United Refining Company

Company type	Private
Industry	Oil and natural gas , convenience stores
Founded	1902 ; 122 years ago  ( 1902 )
Headquarters	Warren , Pennsylvania , United States
Area served	Ohio , Pennsylvania, and New York
Key people	John Catsimatidis ( CEO ) James E. Murphy ( CFO ) Myron L. Turfitt ( COO )
Products	Petroleum and derived products
Subsidiaries	Kwik Fill Country Fair, Inc.
Website	www.urc.com

The United Refining Company ( URC ) is an oil company in Warren, Pennsylvania . The company operates an oil refinery in Warren that can process 70,000 barrels of crude oil into gasoline , diesel fuel and other petroleum distillates per day. ^[1] It distributes gasoline under the Kwik Fill and Keystone brands. In early 2019, the American Automobile Association noted that Warren had the most expensive gasoline in Western Pennsylvania , despite the presence of the refinery in the town and a gasoline station just outside the refinery, the root cause of which remains undetermined. ^[2]

History [ edit ]

The United Refining Company was founded in 1902 by Harry Logan, Sr. His son, Harry Logan, Jr. , succeeded his father as president and chairman of United Refining in 1957. In 1986, John Catsimatidis acquired United Refining as a subsidiary of his Red Apple Group .

As of 1935, the company had a pair of marketing subsidiaries, Emblem Oil Company and Red Star Lubrication Service Incorporated, which distributed Keystone Gasoline and Emblem Motor Oils, respectively. ^[3]

The refinery was expanded from 60,000 barrels per day (9,500 m ³ /d) to 65,000 barrels per day (10,300 m ³ /d) in 1982. It was expanded again to have a processing capacity of 70,000 barrels per day (11,000 m ³ /d) in 2007. The employees of the Warren refinery are represented by the International Union of Operating Engineers .

Citgo [ edit ]

URC acquired the rights to use the name Citgo in 2002 when it bought a local gas station and convenience store chain called Country Fair, Inc. in Erie, Pennsylvania which included a license agreement to use "Citgo's brands, trademarks and other forms of identification." ^{[4] [5]}

After Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's speech to the United Nations , there were calls to boycott the Citgo brand. ^[5] In response, URC began phasing out that brandname, ^[5] and has been emphasizing that its crude oil supply comes from North America. URC also continued rebranding its product under the Kwik Fill and other local names. ^[6]

Convenience stores [ edit ]

United Refining Company distributes its oil through its line of owned-and-operated convenience stores , totaling approximately 375 throughout upstate New York , Pennsylvania , and Northeast Ohio . The stores operate under the names Kwik Fill , Red Apple , or Country Fair . Many Kwik Fill locations, like the one in the photo above, are full-service, meaning they pump your gas for you.

References [ edit ]

External links [ edit ]

• United Refining Co. website