Mobil - Mobil Australia

Mobil Australia

The Vacuum Oil Company began operating in Australia in 1895, introducing its Plume brand of petrol in 1916. The Flying Red Horse (Pegasus) logo was introduced in 1939, and in 1954 the Plume brand was replaced by Mobilgas.

Mobil Australia's corporate office is in Melbourne. In 1946 Mobil commenced construction of a refinery at Altona in Melbourne's western suburbs, which originally produced lubricating oils and bitumen, before producing motor vehicle fuels in 1956. It is still in use. A second refinery at Port Stanvac, south of Adelaide, came on-stream in 1963, but was closed in 2003. Mobil commenced removal of the refinery in July 2009, together with site remediation works.

In 1990, Mobil acquired the service station network of Esso Australia. On 27 May 2009, Caltex Oil Australia Ltd. announced it would be acquiring 302 Mobil service stations in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide, subject to approval of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. The ACCC subsequently announced its opposition to the takeover, citing the likelihood of increased fuel prices due to diminished competition.

On 27 May 2010, 7-Eleven announced that it had acquired Mobil's entire Australian network of 295 service stations. At the same time, it was announced that 7-Eleven had on sold 29 South Australian service stations to Peregrine Corporation. Peregrine's acquisition will see Mobil's sites in South Australia rebranded to On the Run convenience stores, but they will continue to be supplied by Mobil.