United Oil in Southern Idaho has a New Supplier

United Oil has a new partner.  You may have seen some signs being changed in the Magic Valley.  The local gas pumps are now being supplied by Marathon Petroleum Corporation instead of Sinclair.  The bright new signs were going up late last week at various locations.

Marathon Oil was what the company was originally called.  It has a long, long history.  At one time, the company sponsored a traveling amateur basketball team.  It would play tune-up games versus some of the best NCAA programs in the country and often the Marathon club came away with victories in the exhibition games.

United is a supplier for many local governments and you can often see law enforcement filling up at the pumps.  I’m a big fan as the air is free!  Before I put on some new tires last fall, I extended the life of an old set by constantly balancing the air pressure on my daily drives home from work.

There is a Marathon refinery just a three hour drive from here.  In Salt Lake City.  United Oil maintains local ownership as it joins almost 7,000 independent stations selling the Marathon product.  Marathon also operates roughly 1,000 of its own locations under the company name.

The roots of the firm go all the way back to 1889.  It was owned for a time by Standard Oil but when the trust was broken up by a court it again became an independent outfit on its own.  The company has long been headquartered in Ohio.

In the early days of American oil production, Eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania dominated the industry.