Our history

Fond memories. Major milestones. And more.

Our story began in 1870 when John D. Rockefeller and his associates formed the Standard Oil Company (Ohio). In 1911, the U.S. Supreme Court divided Standard Oil into 33 different companies, including Standard Oil of New Jersey (Jersey Standard), Socony Oil, Vacuum Oil and some companies that retained the name Standard Oil.

In many states, Jersey Standard marketed its products under the brand ‘Esso’, which is the phonetic pronunciation of the initials ‘S’ and ‘O’ in Standard Oil. However in other states, the other Standard Oil companies objected. In those states, Jersey Standard marketed under the brands Enco (Energy Company) and Humble (an oil company they acquired). Jersey Standard became Exxon Corporation in 1972 and in 1999 joined with Mobil Oil Corporation, formerly Socony-Vacuum Oil, to form Exxon Mobil Corporation.

As we’ve made changes, mergers, and more, so too have our trademarks, icons and advertising campaigns evolved. Here are a few particularly memorable examples.

From the road to the racetrack, Americans have always counted on Exxon and Mobil to get them where they want to go.

Our advanced racing formula is developed in the same technology center as the Exxon- and Mobil-branded Synergy™ fuels you use every day in Paulsboro, New Jersey, and the fuels share similar properties.

For more than a century, we have been a leading innovator in aviation technologies.

ExxonMobil donated aviation fuel for the first commercial flight of the Airbus A380 in 2007, as part of a global fundraiser. Passenger tickets were acquired by auction for the 8,000-mile round-trip flight, which raised $1.3 million for charity.

Throughout our history, we have been pioneers in products and technology that impact the way the world uses energy. Here are a few of our more famous firsts:

• Octane
  In 1938, the world’s first commercial production of Alkylate at a Humble Oil plant in Texas made possible the manufacturing of iso-octane as a blending agent. In 1976, Mobil invented a process for converting methanol into high-octane gasoline. Today, all North American gasoline contains octane and gasoline grades are based on octane ratings
• Motor oil
  In 1952, Jersey Standard introduced Uniflo motor oil, the first multigrade motor oil for both summer and winter use. In 1974, Mobil introduced the first synthetic motor oil – Mobil 1™. Today, Mobil 1 is the world’s leading synthetic motor oil brand
• Detergent gasolines
  In 1968, Mobil was the first to develop detergent gasolines. Detergents help to reduce buildup of harmful deposits inside fuel injectors. Today, all Exxon and Mobil gasoline grades contain detergent additives. In fact, our gasolines contain significantly more than the minimum quantities required by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• Pay at the pump
  In 1986, Mobil became the first gas retailer in the U.S. to introduce pay at the pump. In 1997, Mobil introduced the Speedpass™ key tag, the first mobile payment device. In 2015, ExxonMobil released the Speedpass+™ app, the industry’s first mobile payment app –followed by the Exxon Mobil Rewards+™app, which integrated paymentand rewards, in 2019.
• Gasoline for better gas mileage**
  In 2016, released Fuel Technology Synergy™ gasolines. Developed with 7 key ingredients to help improve fuel economy, Synergy gasolines represent 130 years of engineering in making.

Source: ExxonMobil Historical Collection, [identifier number: di_02878, di_03270, di_03441, di_03445, di_03551, di_03643, di_03787], The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.

*Applies to Exxon- and Mobil-branded gasoline compared to gasoline meeting minimum U.S. government standards. Actual benefits vary depending on factors such as vehicle type, driving style and gasoline previously used.

**Fuel economy improvement is based on Synergy-branded gasoline compared to gasoline meeting minimum U.S. government standards. Actual benefits will vary based on factors such as vehicle type, driving style and gasoline previously used. Exxon, Mobil and Synergy are trademarks or registered trademarks of Exxon Mobil Corporation or one of its subsidiaries.