'', 1964, in the collection of
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis|leftSinclair has long been a fixture on American roads with its dinosaur logo and mascot, a
Brontosaurus. At the
Chicago World's Fair of 1933–1934, Sinclair sponsored a dinosaur exhibit meant to play on the link between the formation of petroleum deposits and the time of dinosaurs, now a largely discredited misconception. The exhibit included a 2-ton animated model of a
Brontosaurus. The exhibit proved so popular it inspired a promotional line of rubber brontosaurs at Sinclair stations, complete with wiggling heads and tails, and the eventual inclusion of the brontosaur logo. Later, inflatable dinosaurs were given as promotional items. An
anthropomorphic version appeared as a service-station attendant in advertisements. Some locations have a life-size model of the mascot straddling the building's entrance.
1916-1960s ,
VirginiaDuring September 1919, Harry Sinclair restructured Sinclair Oil and Refining Corporation,
Sinclair Gulf Corporation, and 26 other related entities into
Sinclair Consolidated Oil Corporation. In 1932, this new entity was renamed
Consolidated Oil Corporation. In 1943, it was renamed
Sinclair Oil Corporation. Near the beginning of the
Great Depression, Sinclair sold the remaining interest in its pipeline subsidiary to
Standard Oil Company (Indiana) for US$72.5 million (Standard Oil had purchased a 50% interest in the pipeline subsidiary in 1921). With these funds, including an additional US$33.5 million from an additional
common stock issue, Sinclair retired several
promissory notes and prepared to weather the Depression with the remaining supply of cash.Between 1921 and 1922, Sinclair leased oil production rights to Teapot Dome in Wyoming without competitive bidding. This led to the
Teapot Dome scandal. At the same time, Sinclair Oil was approached by the Italian fascist government.
Benito Mussolini's government wanted to increase competition in the Italian oil market, which was controlled by the Italo-American Petroleum Society (SIAP), which in turn was fully dominated by
Standard Oil. As the Teapot Dome scandal unfolded in the
United States and reached the international press, Mussolini accelerated the negotiations, with a deal signed on May 4, 1924 (although without an official meeting, to avoid public outcry). Because of this, Sinclair Oil Company is known for having made "large payments to leading Fascists — all acting as intermediaries for Benito Mussolini — in return for an exclusive monopoly to drill for oil on Italian soil and in the Italian colonies". The deal was reported in a press release by the Head of Government (Mussolini) issued on the night of May 15, 1924, and published by most newspapers on the following day. The press release assured the public that Sinclair Oil had been awarded its contract on a competitive basis and had provided guarantees it had no relations with the international oil trust. This case of corruption was reported by the anti-fascist politician
Giacomo Matteotti - who was later kidnapped and killed by Mussolini's newborn secret police, just before he could report his discoveries to the Parliament — in his posthumous article, published in the July issue of
English Life (a magazine founded by
Brendan Bracken): Matteotti accused Sinclair Oil of being a pawn of Standard Oil, as well as revealing "grave irregularities concerning the concession." Matteotti's theses were echoed in the notes of Epifanio Pennetta, who contributed to the preliminary investigation on the murder: "To all appearances," companies like Nafta and Saper "were in competition with the Sinclair company, while in fact they were in cahoots with Sinclair" and added that Sinclair Oil was actually working "in concert" with Standard Oil. in
Ridgeland, South Carolina (built 1937), listed in the
National Register of Historic Places During the Great Depression, Sinclair saved many other petroleum companies from
receivership or
bankruptcy and
acquired others to expand its operations. In 1932, Sinclair purchased the assets of Prairie Oil and Gas' pipeline and producing companies in the
southern United States, and the Rio Grande Oil Company in California. The purchase of Prairie also gave Sinclair a 65% interest in Producers and Refiners Corporation (or Parco), which Sinclair subsequently acquired when Parco entered receivership in 1934. Lastly, in 1936, Sinclair purchased the East Coast marketing subsidiary of Richfield Oil Company, which had operated in receivership for several years. Richfield then reorganized, resulting in the creation of the Richfield Oil Corporation. Sinclair was instrumental in transferring capital and managerial assets into Richfield. Thirty years later, Richfield merged with
Atlantic Refining, located on the East Coast, forming
Atlantic Richfield. In 1955, Sinclair ranked 21st on the
Fortune 500; by 1969, it had fallen to 58th. In the early 1960s, Sinclair, along with Henry W. Peters and his son Eric Woods, developed the Turbo-S aircraft oils used for reliability in
commercial jets, military jets, guided
missiles and
space exploration rockets. At the
New York World's Fair of 1964–1965, Sinclair again sponsored a dinosaur exhibit, "Dinoland", featuring life-size replicas of nine different dinosaurs, including their signature
Brontosaurus. Souvenirs from the exhibit included a brochure ("Sinclair and the Exciting World of Dinosaurs") and featured molded plastic dinosaur figurines. After the Fair closed, Dinoland remained as a traveling exhibit. Two of the replicas (
Tyrannosaurus and
Brontosaurus) are still on display at
Dinosaur Valley State Park near Glen Rose, Texas. Another, a model of a
Trachodon, has been displayed at
Brookfield Zoo outside
Chicago, Illinois. The Ankylosaurus is at the
Houston Museum of Natural Science's Sugar Lands location. The Ornithomimus is at the
Milwaukee Public Museum. The Stegosaurus is on display in front of the Visitor Center of Dinosaur National Monument in Utah. A copy of the Triceratops is also owned by the
Smithsonian Institution and is on display as "
Uncle Beazley" in the
National Zoological Park in
Washington, D.C. 1969 merger with ARCO In 1969, Sinclair merged with the
Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) after an attempted acquisition by the
Gulf+Western Industries Corporation. Federal antitrust provisions required the new entity to divest itself of certain Sinclair assets. As a result, the
East Coast operations of Sinclair were sold to
BP. After the ARCO acquisition, many Sinclair stations in the Midwest continued to use the dinosaur logo and opted out of using ARCO's "diamond spark" logo. Some northwest Sinclair stations partially retained the Sinclair brand for a time, using ARCO's blue rectangular logo, including the "spark" graphic, but with the word "Sinclair" substituted for ARCO. The merger also gave ARCO the rights to explore
Prudhoe Bay in
Northern Alaska.
