Murphy Oil history

1958: First refinery, located in Superior, Wisconsin, is purchased.

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

1964: Company is reorganized as Murphy Oil Corporation; farm and timber interests are placed into a wholly owned subsidiary, Deltic Farm & Timber Co., Inc.

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.'

By 1969 there were 942 leased and owned SPUR stations and 1,332 SPUR stations operated by others.

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.

By 1971, the company as a whole was reporting revenues of $300 million.

In 1979, after North Sea drilling paid off in the huge Ninian Field (the United Kingdom's third largest), the company racked up three consecutive years of record sales and income.

1980: Revenues surpass $2 billion for the first time.

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

In the fourth quarter of 1985, crude prices fell into the $15 to $20 range.

In 1987, he bought out the 23 percent minority interest in Murphy Oil Company Ltd., Murphy's London-based subsidiary.

Though unsuccessful in this endeavor, Murphy reported a net income of $39 million in 1988--the first profit in three years.

In 1991, McNutt finally disposed of Murphy's ODECO problem.

Also in 1993, the company purchased from the province of Alberta a five percent interest&mdash≡uivalent to 100 million barrels--in Syncrude, an oil shale project in the northern reaches of the province.

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.

Meanwhile, an oil glut forced down the price of a barrel of crude by late 1998 to about $11, the cheapest price in history with inflation factored in; just one year earlier, the price had been about $23.

In 2003, the company acquired acreage offshore Republic of Congo.

In July 2011, the company sold its refinery in Superior, Wisconsin to Calumet for $214 million.

In 2017, the company acquired acreage offshore Brazil.