Gulf oil

Gulf Oil was founded in 1901 during the discovery of oil fields in Texas. The Gulf Oil or Guffey Petroleum Company, as it was called until 1907, became the most serious enterprise in the life of Andrew and William Mellon, sons of the famous judge and banker Thomas Mellon. The Mellon family moved to the United States in 1818 from Northern Ireland, where they moved in the middle of the 17th century from Scotland. By 1900, the Mellon Dynasty became one of the richest in the United States. Over 80 years of its existence, Gulf Oil has become one of the largest oil monopolies in the United States, has reached the world level in oil production and sale of petroleum products.

However, in 1984, the American assets of the company were acquired by Chevron Corporation, which, in turn, did not use the Gulf trademark, but granted licenses to use the brand to various companies, due to which the Gulf trademark and many branches in Europe continued to exist independently.

Since 1986, the Gulf gas station chain and the Gulf brand retail gas sales right across the United States has been owned by Cumberland Farms , which also owns a supermarket chain. Gulf brand lubricants in the United States are manufactured and sold by American Refining Group, Inc.

Outside the United States, Spain, and Portugal, Gulf brand rights are owned by Hinduja Group, an Indian private investment firm.

The Gulf brand has been actively used since the early 1990s , manifesting itself as a flexible, decentralized network of commercial companies based on partnerships, franchising and agency agreements between brand owners and product manufacturers. This means that under one brand, various companies produce products and provide services, often not related to each other.

Gulf, in its current incarnation, is a new economic business model. The main assets of this model are mainly intellectual property: trademark, product specifications.

Gulf trademark rights in the United States are owned by Gulf Oil Limited Partnership (GOLP), a subsidiary of Cumberland Farms , which operates more than 2,000 gas stations and service stations; Gulf Oil Limited Partnership is headquartered in Massachusetts , USA. In addition, there are independent companies also operating under the Gulf brand within North America, such as the American Refining Group , which is licensed as a manufacturer and distributor of lubricants under the Gulf Oil brand, as well as PINNACLE RESOURCES, INC, engaged in the distribution of lubricants.

On the Iberian Peninsula - in Spain and Portugal - the French company TOTAL owns the rights to sell GULF goods. The concern produces its own line of lubricants under the Gulf brand for the markets of Spain and Portugal ^[1] .

Outside the United States, Spain and Portugal, the Gulf brand is operated by Gulf Oil International Ltd (GOI), owned by the Indian investment holding Hinduja Group . Gulf Oil International specializes mainly in the sale of petroleum refined products - motor and gear oils for automobiles, road and agricultural machinery, marine and hydraulic oils and related services. The company also operates a network of gas stations and service stations, which is most developed in Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Turkey and the UK ^[2] . Gulf Oil International is located in the UK and has offices in Westminster, London.

Gulf Oil International and the Gulf Oil Limited Partnership have different engine oil lines, united only by the Gulf brand. The American Petroleum Institute API voluntary licensing and certification program EOLCS companies participate independently.

Until 2015, all Gulf products intended for Eastern Europe were manufactured and packaged at the Transnational Blenders BV factory in Dordrecht ( Netherlands ) according to original recipes and in accordance with European quality standards. Production at this plant is certified according to ISO 9001. Since 2015, Gulf lubricants for the markets of Europe and the Middle East have been produced in Belgium at the Q8 plant ^[3] . The plant is located in Antwerp , the shipment of commodity lots of lubricants began with him on July 1, 2015.

After the Marxists seized power in Angola , Gulf Oil, unlike other foreign oil companies, recognized the power of the MPLA and continued to conduct production in the Cabinda region. UNITA forces struggling with the MPLA for power in the country sought to destroy the Gulf Oil capacities in order to deprive the government of oil revenues. The protection of the oil fields in Cabinda was entrusted to Cuban soldiers sent to Angola by Fidel Castro . Thus, the soldiers of communist Cuba defended the property of the capitalist company Gulf Oil, headquartered in Pittsburgh, from attacks by UNITA rebels funded by the US government ^[4] .

• Daniel Ammann The oil king. The Secret Life of Mark Rich = Daniel Ammann. The King of Oil: The Secret Lives of Marc Rich .. - M .: Alpina Non-Fiction, 2018 .-- 236 p. - ISBN 978-5-9614-6391-0 . .

• Official site Gulf Oil International Ltd ( United Kingdom )
• Hinduja group
• Gulf Oil International at the American Petroleum Institute website
• Official website of the Gulf Oil Limited Partnership ( USA )
• Gulf Oil Limited Partnership on the website of the American Petroleum Institute
• Gulf brand page on the website of the Spanish branch of TOTAL