After the division of the
Standard Oil Trust into
different 'Baby Standards'
in 1991, its European
activities were carried on
by Jersey Standard. This
company originally operated
under the name of Standard
APC (American Petroleum
Company), but from 1929 it
sold oil products under the
trade name of Esso, which is
derived from the
abbreviation of Standard Oil
(S.O.).
Despite technological
advances and radical changes
resulting from war and
crisis, the company's core
business has continued to be
the exploration and
production of oil and the
refining, sale and
distribution of oil
products.
These activities have
continued to evolve with the
introduction of new
technologies and economic
developments.
In the nineteenth century,
refining was simply a matter
of heating and then
distilling the petroleum.
The process became
increasingly more
sophisticated with the
discovery of new methods of
breaking down hydrocarbon
molecules and has led to the
production of high-quality
light products. More oil
components have gained
commercial value, in part
because of the steady
increase in mobility. With
the development of the
petrochemical industry, oil
companies have had the
opportunity to produce an
increasingly wider range of
plastics.
|
