Tosco Corporation

Tosco (The Oil Shale COrporation) was an independent US based petroleum refining and marketing corporation. It was founded in 1955 in Santa Monica, California, and originally focused on extracting oil from oil shale and developing alternative energy sources. In 1965, Tosco entered into a joint venture with Atlantic Richfield to develop the Colony Shale Oil Project in Colorado.

Expansion

In 1976 the company name was shortened to Tosco after the company acquired the Avon Refinery in Concord, California, and other west coast facilities from Phillips Petroleum, making it a major player in petroleum refining. The company continued its efforts in oil shale extraction until 1982 when Exxon (which had bought Atlantic Richfield's 60% share in the project in 1980) pulled out of the Colony Project joint venture, leaving Tosco unable to keep the venture viable.

Reorganization

A major company reorganization followed in 1983. Several takeover bids during the 1980s failed to materialize, and another major reorganization took place in 1991 with the company moving its headquarters to Stamford, Connecticut. [ [http://www.answers.com/topic/tosco-corporation Tosco Corporation: Information and Much More from Answers.com ] ]

Acquisitions

In 1996, Tosco acquired the Circle K chain of convenience stores. In 1997, Tosco bought the rights to the Union 76 brand of gas stations and the western United States refining and marketing operations from Unocal. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb4898/is_200111/ai_n18010691 Tosco completes merger with Phillips. (Top of the News).(Brief Article) | National Petroleum News | Find Articles at BNET.com ] ]

Mergers

Tosco merged with Phillips Petroleum in 2001. [ [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3755/is_200102/ai_n8936369 Philips Petroleum Co. to purchase the Tosco Corp. for 0.52 times revenue, The | Weekly Corporate Growth Report | Find Articles at BNET.com ] ] Phillips merged with Conoco in 2002 to become ConocoPhillips, who spun off the Circle K stores to Canadian-based Alimentation Couche-Tard.

ee also

* Lion Oil

References