MOBIL CORPORATION

one of the largest of American holding companies, primarily engaged in petroleum operations but having major interests in chemical products and retailing. It was formed in 1976 to be the parent company in the merger of Mobil Oil Corporation and Marcor Inc. Headquarters for Mobil Corporation (and Mobil Oil Corporation) are in Fairfax, Va. Mobil Oil's origins date to the 19th century. One predecessor, Vacuum Oil Company, was founded in 1866 and, after 1882, became part of the Standard Oil Trust. Another predecessor was Standard Oil Company of New York (Socony), established by the trust in 1882. Both companies became independent in 1911 when the U.S. Supreme Court dissolved the Standard Oil combine, but the two merged in 1931 to form Socony-Vacuum Corporation. The name was changed in 1934 to Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, Inc., in 1955 to Socony Mobil Oil Company, Inc., and then in 1966 to Mobil Oil Corporation. Mobil Oil Corporation carries on a full range of petroleum operations from exploration to marketing, with major production in the Gulf of Mexico, California, the Atlantic coast, the Alaskan North Slope, the North Sea, and Saudi Arabia. In an effort to diversify beyond its oil holdings, Mobil in 1974 acquired 54 percent of the voting shares of Marcor Inc. (then the parent company of Container Corporation of America and Montgomery Ward & Co.), and two years later Marcor merged into Mobil. Mobil sold the Container Corporation of America in 1986 and sold Montgomery Ward & Co. in 1988, thus clearing the way for Mobil to concentrate on its petroleum extraction and processing operations again.