Crown Oilfield Svc history

On a barren piece of land in Harris County, Texas, just outside of Houston, a discouraged but determined drilling crew struck “black gold” in 1917.

With the revenue generated by that well, the fledgling company was first able to compensate its crew—whose paychecks had run out before their momentous find—and then, in 1918, to construct its own 65-acre refinery, one of the first on the Houston Ship Channel.

One of the very first refineries built on the Houston Ship Channel, the plant opened in 1920 with lube oil as its only product.

In 1923 Delaware-based United Central Oil Corporation acquired White Oil and, by extension, the business of Crown.

But the range of products would begin to grow with the manufacturing of gasoline in 1925.

In 1930 American Trading acquired a controlling share of Crown as an extension of that plan.

Five years later, in 1935, Crown went public, listing on the Curb Exchange, the predecessor of the American Stock Exchange.

In 1937 the Blaustein imprint became an indelible one as Crown moved its state of incorporation from Delaware to Maryland, the home state of its controlling family.

In 1943, Crown opened its first stations in the Baltimore area, marking the start of an extensive marketing campaign.

1950's Crown Bay Station with "Dual Chimneys" and "Complete Car Service"

1960's Crown Bay Station "Complete Car Service"

1970's Crown "Multi Pump" concept.

Randy is a registered professional engineer in the State of Oklahoma and is a 1974 graduate of the University of Oklahoma, where he received both a Bachelor and Master of Science Degree in Petroleum Engineering.

Crown, now led by Henry A. Rosenberg, Jr., who succeeded his father as the company’s top executive in 1976, attempted a change in strategy, away from traditional refining and retail sales and toward diversification.

Finally, the DOE charged Crown with overcharging gasoline and heating oil customers by more than $709,000 in 1978.

The merger’s life span was cut short, however, when Crown sold American Life to Provident Mutual Life Insurance Co. for $44 million. It also acquired Continental American Life Insurance Company in 1980.

In June 1982 the DOE proposed that Crown pay more than $33 million to gasoline and heating oil customers in compensation for overcharges and other violations of federal oil price and allocation regulations.

Along similar lines, Crown acquired 68 BP service stations in Maryland in 1986, doubling the number of outlets it owned in the state.

Crown also cosponsored Oldsmobile in 1988 on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit, a series of racing events that drew 14 million fans and 165 million television spectators.

In 1989 the company increased its refining capacities by 50,000 barrels a day with the purchase of La Gloria Oil and Gas Company in Tyler, Texas.

In June 1990 an explosion aboard the supertanker Mega Borg caused fire damage and spillage of approximately 2,000 gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

Yet Standard & Poor’s forecasted that refining would be the first sector of the battered petroleum industry to rebound from the 1991 fall.

In 1995, he co-founded and still is CEO and Chairman for Basin Engineering, LLC, an engineering consulting firm that currently provides project management services to exploration and production companies.

New regulations monitored gasoline evaporation at gas pumps and gas leakage from underground storage tanks (USTs). Crown projects the cost of modifications to refinery and other operations in order to meet environmental guidelines to reach $200 million through 1997.

In 2003, he also co-founded what is now known as Basin Environmental and Safety Technologies and currently serves as Chief Executive Officer.