Dan Moran was appointed President of Marland Oil Co in 1928 replacing founder E. W. Marland. In 1929 Moran merged Marland Oil with Continental Oil and Transportation Co to became the first President of a new company known as the Continental Oil Company (Conoco). Moran ran Conoco for twenty years, seeing the company through challenges of the great depression, and retiring in 1947. The company ran into early trouble when, shortly after acquisition, it was hit by the Great Crash of October 1929. Conoco became a key supplier to the United States government during World War II.