Vacuum's parent company, Vacuum Oil Inc, merged
with the Standard Oil Company of New York to
become Socony Vacuum, then Socony Mobil that
ultimately became Mobil Corporation. Socony Mobil
introduced the Flying Red Horse (Pegasus) logo.
It appeared in Australia in 1939 and became one
of Australia's best recognised corporate symbols.
In October 1946, Mobil began constructing the
Altona oil refinery.
The refinery commenced operations
in June 1949, initially making lubricating oil
and bitumen from imported crude oil. A multi-million
dollar expansion program that came on stream
in December
1954, extended the refinery's product
range into motor vehicle fuels and, in 1956,
it produced Australia's first locally made aviation
gasoline. In
1958, Mobil unveiled plans to build
an oil refinery at Port Stanvac, south of Adelaide,
which came on stream in
1963. At the same time,
Mobil announced the construction of a major petrochemical
plant next to the Altona Refinery in Melbourne
that produced its first products for sale in
June
1961.
The discovery of vast reserves of
crude oil and gas in Bass Strait in the early
1960's changed the Australian refining industry
dramatically, as all companies changed to processing
the locally produced oil instead of importing
their raw materials. In
1970 further expansion
and modification of the Altona Refinery near
Melbourne was completed, making it possible for
Bass Strait crude to be processed in the plant.
In
1973 MOA announced its return to the production
of lubricating oils in Australia and commenced
construction of a lubricating oil refinery alongside
the existing Adelaide fuels product refinery.
The lubricating oil refinery, the most modern
one in Australia, opened in
1976. In
1985, Mobil
Oil Australia negotiated a major asset swap with
BP Australia in which Mobil vacated the Perth
retail market in exchange for acquiring a large
portion of BP's South Australian, Victorian and
New South Wales retail market.