EXXON CORPORATION

formerly (until 1972) Standard Oil Company (New Jersey) one of the world's largest corporations in terms of sales, with investments and operations in petroleum and natural gas, coal, nuclear fuels, chemicals, and such ores as copper, lead, and zinc. It also operates pipelines and one of the world's largest fleets of tankers and other ships. Exxon engages in every phase of the petroleum industry from oil fields to service stations. It is headquartered in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. The company was founded in 1882 by the Standard Oil trust (see Standard Oil Company and Trust) and in 1899 became the holding company for all companies previously grouped in the trust. In 1911 the U.S. Supreme Court ordered it to divest itself of 33 of its American subsidiaries. Meanwhile, the New Jersey company had become a multinational corporation. In 1888 it organized Anglo-American Oil Co. (predecessor of Esso Petroleum Co.) to market oil in the British Isles and, two years later, acquired a major interest in the German firm that would become Esso AG. In 1898 it gained control of Imperial Oil Limited, Canada's leading oil company. A few of the many later acquisitions (complete or partial) included Humble Oil & Refining Co. (1919), Tropical Oil Co. of Colombia (1920), Standard Oil Co. of Venezuela (1921), Creole Petroleum Co. of Venezuela (1928), Turkish (now Iraq) Petroleum Co. (1928), and Arabian-American Oil Co. (now ARAMCO; 1948). In 1926 the New Jersey company introduced the trade-name Esso and applied it to many of its products and companies. Other Standard Oil companies, however, later contested the name in the courts and succeeded in barring its use in several states. Thus, in 1972, Standard Oil Company (New Jersey) became Exxon Corporation; and many subsidiaries and affiliates, such as Humble, also switched to the Exxon name. Many foreign affiliates, however, retained the Esso name. Exxon operates in more than 80 countries and manages or tends interests in about 70 refineries in North America, Latin America, Europe and Africa, the Middle East, the Far East, and the Pacific.