Sinclair Oil is an American petroleum corporation, founded by Harry F. Sinclair on May 1,
1916 as Sinclair Oil & Refining Corporation, by combining the assets of eleven small petroleum
companies.[1] Originally a New
York corporation, Sinclair Oil was reincorporated in Wyoming in 1976.[2] The corporation's logo features the
silhouette of a large green dinosaur.
History
Sinclair has a long history of being a fixture on American roads (and briefly in other countries) with its dinosaur logo and
mascot, an apatosaurus (brontosaurus).
Sinclair, A Great Name In Oil (1916-1969)
During September 1919, Harry F. Sinclair restructured Sinclair Oil & Refining Corporation , Sinclair Gulf Corporation, and
26 other related entities into Sinclair Consolidated Oil Corporation.[3] In 1932, this new entity was renamed as Consolidated Oil Corporation. In 1943 it was renamed for the
last time, as Sinclair Oil Corporation.[4]
Near the beginning of the Great Depression, Sinclair sold the
remaining interest in their pipeline subsidiary to Standard Oil Company (Indiana) for $72.5
million (Standard Oil had purchased a 50% interest in the pipeline subsidiary in 1921).[5] With these funds, including an additional $33.5 million from an additional
common stock issue, Sinclair retired a number of bank
notes and prepared to weather the depression with the remaining supply of cash.
During the Great Depression, Sinclair saved a number of other petroleum companies from receivership or bankruptcy and acquired others to expand its operations. In 1932, Sinclair purchased the assets of Prairie's
pipeline and producing companies in the Southern United States, and the Rio Grande Oil Company in
California. The purchase of Prairie also gave Sinclair a 65% interest in Producers & Refiners Corporation or Parco, which
Sinclair subsequently acquired when Parco entered receivership in 1934. Lastly, in 1936, Sinclair purchased the East Coast
marketing subsidiary of Richfield Oil Company which had operated in receivership for several years. Richfield then underwent a
reorganization which resulted in the creation of Richfield Oil Corporation. Sinclair was instrumental in transferring capital and
managerial assets into Richfield. Thirty years later, Richfield merged with Atlantic, located on the East Coast, forming
Atlantic Richfield.[6]
At the Chicago World's Fair of 1933-34, Sinclair sponsored a dinosaur exhibit meant to point out the correlation between the
formation of petroleum deposits and the Age of Dinosaurs, and included a two-ton animated model of a brontosaur. The exhibit
proved so popular it inspired a promotional line of rubber brontosaurs at Sinclair stations, complete with wiggling heads and
tails, and the eventual inclusion of the brontosaur logo. Later, inflatable dinosaurs were given as promotional items and an
anthropomorphic version appeared as a station attendant in advertisements.
In 1955, Sinclair was #21 on the Fortune 500, but by 1969, it had fallen to #58.[7]
Sinclair and Atlantic Richfield (ARCO) (1969-1976)
In 1969, Sinclair was acquired by the Atlantic Richfield Company
(ARCO). Federal anti-trust provisions required the new entity to divest itself of certain of the Sinclair assets, and as a
result, the East Coast operations of Sinclair were sold to
BP (Ironically, BP has since purchased ARCO). After the acquisition by ARCO, the dinosaur was phased
out, but at least one service station, in Winona, Minnesota, retained the original look through the 1980s.
Sinclair and Earl Holding (1976-Present)
In 1976, ARCO spun-off Sinclair by selling certain assets to Earl Holding. Assets
divested in the spin-off included ARCO's retail operations
from the region between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains, and the rights to the Sinclair brand and logo, resulting in many stations along
Interstate 80 keeping the dinosaur logo.
Sinclair has been owned by the Holdings since 1976. Earl Holding also owns Sun Valley
Resort in Idaho, Snowbasin Resort in Utah, the Little America hotels, the Westgate Hotel in San Diego,
California, and the Grand America Hotel, a five-diamond hotel and member of the
Leading Hotels of the World, in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Currently headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, Sinclair ranks #38 among the
largest private companies in the United States.[8] There are 2,607 Sinclair gas stations in
20 states in the western U.S. and the Midwest. The corporation operates three refineries: one in Casper, Wyoming, one in Sinclair, Wyoming (near Rawlins), and another in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Other operations include 1,000 miles of pipeline.
Sinclair continues to use the green dinosaur, affectionately called "Dino", and markets all its products under the logo.
Sinclair patented the gasoline additive SG-2000. The high-octane
fuel blend is called "Dino Supreme".
Sinclair is recognized by the Terror-Free Oil Initiative as one of the few
filling stations that does not buy oil from terrorism-sponsoring states such as those in the
Middle East.[8]
References to Sinclair in popular culture
- In the animatronic TV series Dinosaurs, the last name of Earl and his family is
Sinclair, after the oil company. A number of other characters on the show also had names that were petroleum-related
references, such as Earl's boss "B.P. Richfield".
- In the 2006 movie Cars, Sinclair and Sunoco were
parodied: the main sponsorship for the winning car was from a company called "Dinoco", using a similar logo to Sinclair's
brontosaurus and name to that of Sunoco. Dinoco was earlier the name of the gas station in Toy
Story, another Pixar production.
- In the computer game Interstate '76, one of the fictitious gas station chains
was named "Sincere" and featured an armadillo on his logo instead of the dinosaur.
See also
External links
Notes
- ^ [1]Retrieved October 19, 2007.
- ^ Wyoming Secretary of State, Corporations Division. Search keyword = Sinclair. 2nd page.
CID 198000134254. Retrieved January 12, 2007.
- ^ [2]Retrieved October 19, 2007.
- ^ [3]Retrieved October 19, 2007.
- ^ [4]Retrieved October 19, 2007.
- ^ [5]Retrieved October 19, 2007.
- ^ [6] Retrieved March 29, 2007.
- ^ [7] Retrieved March 29, 2007.
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