Editing ARCO (section)

=== Early period ===
ARCO was formed by the [[mergers and acquisitions|merger]] of [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]]–based [[Atlantic Petroleum|Atlantic Refining]] and California-based [[Richfield Oil Corporation]] in 1966; the company's name is an [[acronym]] of the two companies' names. A merger in 1969, brought in [[Sinclair Oil Corporation]].<ref name="britannica"/>  In the 1970s and 80s, ARCO was one of the largest companies in the world, consistently a top 20 company of the Fortune 500.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500_archive/full/1984/ |title=FORTUNE 500: 1984 Archive Full List 1-100 |website=Fortune |access-date=2019-08-01}}</ref> After its subsequent fracture in the late 1980s and early 90s, ARCO became a subsidiary of UK-based [[BP|BP plc]] in 2000 through its BP West Coast Products LLC (BPWCP) affiliate.<ref>"[http://www.arco.com/mediapopuptwocolumn.do?categoryId=16002902&contentId=7023254 Legal information] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130323204612/http://www.arco.com/mediapopuptwocolumn.do?categoryId=16002902&contentId=7023254 |date=2013-03-23 }}". ARCO. Retrieved on July 7, 2010.</ref>

* The Atlantic Petroleum Storage Company's heritage dates back to 1866. It became part of the [[Standard Oil]] trust in 1874, but achieved independence again when Standard Oil was broken up in 1911.
* In 1915, Atlantic opens its first [[filling station]] on Baum Boulevard in [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]].
* In 1917, First Richfield Oil Company of California gas station at Slauson and Central Avenues in [[Los Angeles]], California.  Richfield Oil Company of California logo is an Eagle trademark.
* The Atlantic Refining Company was headquartered in [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]].
* In 1966, Atlantic merged with the Richfield Oil Company of California. The first CEO was [[Robert Orville Anderson]], who had previously led Atlantic. The trademark for the new company, a red diamond shape called the ARCO Spark, was designed by [[Bauhaus]] artist, designer, and architect [[Herbert Bayer]].
* Commercial oil exploration started in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, in the 1960s, and the [[Prudhoe Bay Oil Field]], North America's largest oil field, was discovered on March 12, 1968, by Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) and Exxon with the well Prudhoe Bay State #1. Key employees with ARCO Alaska were [[Marvin Mangus]], John M. Sweet, and William D. Leake, chief project engineer for the Alaska pipeline. The Richfield Oil Company of California had purchased the drilling rights to the land where the discovery well was located. [[BP]] had drilling rights near the discovery well.
* ARCO acquired [[Sinclair Oil Corporation]] in 1969, but later divested certain Sinclair assets during the mid-1970s, resulting in Sinclair returning as a private company. 
* In 1978, ARCO opened the first of its [[ampm]] convenience stores in [[Southern California]].