Standard Oil of Ohio

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Sohio's pre-merger logo

Standard Oil of Ohio or Sohio was an American oil company that was acquired by British Petroleum, now called BP.

It was one of the successor companies to Standard Oil after the antitrust breakup in 1911. Standard Oil of Ohio was the original Standard Oil company founded by John D. Rockefeller. It operated service stations under the "Sohio" brand name in Ohio. The company used the same logo, but with "Boron" as the brand name in other states.

Sohio canopy circa 1989. Sohio's final prototype canopy. Also used as the canopies for Boron and Gulf Gasoline stations until the stations were rebranded as BP.

A Gulf gasoline station in Louisville, KY using the previous BP/Sohio prototype.

Sohio sign circa 1989. Sohio's logo. A similar logo was also used at Boron stations outside the state of Ohio.

A merger between Sohio and BP was negotiated with Sohio through Charlie Spahr, then CEO of Sohio in 1968. Although the merger was announced as an acquisition of BP interests in North America by Sohio, the terms included the stipulation that BP would assume majority interest when Sohio's share of production from the Prudhoe Bay oilfield in Alaska reached 600,000 barrels/day. BP took majority ownership of the company in 1978 when the benchmark level was attained. In 1987, after all other Standard Oil descendants had minimized use of the name Standard, Standard of Ohio, proud to be the original, sought to corporately rebrand itself under the Standard name while continuing to use the Sohio brand and others to sell products in Ohio. However, later that year BP bought the 45% of Sohio it did not already own and assumed control. Among the first changes was the rebranding of all Sohio and Boron stations to 'BP' in 1991. The Boron name was used outside of Ohio in neighboring states, like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky. Boron was also the branding of its premium grade gasoline along with its regular grade fuel "Extron"(formerly "Ex-tane" later "Octron") and its unleaded version "Cetron" introduced in 1970.

Sohio's credit cards, like other oil company cards at the time, cardholders could charge purchases at several competitors' stations when traveling outside of Ohio. The benefit passed away with the Sohio brand. Exxon had a similar arrangement as well.

Although Sohio gas stations have ceased to exist, a few marina gas stations on Lake Erie and the Ohio River still bear the Sohio name.

When BP merged with Amoco, its American headquarters moved from the former BP America Building on Public Square in Cleveland to Chicago.