Coastal Holding Corporation history

In June 1970 the company announced plans to link its west Texas natural gas reserves to the Dallas area.

In 1973 Coastal entered the coal mining field with the acquisition of Southern Utah Fuel Company.

By 1975 revenues had reached $1.9 billion.

The spinoff, Valero Energy Corporation, which was formed on December 31, 1979, from LoVaca and other Coastal assets, had annual revenues of about $1 billion.

Economic recession and an oversupply of oil and natural gas, as well as conservation by consumers, led to Coastal's first loss, which amounted to $96.4 million for the year 1981.

In 1983, for example, Coastal's attempt to secure Texas Gas Resources failed, yet Coastal's initial investment in the company generated a total of $26.4 million in profits.

In 1987, despite sanctions prohibiting United States companies from dealing with Libya because of its terrorist connections, Wyatt negotiated a deal in which Libya supplied oil to Coastal's refinery in Hamburg, Germany.

The United States government took action against Coastal's agreement with Libya in 1991 by prohibiting United States citizens from working for the venture.

In 1992 Coastal shut down its refinery in Kansas when its refining and marketing division reported an operating loss of $192 million, but the company continued to grow, seeking acquisitions and joint ventures to streamline operations.

In early 1995, through subsidiary Coastal Oil & Gas Corp., Coastal gained an interest in several producing fields off the coast of Louisiana from Koch Hydrocarbons, Inc.

Coastal's refinery in Eagle Point, New Jersey, was busy in 1998 as well.

By February 1999 Coastal had seven oil rigs in operation.

In that year Coastal acquired an 11 percent interest in the 1,900-mile Alliance Pipeline, designed to move natural gas from western Canada to the Chicago region. It was projected that the pipeline would be completed by 2002.