Grace's Guide To British Industrial History

Registered UK Charity (No. 115342)

Grace's Guide is the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in Britain. This web publication contains 164,290 pages of information and 246,083 images on early companies, their products and the people who designed and built them.

Grace's Guide is the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in Britain. This web publication contains 147,919 pages of information and 233,587 images on early companies, their products and the people who designed and built them.

Esso Petroleum Co

From Graces Guide
1951
May 1951.
1951. Oil Refinery at Fawley.
1951.
1951. Fawley Oil Refinery.

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April 1952.
October 1952.
October 1952.
1953
March 1953.
October 1953.
October 1953.
October 1953.
April 1954.
July 1954.
October 1954. Esso Blue.
March 1955.
April 1955.
1956.
October 1957. Extra Motor Oil.
1958.
1958.
1959. Milford Haven Refinery.
March 1960.
July 1960.
July 1961.
1961. Plymouth area dealers.
February 1962.
March 1962.
December 1962.
November 1963.

1951 Anglo-American Oil Co changed its name to Esso Petroleum Co Ltd, the British arm of Esso of USA

1954 Esso Petroleum increased its holding in Cleveland Petroleum Co.

In the UK, Esso Blue was the brand name of Esso's paraffin oil (kerosene) for domestic heaters. Their TV advertising song from the 1950s through to the 1970s was the famous "Bom, Bom, Bom, Bom, Esso Blue!" A later campaign used the well-known song tune of "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" cleverly reworded as: They asked me how I knew, it was Esso Blue, I of course replied, with lower grades one buys, smoke gets in your eyes. ... The non-smoking paraffin.

1958 Esso Petroleum acquired the remaining shares in Cleveland Petroleum Co [1].

1958 A petrochemicals plant was constructed alongside the Fawley refinery and began operation in 1958.

1962 Esso Petroleum began delivering supplies of ethylene from Fawley to the ICI works at Severnside by pipeline, the first Esso distribution pipeline in the UK.

1963 Two further pipelines were opened, this time to a fuel terminal in Staines.

1963 Anglo-American opened an office in London to oversee a series of seismic surveys in the North Sea.

1964 Opened refinery at Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire[2].

1964 Shell and Esso established a joint operation for seismic survey, which succeeded in obtaining 75 blocks in the UK's first Licensing Round in 1965, with Shell Expro as the operator for the joint venture.

1965 The first North Sea exploration well was spudded by the joint venture

By 1966 the North Sea operation had discovered the Leman Bank and Indefatigable gas fields.

1969 Esso opened its first self-service petrol station

1970 Esso launched its first World Cup Coins football promotion.

1972 Standard Oil Company (New Jersey) changed its name to Exxon Corporation.

1973 The Cleveland filling stations were re-branded as Esso.

1980 Esso shops were introduced at service stations, aimed at providing 'corner shop' convenience to motorists when they refuelled

1983 Esso opened new fuel pipelines to Gatwick Airport

1985 Opened further lines to Birmingham and the north west of England.

1999 Exxon Corporation merged with the Mobil Oil Company, creating Exxon Mobil Corporation

See Also

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Sources of Information

  1. The Times, 23 January 1958
  2. The Times, 19 November 1973