The Growth of Competition among the Standard Oil Companies in the United States, 1911–1961 1

In 1911 one of the most significant U.S. anti-trust decisions resulted in the dissolution of the Standard Oil trust which had dominated the oil industry of the United States since the 1870s. A half century later, eight of the original members of the trust ranked among the eighteen largest oil companies in the nation. This paper traces the development of these companies which emerged from the trust, showing the growth of competition as they expanded their marketing areas beyond the territories originally assigned to them under the trust agreement, and came into direct competition with one another.