Solo Oil was an Australian Petrol Station company that operated from 1974 until 1989 when taken over by

Ampol Ampol Limited is an Australian petroleum company headquartered in Sydney, New South Wales. Ampol is the largest transport energy distributor and retailer in Australia, with more than 1,800 Ampol-branded service stations across the country . Amp ...

. In 2025, Solo was brought back rebranding several Liberty sites in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

History

Solo Oil was founded in 1974 by David Goldberger and David Wieland. Goldberg negotiated an agreement with Mobil Australia, for the supply of petroleum at a fixed rate, following the increase in world fuel prices, this discount increased from six cents to 12.5 cents per gallon. In July 1975, it joined forces with the

Australian Council of Trade Unions The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), originally the Australasian Council of Trade Unions, is the largest peak body representing workers in Australia. It is a national trade union centre of 46 affiliated trade union, unions and eight t ...

to sell discounted fuel to independent operators in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. In April 1977 it commenced operations in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. In 1989 the business was sold to

by which time it was the largest independent fuel retailer and distributor with over 200 service stations. Goldberger and Wieland were subject to a ten year

non-compete clause In contract law, a non-compete clause (often NCC), restrictive covenant, or covenant not to compete (CNC), is a clause under which one party (usually an employee) agrees not to enter into or start a similar profession or trade in competition again ...

however this was ruled void by the Trade Practices Commission after Ampol merged with Caltex, allowing them to establish

Liberty Oil Liberty Oil is an Australian Petroleum industry, petroleum distributor and retailer. It is owned and operated by Viva Energy who also own Shell plc, Shell, Reddy Express, OTR (convenience store), OTR. It is known as a subsidiary of Viva Energy. ...

in 1995. In 2025, Solo returned to Australia after Viva Energy announced and acquired LOC Global which resulted in several sites to rebrand to Solo.

References

{{Reflist Automotive fuel retailers in Australia Companies based in Melbourne Energy companies established in 1974 Retail companies established in 1974 Retail companies disestablished in 1989 1974 establishments in Australia 1989 disestablishments in Australia