The eruption of the Lucas Gusher at the Spindletop oil field in January 1901 established Texas as a major oil source and helped launch a significant economic boom, from which nearby Port Arthur benefited greatly. In early 1901, a consortium of men from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, formed the J.M. Guffey Petroleum Company to finance and develop industry for oil from its Spindletop leases. Needing refining facilities and a sales organization, the consortium chartered the Gulf Refining Company on November 10, 1901, and built a refinery at Port Arthur to turn crude oil into a usable commodity. Its early products included gasoline, kerosene, and engine oil. In 1907, the assets of the J.M. Guffey Petroleum and Gulf Refining Companies were merged into the Gulf Oil Corporation. At the end of 1910, Port Arthur was the company's only refinery until a second was built in Fort Worth the following year. Innovative production, refining, and retailing techniques after World War I kept the company on solid economic footing, and expansion continued after World War II. By 1955, Gulf Oil was the nation's largest producer of ethylene, and by 1960, the Port Arthur facility was refining 270,000 barrels of crude oil per day into 600 different products. Gulf Oil became part of Chevron in 1984. In 1995, Clark Refining took ownership of the Port Arthur plant, and in 2000, Clark's name was changed to Premcor. With an excellent safety record, the Port Arthur refinery has been a significant factor in the city's development as a major petrochemical center.
