Humble Oil & Refining Company
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| Industry | Oil and Gas |
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| Founded | 1911 |
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Key people
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Ross S. Sterling, Frank Sterling, Florence M. Sterling, Walter Fondren, Sr., Robert L. Blaffer, Harry Carothers Wiess |
| Products | Fuels, Lubricants, Petrochemicals |
Humble Oil and Refining Co. was founded in 1911 in Humble, Texas. Humble was acquired by Standard Oil of New Jersey in September 1959 and merged with its parent to become Exxon Company, USA in 1973.
The Humble Oil Company was founded by brothers Ross S. Sterling and Frank Sterling. They were joined by their sister, Florence M. Sterling, who became assistant, and then later full secretary and treasurer of the company. The three siblings were often referred to as the "Trio." In the early 1920s, Humble Oil invested heavily in permanent improvements and there was the possibility of opening another oil plant in the near future.
Humble's restructuring allowed both companies to sell and market gasoline nationwide under the Esso, Enco and Humble brands. The Enco brand was introduced by Humble in the summer of 1960 at stations in Ohio, but was soon blackballed after Standard Oil of Ohio (Sohio) protested that Enco (Humble's acronym for "ENergy COmpany") sounded and looked too much like Esso as it shared the same oval logo with blue border and red letters with the two middle letters the only difference. At that point, the stations in Ohio would be rebranded Humble (but the gasoline, motor oil, and lubricant products kept the name Enco) until the name change to Exxon in 1972. Humble Oil also had service/gas stations branded as "CARTER" in Colorado. They were changed to ENCO in the early 60's. Though the Enco brand was discontinued in Ohio, it was rolled out in other non-Esso states, including service stations in the Midwestern U.S. operated by Jersey affiliate Pate Oil and in the Pacific Northwest by affiliate Carter Oil. The Humble brand was used at Texas stations for decades as those operations were under the direction of Jersey Standard affiliate, Humble Oil, and in the mid-to-late 1950s Humble expanded to other Southwestern states including New Mexico, Arizona, and Oklahoma. In the spring of 1961, Humble stations in Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona were rebranded as Enco, and the Enco brand appeared on gasoline and lubricant products at Humble stations in Texas that same year, although service stations in the Lone Star State were not changed to Enco in 1962. During that time, Humble would also expand the Enco brand to new marketing areas it entered for the first time, including the West Coast.
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