MaRS

What’s to become of the Rockefeller
gasoline legacy?

John D. Rockefeller is a Titan. And he’s shaking up the petroleum industry yet again.

Forever immortalized in contradictory terms; revolutionary industrialist, leader of the petroleum industry, ruthless robber baron, corporate innovator (holding companies to work around monopoly laws), target to anti-trust movement, innovator of modern charitable trusts, benevolent benefactor and the wealthiest man to ever live (inflation adjusted). Arguably one of the best business books ever written chronicled how this one man came to hold all of these titles. His legacy in the oil industry is immediately apparent when you consider the successor companies to the post-monopoly break-up of Standard Oil.

• Standard Oil of New Jersey (SONJ) – or Esso (S.O. or Eastern States, Standard Oil) – renamed Exxon, now part of ExxonMobil. Standard Trust companies Carter Oil, Imperial Oil (Canada), and Standard of Louisiana were kept as part of Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup.
• Standard Oil of New York – or Socony, merged with Vacuum – renamed Mobil, now part of ExxonMobil.
• Standard Oil of California – or Socal – renamed Chevron, became ChevronTexaco, but returned to Chevron.
• Standard Oil of Indiana – or Stanolind, renamed Amoco (American Oil Co.) – now part of BP.
• Standard’s Atlantic and the independent company Richfield merged to form Atlantic Richfield or ARCO, now part of BP. Atlantic operations were spun off and bought by Sunoco.
• Standard Oil of Kentucky – or Kyso was acquired by Standard Oil of California – currently Chevron.
• Continental Oil Company – or Conoco now part of ConocoPhillips.
• Standard Oil of Ohio – or Sohio now part of BP.
• The Ohio Oil Company – more commonly referred to as “The Ohio”, and marketed gasoline under the Marathon name. The company is now known as Marathon Oil Company, and was often a rival with the in-state Standard spinoff, Sohio.

To this day, the Rochefeller family remains a significant shareholder in many of these successor companies, which is why the family is again making news. Despite record profits in the petroleum industry, the Rockefeller family has publicly called on shareholders of ExxonMobil to join them in making changes to the company so that they can better maximize long-term shareholder value in a rapidly changing energy environment.

“Neva Rockefeller Goodwin, PhD economist, and great-granddaughter of John D. Rockefeller, the founder of ExxonMobil, said: “In today’s rapidly changing energy environment, we are urging ExxonMobil to get back to its strong historical roots in order to better position itself for the future of its industry. ExxonMobil needs to reconnect with the forward-looking and entrepreneurial vision of my great- grandfather. Kerosene was the ‘alternative energy’ of its day when he realized that it could replace whale oil. Part of John D. Rockefeller’s genius was in recognizing, early on, the need and opportunity for a transition to a better, cheaper and cleaner fuel. And as he noted: ‘If you want to succeed, you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success.’ We recognize and appreciate that ExxonMobil’s management has been extremely skilled at managing the oil and natural gas business. However, the truth is that ExxonMobil is profiting in the short term from investments and decisions made many years ago, and by focusing on a narrow path that ignores the rapidly shifting energy landscape around the world, including developing nations.”
(Source: Clean Edge News)