1976 spin-off . In 1976, ARCO spun off Sinclair by selling certain assets to
Robert (Earl) Holding. Assets
divested in the
spin-off included ARCO's retail operations in the region bounded by the
Mississippi River and the
Rocky Mountains, and the rights to the Sinclair brand and logo, resulting in many stations along
Interstate 80 keeping the dinosaur logo. The ARCO stations in
Texas,
New Mexico,
Illinois, and some portions of
Oklahoma were not affected by the divestiture. They continued as part of ARCO until ARCO pulled out of those states in the 1980s. Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Sinclair was the 94th-largest private company in the
United States. There were 2,607 Sinclair
filling stations in 20 states in the Western and
Midwestern United States. As of 2010, the corporation operated two refineries—one in
Casper, Wyoming, and one in
Sinclair, Wyoming. Sinclair operated a third refinery in
Tulsa, Oklahoma, until it was sold to
Holly Corporation on December 1, 2009. Sinclair's other operations included 1,000 miles of pipeline. In the mid-2010s, Sinclair fuel stations began actively spreading across southern California, including
Los Angeles,
San Diego, and
Fresno, with holders offering attractive deals for potential clients to make the switch from a private brand to the Sinclair name brand. and
Slauson Avenues in
Los Angeles,
California. By 2018, Sinclair gas stations were widely distributed across the United States, with dozens of gas stations in California,
Colorado,
Iowa,
Idaho,
Minnesota,
Missouri,
Montana,
Nebraska,
Nevada, Oklahoma,
Oregon,
South Dakota,
Utah, and Wyoming; smaller numbers in
Arizona,
Connecticut,
Kansas,
Kentucky,
North Dakota,
New Mexico,
New York,
Texas, and
Washington; and a single station in
Arkansas and
Wisconsin. Sinclair continued to use the green dinosaur, affectionately called "Dino", and marketed all its products under the logo. Sinclair
patented the gasoline additive SG-2000. The high-octane fuel blend was called "Dino Supreme" and regular gas was "Dino", trade names used since 1961 when many oil companies still used trade names for their fuels instead of generic terms such as "regular", "premium", or "unleaded". Before that time, Sinclair's trade names for its gasoline products included "Power X" for high-octane fuel and "Sinclair H-C" for regular gas. Sinclair also has marketed products such as Dino, Dino Supreme, and Opaline motor oils. In August 2021,
HollyFrontier announced the acquisition of Sinclair Oil. A new company named
HF Sinclair Corporation would be formed in 2022. Under the agreements, Sinclair Oil's branded marketing business and all related commercial activities and its refineries and related operations and assets in Casper and Sinclair, Wyoming, would be combined with HollyFrontier. Sinclair Oil's logistics and storage assets, including approximately 1,200 miles of pipelines, two crude oil terminals and eight light product terminals, would be combined with Holly Energy Partners (HEP). It was expected that the vast majority of Sinclair Oil employees would be invited to continue in their positions following the combination. The transaction did not include exploration and production assets owned by Sinclair Oil & Gas Co.
Sinclair Trucking Company Company-owned Sinclair Trucking provided distribution for Sinclair Oil fuels and other related products. Terminals were located in: •
Flagstaff, Arizona •
Denver, Colorado (
Henderson, Colorado) •
Des Moines, Iowa •
Kansas City, Kansas •
Minneapolis, Minnesota •
St. Louis, Missouri •
Omaha, Nebraska •
Shawnee, Oklahoma •
Tulsa, Oklahoma •
Salt Lake City, Utah •
Casper, Wyoming •
Sinclair, Wyoming •
Carrollton, Missouri Grand America Hotels & Resorts Sinclair also owned and operated
Grand America Hotels & Resorts, which has hotel properties in
Salt Lake City, Utah;
Flagstaff, Arizona;
Cheyenne, Wyoming;
Little America, Wyoming; and
San Diego, California, in addition to the
Sun Valley and
Snowbasin ski resorts. These properties were not part of the sale to HollyFrontier, and continue to be owned by the Holding Family.
HF Sinclair Corporation In March 2022, the sale to HollyFrontier was completed, and
HF Sinclair Corporation traded on the NYSE under the ticker symbol DINO. ==In popular culture==