Magnolia Petroleum Company

The Magnolia Petroleum Company was an early twentieth-century petroleum company in Texas. The company was established in 1911, being later acquired by the Standard Oil of New York, which operated it as a wholly-owned subsidiary until its demise in 1959.

History
The company was founded on April 24, 1911, by the Sealy family of Galveston, as a consolidation of several earlier companies, including J. S. Cullinan Company and its refinery in the East Texas Oil Field. Standard Oil of New York ("Socony") exchanged its stock for all of the Magnolia stock (except seven shares for the Directors) in December 1925 though it continued to operate as an affiliate of Socony. The firm then merged with Vacuum Oil Company in 1931, becoming "Socony-Vacuum Oil Company".

Magnolia Petroleum continued to operate as a subsidiary of Socony-Vacuum. In 1959, Magnolia was fully incorporated into the Mobil division of Socony-Vacuum, which later changed its name to 'Socony Mobil' and, ultimately to Mobil Oil Corporation. In 1999, Mobil merged with Exxon to form ExxonMobil, one of the largest oil companies in the world. Preferred Magnolia stock was eventually converted to ExxonMobil stock, making the Sealy family (John Sealy Estate, Sealy Foundation) some of the largest shareholders of ExxonMobil.

The acquisition proved to be one of the most important mergers that brought the majors in to develop the Corsican and Beaumont area into one of the largest refineries in the world.

The emblem of Magnolia Petroleum Company was originally a magnolia blossom. When Socony merged with Vacuum in 1931, Socony-Vacuum as well as Magnolia began using Vacuum's Brand of ‘Flying Red Horse’ petroleum products a.k.a. red Pegasus logo, as well as the Mobil name for its products (Mobilgas, Mobiloil, etc.).

In 1924, Magnolia Petroleum launched Beaumont's first radio station, KFDM ("Kall For Dependable Magnolene"), which would be leased to the Sabine Broadcasting Company in 1932 and sold to the Beaumont Broadcasting Corporation in 1937. KFDM broadcast at 315.6 metres (c. 950 kHz) on Tuesday and Friday evenings, with religious services heard Sunday morning and evening. (accessed 6/7/2024)

An unrelated Oklahoma-based company of the same name has been operating since 2008.