Murphy Co Mechanical history

The Company, headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas, was originally incorporated in Louisiana in 1950 as Murphy Corporation.

The Murphy home was continuously lived in by the Murphys until it was given to the city of Sunnyvale in 1953.

1956: Company is taken public on the New York Stock Exchange.

1960: First service stations are acquired through acquisition of Spur Oil Co.

After acquiring a second refinery in 1961--Ingram Oil and Refining Company's Meraux, Louisiana, installation--Murphy began expanding the company's drilling network.

It was reincorporated in Delaware in 1964, at which time it adopted the name Murphy Oil Corporation.

By 1968 ODECO was operating 12 drilling barges and according to the Wall Street Transcript was considered 'one of the best growth stocks in the oil industry.'

In 1969, he created Murphy Eastern Oil Company in London, to monitor diversified overseas operations.

In 1970, a year in which profits rose to $9.3 million, reflecting higher prices and lower ocean freight costs, Murphy Oil began drilling in the British North Sea through an eight percent participation with Burmah Oil and Williams Bros.

In 1977 the company surpassed $1 billion in sales for the first time, selling $1.11 billion worth of fossil fuel products and services.

In 1983, the company began pumping oil from the Gaviota field off the north coast of Spain.

In 1986, he bought ten drilling rigs, reasoning that a shakeup was underway and that ODECO might profit from being one of the few surviving firms.

In 1987 ODECO lost $61 million and at one point during the year was using only 29 percent of capacity.

Part of the proceeds were used to pay debt down to just $24 million by the end of 1992, leaving it in a cash-rich position, with a little more than $300 million on hand.

Other key developments in 1994 involved the company's management.

In 1995 the company reported a net loss of $118.6 million that was entirely attributed to writedowns of previously overvalued assets.

1996: Company launches alliance with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., under which Murphy gas stations are added to the retailer's store properties; Deltic Farm & Timber is spun off to company shareholders.