Tidewater Oil Company

"Veedol" redirects here. For the airplane, see Miss Veedol.

Tidewater Oil Company

Company type	Private
Industry	Petroleum
Founded	1887 (1887) in New York City
Founder	E. W. Marland
Defunct	(original company) 1966 (1966)
Fate	Acquired by Phillips Petroleum Co., then sold to others
Headquarters	Tidewater Building, Los Angeles, California
Brands	List Tydol Flying A Veedol
Owner	Andrew Yule & Co.
Parent	Tide Water India

Tidewater Oil Company (rendered as Tide Water Oil Company from 1887 to 1936) was a major petroleum refining company during the early 20th century. After operating independently from 1887 to 1926, Tidewater was sold to a holding company. Over the decades, it passed through various corporate hands. Its various commercial brands for selling petroleum and gasoline products / fuel included Tydol, Flying A, and Veedol.

In 2011, Veedol was sold by British Petroleum to Tidewater India. Now it is part of Andrew Yule and Company's Indian group and manufactures automotive oil for the Indian market on the sub-continent of South Asia. Tidewater does not have its own refinery, so it is dependent on base oil suppliers like HPCL and BPCL. It also manufactures a wide range of automotive lubricants. Its corporate headquarters is in Los Angeles, California.

History

Tide Water plant in 1891

Tide Water was founded in New York City in 1887. The company entered the gasoline market and by 1920 was selling gasoline, oil and other products on the East Coast of the United States under its "Tydol" brand.

In 1926, control of Tide Water Oil was sold to a new holding company, Tide Water Associated Oil Company, which also acquired a controlling interest in California’s Associated Oil Company. Soon thereafter, Standard Oil Company of New Jersey took control of the company. Flying A became the primary brand name for the company, though the Tydol and Associated names were also retained in their respective marketing areas.

Tidewater Oil Company operated a fleet of oil tankers. During World War II, it chartered ships to the Maritime Commission and War Shipping Administration and operated T2 tankers to support the war effort. Ships included: USS Guyandot (AOG-16), SS Byron D. Benson, SS Samuel Q. Brown, Falls of Clyde, and others.

Automobile dealership featuring Tydol gasoline pumps, c. 1952

During the 1950s, the Associated and Tydol brands gradually fell into disuse, and were dropped entirely in 1956.

In 1966, Phillips Petroleum Company (now ConocoPhillips) purchased Tidewater's western refining, distribution and retailing network. Phillips immediately rebranded all Flying A stations in the region to Phillips 66. On the East Coast that year, American-born British petrol-industrialist J. Paul Getty merged his numerous oil interests into Getty Oil Company, and Tidewater Oil was dropped as a corporate brand. The Flying A brand continued to be used on the East Coast until 1970, when stations and products were renamed Getty.

In 2000, BP acquired the Veedol brand when it bought Burmah-Castrol. In February 2011, BP offered to sell the Veedol brand, which was purchased that October by Tide Water India, part of the Andrew Yule and Company Indian subsidiary.

See also

• Bayonne refinery strikes of 1915–1916

External links

• Tide Water Oil Co. of India
• 1938 aerial photo of Tydol facility in West Philadelphia