Historic Midland

CONOCO
INC.
It would be hard to imagine life in Midland
today without Conoco’s involvement—with
employee volunteerism in everything from
United Way to school partnerships, and corporate
gifts, which undergird the operations of
countless nonprofit agencies in the community.
Conoco started in Ogden, Utah in 1875. It
became active in the Permian Basin in the late
1920s, first drilling in the South
Plains and southeastern New
Mexico. It opened an office in
Midland in 1928. Meanwhile,
Marland Oil had acquired acreage in
Crockett, Reagan, Brewster,
Glasscock and Martin Counties, and
in the Powell ranch, south of
Midland.
Conoco has played a vital role in
bringing West Texas and New
Mexico to its present position in oil
and gas production, with such discoveries
as the Vacuum field in the
South Plains and the prolific Bell
Lake field in Eddy and Lea
Counties.
In 1929, when Marland and
Continental merged, the name
Conoco first appeared on the green
oil company signs, along with a red
triangle. Conoco retiree Bill Brown
said early company cars were painted
green with the red triangle on the
doors. Sandstorms were hard on
that green paint. Retiree Bill
Huebner recalls driving from his
field office in Oil Center down to
Midland in a sandstorm that
stripped the paint off his car.
To call in drilling reports, they
drove to the nearest pay phone.
“We had to hurry every morning
to get to the telephone before all the
farm wives got on the party line,”
recalls retiree Bob Gault.
Expense accounts averaged two
or three dollars a day.
Retirees Niran Kellogg and
McCollum Wiebush said they were
told when they moved to Midland
that the first year would be the
hardest.
“They said we would hate
Midland the first year, but after that,
we’d never want to leave,” said Mr.
Kellogg. “And they were right.”
114 ✦ HISTORIC MIDLAND