The Associated Oil Company's Plant
The Associated Oil Company was
incorporated October 5, 1901, with a capitalization of forty million
dollars, and consisted of some thirty-five oil companies, controlling about
three-fourths of the Kern River and McKittrick oil-fields.
The company's policy of expansion soon
after brought it into control of the Amalgamated and the West Coast oil
companies and many other valuable holdings in the various fields. In 1905
the company purchased the property of the National Oil Transportation
Company, and thereby secured pipe-line facilities from the Coalinga field to
tidewater at Monterey, and from the Santa Maria field to its refinery at
Gaviota, Santa Barbara County. In 1906 the Associated Oil Company completed
its first eight-inch pipe-line from the San Joaquin field to Port Costa, and
shortly thereafter, this line being inadequate, another eight-inch line was
built, giving a total capacity of about fifty thousand barrels a day. In
1906 the company constructed an eight-inch pipe-line from the Santa Maria
field to its refinery at Gaviota, a distance of about thirty-five miles.
In 1911 the Associated Oil Company decided
to erect a refinery on San Francisco Bay, and for this purpose purchased a
six-hundred-and-twenty-acre site at Avon, Contra Costa County. This
refinery, although not as large as some other refineries in the United
States, is of the latest design. It was completed and put in operation in
August, 1913, at that time having a capacity of about ten thousand barrels
of crude oil a day. The high quality of its products was immediately
recognized by the trade, and as a result almost continuous additions have
been made, until at the present time this plant is capable of handling
twenty-five thousand barrels of crude oil a day. This refinery has been
pronounced by experts as one of the most modern and complete in the United
States. The location of Avon refinery is ideal, having deep-water shipping
facilities and being traversed by both the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe
railroads. The company's two eight-inch pipe-lines from the Valley
oil-fields serve as a source of supply.
The Associated Oil Company has established
some thirty-five distributing stations and about twenty-five service
stations in the principal cities of California, as well as stations in
Oregon, Washington, and Nevada. It has a fleet of eight oil-tankers, having
a combined capacity of about three hundred thousand barrels; also, necessary
tugs, barges, and tank-cars.
It is estimated that the company has
invested over two and a half million dollars in Contra Costa County, and
furnishes employment to several hundred men. During the year 1916 the
company expended over half a million dollars in improvements at its Avon
refinery alone.
The refinery capacities of the Associated
refineries at Los Angeles and Gaviota have also been increased in order to
take care of market demands. This company is pursuing a policy of increasing
its landholdings, and during the last year made heavy investments in
oil-lands and developments.