our early days in Europe

Before Exxon and Mobil merged in 1999, both companies had been operating in Europe for well over a century.Early milestones include

1885 Vacuum Oil, a part of US company Standard Oil Trust, opens a sales office in Liverpool, UK, selling harness oil, steam cylinder oil, spindle oil and greases. (It will use the trademark Mobiloil for the first time in 1899).

1888 Esso begins its life in the UK as the Anglo American Oil company, with a head office in London and a depot in Essex storing imported paraffin

1890 J.D. Rockefeller and a group of ship merchants in Bremen create a joint venture: the Deutsch-Amerikanische Petroleum-Gesellschaft (DAPG), which becomes our first affiliate company in Germany 1891 American Petroleum Company, a joint venture between Standard Oil and five Belgian and Dutch trading companies is created in the Netherlands, with offices in Antwerp and Rotterdam

1891 Società Italo Americana pel Petrolio (SIAP) is established in Venice, Italy. 1893 Esso is officially established in Norway

1896 Vacuum Oil opens a blending plant at Millwall in London, UK, where stock oils from America are blended to meet the needs of British manufacturers 1899 Foundation of the Vacuum Oil Company SAF in France (origin of Mobil Oil in France)

1920 Atlantic Gulf; West Indies Oil Company builds a small refinery at Fawley, England – the fore-runner of the Esso refinery there

1921 Anglo-American Oil company opens the UK’s first service station in Paddington, London, offering 24-hour service