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Pacific Western Oil Corporation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pacific Western Oil Corporation was a holding company for the stock of the Pacific Western Oil Company.

History

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In 1928, Pacific Western Oil was founded to acquire the oil producing properties and undeveloped oil properties in California of Petroleum Securities Company. The sole stockholders of Petroleum Securities were Edward L. Doheny and his family. Jacques Vinmont was the first chairman of the board and William C. McDuffie was president.[1] The remaining initial Board of Directors were Earle Bailie, James R. Simpson, Lloyd Gilmour, Charles R. Blyth, Edward Nolan, George L. Eastman, and David P. Babcock.[2] Pacific Western paid the Dohenys $25,000,000, which was said at the time to be the largest cash transfer in the West.[3]

J. Paul Getty was elected to the board in 1930 after he obtained a large number of shares. By the next year Getty had obtained a controlling share of stock of Pacific Western Oil.[4] After this the board was expanded from nine to ten members. H. Paul Grimm was elected the new president of the board. Emil Kluth, H.M. Macomber, Fero Williams, and E.H. Parkford were also elected to the board.[5]

The company was awarded the Saudi Arabian Neutral Zone concession in 1948–49.[6] In 1956, the company became part of Getty Oil.[7]

References

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  1. ^ "Display ad 20". Los Angeles Times. November 16, 1928.
  2. ^ "New Oil Directors Named". The New York Times. November 28, 1928.
  3. ^ "Huge Oil Check Handed Doheny Operator Paid $25,000,000 By Pacific Western Deal Follows Shortly After Sale to Richfield Pioneer Repeats Denial of Retirement Story". Los Angeles Times. November 28, 1928.
  4. ^ "Getty Buys Oil Control". Los Angeles Times. February 6, 1932.
  5. ^ "Grimm Gets Oil Concern Presidency". Los Angeles Times. February 10, 1932.
  6. ^ Yergin, Daniel (1991). The Prize: the Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power. New York: Touchstone. pp. 437–445, 790. ISBN 9780671799328.
  7. ^ McDonald, John (December 1, 1967). "J. Paul Getty's Changed Plans". Fortune. Retrieved October 10, 2020.