham massachusettes products fuels lubricants greases marine lubricants website gulf oil gulf oil corporate website gulf oil canada gulf oil mexico gulf oil was a major global oil company from the 1900s to the 1980s . 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 with standard oil of california gulf was one of the chief instruments of the mellon family fortune ; both gulf and mellon financial had their headquarters in pittsburgh . gulf s former headquarters originally referred to as the gulf building now the gulf tower office condos is an art deco skyscraper . the tallest building in pittsburgh until 1970 when it was eclipsed by the u.s. steel tower it is capped by a step pyramid structure several stories high . until the late 1970s the entire top was illuminated changing color with changes in barometric pressure to provide a weather indicator that could be seen for many miles . gulf oil corporation goc ceased to exist as an independent company in 1985 when it merged with standard oil of california socal with both re branding as chevron in the united states . gulf canada gulf s main canadian subsidiary was sold the same year with retail outlets to ultramar and petro canada and what became gulf canada resources to olympia & york . 1 2 however the gulf brand name and a number of the constituent business divisions of goc survived . gulf has experienced a significant revival since 1990 emerging as a flexible network of allied business interests based on partnerships franchises and agencies . gulf in its present incarnation is a new economy business . it employs very few people directly and its assets are mainly in the form of intellectual property brands product specifications and scientific expertise . the rights to the brand in the united states are owned by gulf oil limited partnership golc which operates over 2 100 service stations and several petroleum terminals ; it is headquartered in framingham massachusetts . the corporate vehicle at the center of the gulf network outside the united states spain and portugal is gulf oil international a company owned by the hinduja group . the company s focus is primarily in the provision of downstream products and services to a mass market through joint ventures strategic alliances licensing agreements and distribution arrangements . 3 gulf oil international has its head office in the city of westminster london . 4 contents 1 history 1.1 1901 82 1.2 marketing and promotions 2 demise 3 aftermath 4 revival 5 case studies in current use of the gulf brand 5.1 independent filling stations in the uk 5.2 pennsylvania turnpike 6 gulf products 7 ceos 8 see also 9 further reading 10 references history edit 1901 82 edit gulf filling station in jasper tennessee . photo taken in 1939 the business that became gulf oil started in 1901 with the discovery of oil at spindletop near beaumont texas . a group of investors came together to promote the development of a modern refinery at nearby port arthur to process the oil . the largest investor was william larimer mellon of the pittsburgh mellon banking family . other investors included many of mellon s pennsylvania clients as well as some texas wildcatters . mellon bank and gulf oil remained closely associated thereafter . the gulf oil corporation itself was formed in 1907 through the amalgamation of a number of oil businesses principally the j.m. guffey petroleum and gulf refining companies of texas . 5 the name of the company refers to the gulf of mexico where beaumont lies . 6 1922 newspaper ad for a new gulf station in philadelphia with a close view of the station . output from spindletop peaked at around 100 000 barrels per day 16 000 m3 d just after it was discovered and then started to decline . 7 later discoveries made 1927 the peak year of spindletop production 8 but spindletop s early decline forced gulf to seek alternative sources of supply to sustain its substantial investment in refining capacity . this was achieved by constructing the 400 mile 640 km glenn pool pipeline connecting oilfields in oklahoma with gulf s refinery at port arthur . the pipeline opened in september 1907 . gulf later built a network of pipelines and refineries in the eastern and southern united states requiring heavy capital investment . thus gulf oil provided mellon bank with a secure vehicle for investing in the oil sector . 9 early gulf logo ca. 1920 gulf promoted the concept of branded product sales by selling gasoline in containers and from pumps marked with a distinctive orange disc logo . a customer buying gulf branded gasoline could be assured of its quality and consistent standard . 10 in the early 20th century non branded gasoline in the united states was often contaminated or of unreliable quality . later gulf logo ca. 1960 gulf oil grew steadily in the inter war years with its activities mainly confined to the united states . the company was characterized by its vertically integrated business activities and was active across the whole spectrum of the oil industry exploration production transport refining and marketing . it also involved itself in associated industries such as petrochemicals and automobile component manufacturing . it introduced significant commercial and technical innovations including the first drive in service station 1913 complimentary road maps drilling over water at ferry lake and the catalytic cracking refining process gulf installed the world s first commercial catalytic cracking unit at its port arthur texas refinery complex in 1951 . gulf also established the model for the integrated international oil major which refers to one of a group of very large companies that assumed influential and sensitive positions in the countries in which they operated . in colombia gulf purchased the barco oil concession in 1926 . 