page_title: ARCO
hierarchical_section_title: ARCO
caption_attribution_description: English: ARCO gas station in Los Angeles. Photographed on March 11, 2005. Uploaded by user Coolcaesar. The design of the station is quite typical of ARCO stations, including the blue paint scheme, the repeated use of the graphic logo made up of four red triangles forming a diamond (or rotated square), and the AM/PM convenience store. The big silvery object in the middle of the station is an ARCO tanker truck that was unloading its cargo at the time I took the picture.
context_page_description: Atlantic Richfield Company is an American oil company with operations in the United States, Indonesia, the North Sea, the South China Sea, and Mexico. It has more than 1,300 gas stations in the western part of the United States, and recently five gas stations in northwestern Mexico. ARCO was formed by the merger of East Coast–based Atlantic Refining and California-based Richfield Oil Corporation in 1966; the company's name is an initialism of the two companies. A merger in 1969 brought in Sinclair Oil Corporation. In the 1970s and 80s, ARCO was one of the largest companies in the world, consistently a top 20 company of the Fortune 500. After its subsequent fracture in the late 1980s and early 90s, ARCO became a subsidiary of UK-based BP plc in 2000 through its BP West Coast Products LLC affiliate. On August 13, 2012, it was announced that Tesoro would purchase ARCO and its refinery for $2.5 billion. The deal came under fire because of increasing fuel prices. Many activists urged state and federal regulators to block the sale because of concerns that it would reduce competition and could lead to higher fuel prices at ARCO stations.
context_section_description: Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO /ˈɑːrkoʊ/ AR-koh) is an American oil company with operations in the United States, Indonesia, the North Sea, the South China Sea, and Mexico.  It has more than 1,300 gas stations in the western part of the United States, and recently (as of 2017) five gas stations in northwestern Mexico.  ARCO was formed by the merger of East Coast–based Atlantic Refining and California-based Richfield Oil Corporation in 1966; the company's name is an initialism of the two companies. A merger in 1969 brought in Sinclair Oil Corporation.  In the 1970s and 80s, ARCO was one of the largest companies in the world, consistently a top 20 company of the Fortune 500. After its subsequent fracture in the late 1980s and early 90s, ARCO became a subsidiary of UK-based BP plc in 2000 through its BP West Coast Products LLC (BPWCP) affiliate.  On August 13, 2012, it was announced that Tesoro would purchase ARCO and its refinery for $2.5 billion.  The deal came under fire because of increasing fuel prices. Many activists urged state and federal regulators to block the sale because of concerns that it would reduce competition and could lead to higher fuel prices at ARCO stations (ARCO stations make up more than half of all stations with the lowest fuel prices in California). On June 3, 2013, BP sold ARCO and the Carson Refinery to Tesoro for $2.5 billion. BP sold its Southern California terminals (Vinvale, Colton, San Diego, Hathaway, and Hynes) to Tesoro Logistics LP, including the Carson Storage Facility. BP sold the ampm brand to Tesoro for Southern California, Arizona, and Nevada. BP exclusively licensed the ARCO rights from Tesoro for Northern California, Oregon, and Washington.
  ARCO is known for its low-priced gasoline compared to other national brands, mainly because of an early 1980s business decision to emphasize cost cutting (cash/debit-only policy) and alternative sources of income (ampm). ARCO is headquartered in La Palma, California.
  Tesoro was renamed Andeavor in 2017, and was acquired by Marathon Petroleum in 2018. Following the acquisition, Marathon hinted at keeping the ARCO brand name in Mexico as well as select US markets while rebranding the rest either as standard Marathon stations (for franchised locations) or Speedway locations (for company-owned locations); stations still owned by BP may either remain as ARCO or rebranded as Amoco, as BP doesn't own the rights to the name due to licensing-based reasons in the Western United States.
caption: An ARCO filling station off Slauson Avenue in Los Angeles, California
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