Mobil UK Vacuum Oil Company started selling lubricating oils in Europe in the late 19th century. In 1885, the company established its European marketing organization in Liverpool, setting up small works in 1896 and 1901. By the 1930s its Mobiloil had become one of the main brands. Mobil gradually expanded its operation into fuels retailing as well, and opened its first
UK service stations in the early 1950s, after the wartime POOL monopoly was disbanded. Mobil grew to become the seventh largest brand of petrol in Britain, supplying 1,990 outlets in 1965, and claimed in the mid-1960s to be the first company to operate 100 self-service stations. As well as its downstream interests, Mobil was active in the
North Sea and operated an oil refinery in
Coryton (opened in 1953), on the
Thames estuary. In 1996, Mobil's fuels operations in Europe were placed into a joint venture 70% owned by
BP, and the Mobil brand disappeared from service stations. Mobil continued to sell lubricants through BP and independent service stations. Following Mobil's merger with Exxon, at the start of 2000 BP acquired all the petrol retailing assets as well as the Coryton refinery (but sold it to
Petroplus in 2007). Mobil returned to being purely a lubricant brand in Europe, and became the premium quality oil on sale at
Esso service stations.
Mobil Australia tank wagon in Plume brand livery. Plume was then replaced by Mobilgas The Vacuum Oil Company began operating in Australia in 1895, introducing its Plume brand of petrol in 1916. The Flying Red Horse (
Pegasus) logo was introduced in 1939, and in 1954, the Plume brand was replaced by Mobilgas. Mobil Australia's corporate office is in
Melbourne. In 1946, Mobil began construction of its refinery at
Altona, in Melbourne's western suburbs, which originally produced lubricating oils and
bitumen, before commencing the production of motor vehicle fuels in 1956. A second refinery at
Port Stanvac, south of
Adelaide, came on-stream in 1963, but was closed in 2003. Mobil commenced removal of the refinery in July 2009, together with site remediation works. restaurant in
Leeton, New South Wales, Australia, in 2008 In 1985, Mobil swapped its Western Australian retail market with a large portion of BP's South Australian, Victorian and New South Wales retail market in a major asset swap. In 1990, Mobil acquired the service station and refining network of
Esso Australia. The ACCC subsequently announced its opposition to the takeover, citing the likelihood of increased fuel prices due to diminished competition. On 27 May 2010,
7-Eleven announced that it had acquired Mobil's Australian network of 295 service stations, with fuel still to be supplied by Mobil. At the same time, it was announced that out of the 295 stations, 7-Eleven had sold 29 South Australian service stations to
Peregrine Corporation. Peregrine's acquisition saw Mobil's sites in
South Australia rebranded to On the Run (later
OTR) convenience stores, but they continued to be supplied by Mobil until most were switched to
BP. Meanwhile, since January 2012, all fuel in 7-Eleven stores is supplied by Mobil. 7-Eleven store renovations and openings since 2014 have included prominent placement of the Mobil logo (as the advertised fuel supplier), usually underneath the 7-Eleven logo, on main signage as well as on petrol pumps. , New South Wales, Australia, in January 2024 After the 7-Eleven sale, Mobil has since returned to the country with its own-branded service stations. , Mobil operates 229 own-branded service stations across the country; the majority in the Australian east coast (except Tasmania) and South Australia. There were also a few in Western Australia.
