Phillips Petroleum
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Phillips Petroleum Company was an American oil company incorporated in 1917 that expanded into petroleum refining, marketing and transportation, natural gas gathering and the chemicals sectors. It was Phillips Petroleum that first found oil in the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...
on December 23, 1969, at a position that was later named Ekofisk. On August 30, 2002, Conoco Inc. merged with Phillips Petroleum to form ConocoPhillips, becoming the third largest integrated energy company and second-largest refining company in the United States. The company moved its headquarters to
Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
.Christopher J. Castaneda,
"Phillips Petroleum Company." ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.
Accessed 04 February 2013.
In 2012, ConocoPhillips split into two separate companies. The legacy company kept its name, and spun off the midstream and downstream portions of its business. The new company, which owns the refinery, chemical and pipeline assets formerly held in ConocoPhillips, is named Phillips 66, the brand name and trademark used by the original Phillips Petroleum from 1930 until the 2002 ConocoPhillips merger.Sebastian, Simone and Emily Pickerell, "ConocoPhillips split becomes official as company 'shrinks to grow'." ''Houston Chronicle'', April 30, 2012. Retrieved February 5, 201

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History

The Phillips Petroleum Company was incorporated on June 13, 1917, by brothers Lee Eldas ("L.E.") Phillips and Frank Phillips (oilman), Frank Phillips, of Bartlesville,
Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
, United States. Their younger brother, Waite Phillips, was the benefactor of Philmont Scout Ranch. The company was headquartered in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Phillips Petroleum rapidly became a fully integrated oil company that included oil and gas production, crude oil pipelines and refineries, and marketing of petroleum products. Phillips Petroleum became heavily involved in the natural gas industry immediately after the discovery of the Panhandle gas field of Texas and the Hugoton field in Kansas. By 1925, it was the largest producer of natural gas liquids (NGL) in the United States. In 1927, Phillips started up its first petroleum refinery in Borger, Texas, designed to produce gasoline as an automotive fuel. The refinery also produced other petroleum fractions (e.g.,
kerosene Kerosene, or paraffin, is a combustibility, combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in Aviation fuel, aviation as well as households. Its name derives from the Greek (''kērós'') meaning " ...
, fuel oils). It opened its first service station, to sell gasoline, in
Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the List of cities in Kansas, most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397, ...
on 19 November 1927. In 1930, the company developed its "Phillips 66" trademark: according to company lore, a Phillips official was road-testing the company's newest gasoline, commented that the car was going "like 60" when his driver replied "Sixty nothing ... we're doing 66!", all while driving on U.S. Highway 66 in
Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
near
Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...
, resulting in the number 66 superimposed on the U.S. Highway symbol for Route 66. Frank Phillips served as president of the company until 1938. He then turned over the presidency to Kenneth S. "Boots" Adams, but continued as chairman of the board until 1949, when he was 76 years old. In 1942, the company bought more than 250,000 acres in the Hugoton-Panhandle gas fields and a 25 percent interest in the Panhandle Eastern Pipeline Co. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court decided the landmark case of ''Phillips Petroleum vs. State of Wisconsin'' which held that under the Natural Gas Act, the federal government should regulate the prices which natural gas producers charge when selling gas at the wellhead. Phillips then divested itself of the Panhandle Eastern Pipeline Interest, but remained a major supplier of natural gas.
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
greatly stimulated the demand for petroleum products, especially high-octane aviation fuel and jet fuel. Phillips turned to technology to increase the octane rating of fuels for use in advanced engines. The company invented an HF
alkylation Alkylation is a chemical reaction that entails transfer of an alkyl group. The alkyl group may be transferred as an alkyl carbocation, a free radical, a carbanion, or a carbene (or their equivalents). Alkylating agents are reagents for effecting al ...
process in 1940.Concoco Phillips Corp., "Phillips Company History." Retrieved February 4, 2013. The American petrochemical industry took off, first making such as styrene,
ethylene Ethylene (IUPAC name: ethene) is a hydrocarbon which has the formula or . It is a colourless, flammable gas with a faint "sweet and musky" odour when pure. It is the simplest alkene (a hydrocarbon with carbon–carbon bond, carbon–carbon doub ...
,
propylene Propylene, also known as propene, is an unsaturated organic compound with the chemical formula . It has one double bond, and is the second simplest member of the alkene class of hydrocarbons. It is a colorless gas with a faint petroleum-like o ...
and butadiene. After the war, it formed a subsidiary, Phillips Chemical Co., which entered the fertilizer business by producing anhydrous ammonia from natural gas.Encyclopedia.com "Phillips Petroleum Co." Retrieved February 5, 2013
/ref> The company then built a complex on the Houston Ship Channel devoted to making petrochemicals and
polymer A polymer () is a chemical substance, substance or material that consists of very large molecules, or macromolecules, that are constituted by many repeat unit, repeating subunits derived from one or more species of monomers. Due to their br ...
s. During the 1960s, Phillips expanded its international operations, particularly with exploration in Canada, Venezuela, and Colombia. It discovered the Ekofisk gas field in the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...
in 1969. In 1966, Phillips Petroleum bought Tidewater Oil Co.'s West Coast operations and rebranded its "Flying A" outlets to Phillips 66. In 1983, Phillips Petroleum bought "General American Oil Company", a
Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...
company that was headquartered in
Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
. The company was originally built by
Algur H. Meadows Algur Hurtle Meadows (April 24, 1899 – June 10, 1978) was an American oil tycoon, art collector, and benefactor of Southern Methodist University and other institutions. Life Meadows was born on April 20, 1899, in Vidalia, Georgia, Vidalia, Ge ...
in 1936 through a merger with oilman J. W. Gilliland and General American Finance System, a company Meadows formed with Ralph Trippett and Henry W. Peters in the early 1930s. General American Oil Company was "one of the largest independent oil companies in the nation, with worldwide operations and interests." General American was founded in 1928 as a loan company, the General Finance Company, by Meadows, Trippett, and Henry W. Peters, and renamed the General American Oil Company in 1930. The company acquired over 170 oil wells, several refineries and the assets of the General American Finance System and its subsidiaries. By 1959 the company had 2,990 oil wells in fifteen states and Canada and was drilling for oil in Spain. Richard Rainwater became a partner in the company in 1969, as did
Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American Aerospace engineering, aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer, and investor. He was The World's Billionaires, one of the richest and most influential peo ...
. In 1971, Peters acquired a minority stake in Howard Hughes' Hughes Tool Company, to which was later sold in 1972. In 1967 the General American Oil Company merged with its affiliate Premier Petrochemical of Pasadena, Texas. In late 1984, Mesa Power LP Co., led by T. Boone Pickens Jr., attempted a hostile takeover of Phillips Petroleum. After Mesa failed,
Carl Icahn Carl Celian Icahn (; born February 16, 1936) is an American businessman and investor. He is the founder and controlling shareholder of Icahn Enterprises, a public company and diversified conglomerate holding company based in Sunny Isles Beach, ...
attempted a separate hostile takeover. Phillips remained an independent company but recapitalized with greater debt. This large debt caused Phillips Petroleum to begin selling many of its assets, including refineries, and led to the 2002 merger with Conoco. Phillips Petroleum Corp. and Chevron Corp. combined their worldwide chemical businesses in 2000 to form a new company, Chevron Phillips Chemical Corp., LLC. This excluded Chevron's oronite additives, which remained with its former parent. Chevron Phillips is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas.Chevron Phillips Chemical Corp. LLC-Overview. Retrieved 04 February 201

