The United Refining Company (URC) is an American oil company in

Warren, Pennsylvania Warren is a city in and the county seat of Warren County, Pennsylvania, United States, located along the Allegheny River. The population was 9,404 at the 2020 census. It is home to the headquarters of the Allegheny National Forest and the Cornp ...

. The company operates an

oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial processes, industrial process Factory, plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refining, refined into products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, Bitumen, asphalt base, ...

in Warren that can process 70,000

barrels A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids ...

crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring u ...

into

gasoline Gasoline ( North American English) or petrol ( Commonwealth English) is a petrochemical product characterized as a transparent, yellowish, and flammable liquid normally used as a fuel for spark-ignited internal combustion engines. When for ...

diesel fuel Diesel fuel, also called diesel oil, heavy oil (historically) or simply diesel, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a re ...

and other

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

distillates per day. It distributes gasoline under the Kwik Fill and Keystone brands. In early 2019, the

American Automobile Association American Automobile Association (AAA) is a federation of motor clubs throughout North America. AAA is a privately held not-for-profit national member association and service organization with over 60 million members in the United States and Cana ...

noted that Warren had the most expensive gasoline in

Western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the Unite ...

, despite the presence of the refinery in the town and a gasoline station just outside the refinery, the root cause of which remains undetermined.

History

The United Refining Company was founded in 1902 by Harry Logan, Sr. His son, Harry Logan, Jr., succeeded his father as president and chairman of United Refining in 1957. In 1986,

John Catsimatidis John A. Catsimatidis (born September 7, 1948) is an American billionaire businessman and radio talk show host. He is the owner, president, chairman, and Chief executive officer, CEO of grocery chains Gristedes and D'Agostino Supermarkets in Manhat ...

acquired United Refining as a subsidiary of his Red Apple Group. As of 1935, the company had a pair of marketing subsidiaries, Emblem Oil Company and Red Star Lubrication Service Incorporated, which distributed Keystone Gasoline and Emblem Motor Oils, respectively. The refinery was expanded from to in 1982. It was expanded again to have a processing capacity of in 2007. The employees of the Warren refinery are represented by the

International Union of Operating Engineers The International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) is a trade union within the United States–based AFL–CIO representing primarily construction workers who work as heavy equipment operators, mechanics, surveyors, and stationary engineers ( ...

Citgo

URC acquired the rights to use the name Citgo in 2002 when it bought a local

gas station A filling station (also known as a gas station [] or petrol station []) is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold are gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Fuel dispensers are used to ...

and

convenience store A convenience store, convenience shop, bakkal, bodega, corner store, corner shop, superette or mini-mart is a small retail store that stocks a range of everyday items such as convenience food, groceries, beverages, tobacco products, lotter ...

chain called Country Fair, Inc. in

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fifth-most populous city in Pennsylvania and the most populous in Northwestern Pen ...

which included a license agreement to use "Citgo's brands, trademarks and other forms of identification." After

Venezuelan President The president of Venezuela (), officially known as the president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (), is the executive head of state and head of government of Venezuela. The president leads the National Executive of the Venezuelan go ...

Hugo Chávez's speech to the United Nations, there were calls to

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent resistance, nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organisation, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for Morality, moral, society, social, politics, political, or Environmenta ...

the Citgo brand. In response, URC began phasing out that brandname, and has been emphasizing that its crude oil supply comes from North America. URC also continued rebranding its product under the Kwik Fill and other local names.

Convenience stores

United Refining Company distributes its oil through its line of owned-and-operated

s, totaling approximately 375 throughout

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, and

Northeast Ohio Northeast Ohio is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that comprises the northeastern counties of the U.S. state of Ohio. Definitions of the region consist of 16 to 23 counties between the southern shore of Lake Erie and the foothills ...

. The stores operate under the names Kwik Fill, Red Apple, or Country Fair. Many Kwik Fill locations are full-service, meaning they pump your gas for you.

References

External links

United Refining Co. website
{{Authority control Warren County, Pennsylvania Privately held companies based in Pennsylvania Economy of New York (state) Economy of Ohio Economy of the Eastern United States Oil companies of the United States Convenience stores of the United States Non-renewable resource companies established in 1902 1902 establishments in Pennsylvania