Mobil New Zealand Mobil is the oldest oil company in New Zealand. Its kerosene first appeared in the country under the Standard Oil brand in the 1870s. Early in 1896, Vacuum Oil of New York established a marketing office on Featherston Street in Wellington selling lamp oil and harness grease. It brought with it extensive collective production, marketing and management skills that presented a major advancement in business organisation. The company's unrivaled mineral lubricant products and associated services quickly dominated the market. When New Zealanders began taking to the motorcar in the early twentieth century, Vacuum Oil expanded into the oil refining business. Its marketing network and transportation fleet grew as it extended its range of operation. The company continued to meet New Zealand's fuel needs throughout World War One, holding roughly 85 percent of the market. After the war, Vacuum Oil began facing very strong competition, with a number of multinational oil companies which establishing operations in New Zealand. Among these competitors was the Atlantic Union Oil Company, another of the companies from which ExxonMobil is descended. Atlantic Union was bought by the New Jersey–based Standard Oil Company, which would later become Exxon, and its eastern hemisphere interests were merged with those of Socony-Vacuum Oil Company to create the Standard-Vacuum Oil Company. The new company continued operations in New Zealand under both the Vacuum and Atlantic Union brand names. On November 30, 1999, Exxon Corporation and Mobil Oil Corporation merged with Mobil Oil New Zealand Limited now owned by new entity ExxonMobil. The company currently owns a 17.2 percent share in The New Zealand Refining Company Limited which operates an oil refinery at
Marsden Point. It supplies roughly 20 percent of the total fuels market in New Zealand, for which most of its products are sourced from the Marsden Point refinery. Mobil Oil New Zealand Limited has more than 150 locations across the country, some of which are franchisee-owned. It also operates six storage locations across the country and maintains a reputation as a dominant petroleum company in New Zealand. Mobil New Zealand has 167 stations as of 2022, including 68 in Auckland. Its stations included 121 company-owned and 46 franchisee-owned outlets.
Mobil in Japan Since the 1960s, Esso and Mobil stations in Japan had been run by Tōnen General Sekiyu, which had a controlling stake owned by ExxonMobil. In 2012, the company bought out much of ExxonMobil's stake, reducing it to a 22% minority. In 2016, ExxonMobil sold the remainder of its stake. In 2017, the company announced that it would merge with JX Group to form
JXTG Holdings, with its petroleum business operating as
JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy. Following the merger, it was announced that both the Esso and Mobil brands would be phased out by 2020, and replaced by the
Eneos EneJet banner.
Mobil in Canada outside a
Real Canadian Superstore. In April 2017,
Loblaw Companies sold its network of 213 gas stations (all of which are attached to its various grocery store locations with the exception of its McKercher Drive and Edinburgh Place location off 8th Street East in
Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan, which the pumps at that one is operated by a
7-Eleven location that was converted to Mobil in the summer of 2023) to
Brookfield Business Partners. Brookfield (operating as BG Fuels) announced that it would license the Mobil brand from ExxonMobil for use on these locations, making them a sister to
Imperial Oil's network of Esso-branded gas stations in Canada. As part of the sale agreement, the Mobil stations continue to offer Loblaw's
PC Optimum rewards program (which Esso also joined the following year). BG Fuels stated that it would open further Mobil stations beyond the Loblaw properties. BG Fuels later merged with
Greenergy, and adopted the new brand Waypoint for convenience stores associated with its fuel properties. In 2023, Greenergy sold its Canadian retail operations to Global Fuels.
Mobil Egypt In Egypt, ExxonMobil's operations started in 1902, it is known for providing lubricants and fuels as well as convenience products. It offers more than 350 service stations, more than 40 Mobil 1 centers and a variety of industrial products, lubrication programs and services. Some stations in
Cairo,
Alexandria and
Giza feature On the Run convenience stores.
Mobil Portugal Vacuum Oil Company started its operations in
Portugal in 1896. In 1941, it became the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company and in 1952, it was renamed Socony Vacuum Portuguesa. In 1955, it became the Mobil Oil Portuguesa. Vacuum Oil was involved in the support of the first auto sports events in Portugal, as well as being responsible for the edition of first road maps and auto drivers guides in the country. Between 1920 and 1928, Vacuum Oil had an important role in the
traffic signage of the roads of Portugal, installing thousands of road signs which included the identification of their sponsor, making the company known throughout the country. Along its history, Mobil was pioneer in a number of aspect of the oil business in the country, including the introduction of the first metering pumps, the first network of self-service filling stations and the first motorway service area. The Mobil brand disappeared from the Portuguese service stations in 1996, in the scope of the European joint-venture with BP. In 2000, at the time being the oldest oil company operating in Portugal, Mobil Oil Portuguesa was acquired by BP and disbanded. == Leadership ==