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Accidents


1980 North Sea accident

The Alexander L. Kielland (platform), ''Alexander L. Kielland'', a drilling rig operating in the Ekofisk gas field of the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...
, capsized on 27 March 1980. The incident killed 123 people. The rig was owned by a Norwegian firm, Stavanger Drilling, and was chartered by Phillips Norway, a subsidiary of Phillips Petroleum Co. Survivors and relatives of the deceased sued Phillips Petroleum Co. for damages in federal court in Ohio, but the trial court dismissed the case, and on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, the appellate court agreed that Ohio courts had no jurisdiction in the case, even though the defendant did business in the state. The verdict was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which refused to hear the case.


Phillips explosion of 1989

The Pasadena site was home to the 1989 Phillips Explosion, which killed 23 employees and contractors and injured 314 after cost-cutting efforts by the company. The initial explosion was equivalent to 2.4 tons of TNT exploding, damaging the homes of residents within a six-mile radius of the refinery. The initial explosion mushroom cloud was visible to area residents within a 15-mile radius of the site.


Phillips explosion of 1999

Two contractors were killed and three men were injured in an explosion on the morning of Wednesday, 23 June 1999, at Phillips Petroleum Co.'s K-Resin (styrene butadiene copolymer) plant in its chemical complex in Pasadena, Texas. An alarm sounded at 11:30 am when the blast occurred and a fire erupted. It took more than an hour for Phillips' onsite fire department to extinguish the blaze. Those killed were 24-year-old Juan Martinez and his uncle Jose Inez Rangel, who were performing a
hydrostatic test A hydrostatic test is a way in which pressure vessels such as Pipeline transport, pipelines, plumbing, gas cylinders, boilers and fuel tanks can be tested for strength and leaks. The test involves filling the vessel or pipe system with a liquid ...
on a pipe until they were burned to death by 500 °F molten plastic. Both Martinez and Rangel were employed by Zachry Construction Corp.


Phillips explosion of 2000

The Pasadena facility exploded again in 2000, resulting in one fatality. The explosion was again located in K-Resin plant. Phillips eventually sold off the K-Resin brand to INEOS Styrolution in 2016. Today, the Pasadena facility only manufactures high-density polyethylene ( HDPE) This complex employs 750 workers for the production of specialty chemicals, including 150 operations and maintenance personnel.


Leadership


Presidents

# Frank F. Phillips, 1917–1939 # Kenneth S. Adams, 1939–1951 # Paul Endacott, 1951–1962 # Stanley F. Learned, 1962–1967 # William W. Keeler, 1967–1968 # John M. Houchin, 1968–1973 # William F. Martin, 1973–1980 # William C. Douce, 1980–1982 # Cecil J. Silas, 1982–1985 # Glenn A. Cox, 1985–1991 # W. Wayne Allen, 1991–1994 # James J. Mulva, 1994–2002


Chairmen of the Board

# Frank F. Phillips, 1939–1949 # Kenneth S. Adams, 1951–1968 # William W. Keeler, 1968–1973 # John M. Houchin, 1973–1974 # William F. Martin, 1974–1982 # William C. Douce, 1982–1985 # Cecil J. Silas, 1985–1994 # W. Wayne Allen, 1994–1999 # James J. Mulva, 1999–2002


See also

* Chevron Phillips * Phillips 66 * Phillips Disaster of 1989 * Phillips explosion of 2000 * 2001 Humber Refinery explosion


References


External links


ConocoPhillips Corporate History Timeline
{{Authority control Phillips 66 ConocoPhillips Defunct oil companies of the United States Defunct companies based in Oklahoma Petroleum in Oklahoma Automotive fuel retailers Bartlesville, Oklahoma American companies established in 1917 Energy companies established in 1917 Non-renewable resource companies established in 1917 Non-renewable resource companies disestablished in 2002 1917 establishments in Oklahoma 2002 disestablishments in Oklahoma The Woodlands, Texas Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange