Historedia
AmericasEvent

Standard Oil controls 84% of US oil after merger of small companies

When
1899
Where
Standard Oil Trust, based at 26 Broadway in New York
Episodes
1

The January 1898 consolidation by which Standard Oil controlled 84% of US oil and most pipelines is not supported by the supplied passages. The evidence instead describes a 1899 reorganization into a holding company, with market share figures for 1904 and 1911. The 84% figure and pipeline claim are omitted as unsourced.

Episodes

  1. 1899 · Standard Oil Trust, based at 26 Broadway in New YorkFormation of Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey

    In 1899, Jersey Standard acquired shares of 19 other companies, becoming the holding company for the trust, based at 26 Broadway in New York.

Background and detail

Background. Standard Oil Company existed as a corporate trust from 1882 to 1911. The Ohio Supreme Court dissolved the trust in 1892, reorganizing holdings into 20 independent companies. These companies formed an unofficial union called Standard Oil Interests. In 1899, the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey acquired shares of the other 19 companies, becoming the holding company for the trust.

Market Share. The 84% figure for January 1898 is not supported by the supplied passages. The evidence indicates Standard Oil controlled 91% of oil refinement and 85% of final sales in 1904. By 1911, refining capacity share had shrunk to between 60 and 65 percent due to competitor expansion. The claim regarding most American pipelines is also omitted as unsourced.

Reorganization. The Standard Oil Trust, based at 26 Broadway in New York, was legally reborn as a holding company in 1899. This entity was the Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey. The federal Commissioner of Corporations later studied operations from 1904 to 1906, concluding that the dominant position was due to unfair practices, including abuse of control of pipe-lines.

People involved

  • John D. Rockefeller · Major shareholder of Standard Oil; retired from the Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey in 1896 but remained president and a major shareholder thereafter

Sources

  1. Standard Oil Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-30

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.