11 the government of colombia revoked the concession the same year but after much negotiation gulf won it back in 1931 . however during a period of over capacity gulf was more interested in holding the reserve than developing it . 12 in 1936 gulf sold barco to the texas corporation now texaco . 13 gulf had extensive exploration and production operations in the gulf of mexico canada and kuwait . the company played a major role in the early development of oil production in kuwait and through the 1950s and 60s apparently enjoyed a special relationship with the kuwaiti government . 14 this special relationship attracted unfavourable attention since it was associated with political contributions see below and support for anti democratic politics as evidenced by papers taken from the body of a gulf executive killed in the crash of a twa aircraft at cairo in 1950 . 15 in 1934 the kuwait oil company koc was formed as a joint venture by british petroleum and gulf . both british petroleum and gulf held equal shares in the venture . 16 koc pioneered the exploration for oil in kuwait during the late 1930s . oil was discovered at burgan in 1938 but it was not until 1946 that the first crude oil was shipped . oil production started from rawdhatain in 1955 and minagish in 1959 . koc started gas production in 1964 . it was the cheap oil and gas being shipped from kuwait that formed the economic basis for gulf s diverse petroleum sector operations in europe the mediterranean africa and the indian subcontinent . these last operations were coordinated by gulf oil company eastern hemisphere ltd goceh from their offices at 2 portman street in london w1 . gulf expanded on a worldwide basis from the end of the second world war . the company leveraged its international drilling experience to other areas of the world and by mid 1943 had established a presence in the oil fields of venezuela as mene grande oil company . 17 much of the company s retail sales expansion was through the acquisition of privately owned chains of filling stations in various countries allowing gulf outlets to sell product sometimes through matching arrangements from the oil that it was lifting in canada the gulf of mexico kuwait and venezuela . some of these acquisitions were to prove less than resilient in the face of economic and political developments from the 1970s on . gulf invested heavily in product technology and developed many speciality products particularly for application in the maritime and aviation engineering sectors . it was particularly noted for its range of lubricants and greases . 18 gulf oil reached the peak of its development around 1970 . in that year the company processed 1.3 million barrels 210 000 m3 of crude daily held assets worth 6.5 billion 39.61 billion today employed 58 000 employees worldwide and was owned by 163 000 shareholders . 19 in addition to its petroleum marketing interests gulf was a major producer of petrochemicals plastics and agricultural chemicals . through its subsidiary gulf general atomic inc. it was also active in the nuclear energy sector . 20 gulf abandoned its involvement in the nuclear sector after a failed deal to build atomic power plants in romania in the mid 1970s . in 1974 the kuwait national assembly took a 60 percent stake in the equity of koc with the remaining 40 percent divided equally between bp and gulf . the kuwaitis took over the rest of the equity in 1975 giving them full ownership of koc . this meant that gulf eh had to start supplying its downstream operations in europe with crude bought on the world market at commercial prices . 21 the whole goc eh edifice now became highly marginal in an economic sense . many of the marketing companies that gulf had established in europe were never truly viable on a stand alone basis . gulf was at the forefront of various projects in the late 1960s intended to adjust the world oil industry to developments of the time including closure of the suez canal after the 1967 war . in particular gulf undertook the construction of deep water terminals at bantry bay in ireland and okinawa in japan capable of handling ultra large crude carrier ulcc vessels serving the european and asian markets respectively . in 1968 the universe ireland was added to gulf s tanker fleet . at 312 000 long tons deadweight dwt this was the largest vessel in the world and incapable of berthing at most normal ports . 22 gulf also participated in a partnership with other majors including texaco to build the pembroke catalytic cracker refinery at milford haven and the associated mainline pipelines fuel distribution network . the eventual reopening of the suez canal and upgrading of the older european oil terminals europoort and marchwood meant that the financial return from these projects was not all that had been hoped for . the bantry terminal was devastated by the explosion of a total tanker the betelgeuse in january 1979 whiddy island disaster and it was never fully reopened . the irish government took over ownership of the terminal in 1986 and held its strategic oil reserve there . 23 in the 1970s gulf participated in the development of new oilfields in the uk north sea and in cabinda although these were high cost operations that never compensated for the loss of gulf s interest in kuwait . a mercenary army had to be raised to protect the oil installations in cabinda during the angolan civil war . 24 the angolan connection was another special relationship that attracted comment . in the late