Lion Oil Company is a private corporation engaged in refining and production of oil, gasoline, and oil-based products. It also manufactures asphalt, industrial solvents and roofing materials.[1] It also operates a gathering and transportation system that moves oil products in interstate commerce.[2] The company is based in Arkansas.
History
Lion Oil Company was established in 1922. Thomas Harry (Colonel) Barton was instrumental in the development of the company.[3] He joined the organization as a major stockholder in 1928 and was elected president and director. His tenure saw the expansion of Lion Oil with the addition of holdings in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.[4] In Arkansas, it owned three large petroleum companies, including 400 hundred service stations.[4]
In 1955, Lion Oil was sold to the Monsanto Company along with what is now El Dorado Chemical Company. Lion Oil is the only oil refinery Monsanto has owned.[citation needed] This purchase was part of Monsanto's move to enter the petroleum industry after major oil companies, which supplied it with feedstocks, began their own commodity chemical divisions.[5] Lion Oil was later sold by Monsanto to Tosco.[citation needed]
In 1985, Lion was struggling and on the verge of shutting down and was sold by Tosco to a partnership of Ergon Refining of Jackson, Mississippi, and a group of local investors. This is how it acquired the oil refinery in El Dorado, Arkansas.[6]
In March 2011, Delek US Holdings, Inc. of Brentwood, Tennessee acquired Ergon’s 53.7% majority equity interest; total equity ownership by Delek increased to 88.3%; on April 29, 2011 Delek US became the new operator of Lion Oil.[7]
In October 2011, Delek US Holdings, Inc. acquired the remaining 11.7% interest to increase its equity interest in Lion Oil to 100%.[8]
Lion Oil continues as a petroleum supplier with its headquarters in Brentwood.
See also
- 2013 Magnolia Refinery oil spill
- Exchange Bank (El Dorado, Arkansas) - formerly Lion Oil Headquarters
References
- ^ "Encyclopedia of Arkansas". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved 2022-06-28.
- ^ Staff Oil Pipeline Handbook, Volume V-A, August 2014. 2014. p. 1.
- ^ "Thomas Harry Barton (1881–1960)". The Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
- ^ a b Williams, Nancy A.; Whayne, Jeannie M. (2000). Arkansas Biography: A Collection of Notable Lives. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press. p. 20. ISBN 1-55728-588-8.
- ^ Elmore, Bartow J. (2021). Seed Money: Monsanto's Past and Our Food Future. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-1-324-00205-5.
- ^ About Lion Oil undated, Quote "El Dorado Refinery (acquired in 1985)"
- ^ majority equity interest announcement Delek US Holding, March 2011
- ^ remaining equity interest Delek US, April 2011