Mobil Corp.

Former name of one of the largest U.S. holding companies, primarily engaged in petroleum operations but with major interests in chemical products and retailing. Mobil's roots are in two 19th-century oil companies, Vacuum Oil Co. (founded 1866) and Standard Oil Co. of New York (or Socony, 1882). Their 1931 merger created Socony-Vacuum Corp., which became Socony Mobil Oil Corp. (1955) and then Mobil Oil Corp. (1966). In 1974 Mobil Corp., the holding company, was created when Mobil Oil Corp. bought Marcor Inc. in an effort to diversify. By 1988 Mobil had sold Marcor's major non-oil-related portions, including Montgomery Ward, to refocus on petroleum products. Mobil Oil Corp. developed a full range of petroleum operations from exploration to marketing, with major production in the Gulf of Mexico, California, the Atlantic coast, Alaska, the North Sea, and Saudi Arabia. It merged with Exxon Corp. to become Exxon Mobil Corp. in 1999.

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