Sonol

The Standard Oil Company of New York (Socony) began oil exploration operations in Ottoman Palestine in 1913.[3] It had been granted concessions by the Ottoman government to conduct geological surveys in order to ascertain whether oil was in existence in commercial quantities. Preparations to drill at a concession in the Negev – southern present-day Israel – were halted in 1915 due to World War I. After the war, when the territory of Palestine came under British administration, Socony complained to the U.S. State Department that the British government was refusing to allow the company to carry out research at its concessions. The State Department interceded with the British on Socony's behalf, and in December 1922 Socony completed its surveys. The surveys indicated that oil was not available in commercial quantities, after which Socony abandoned its concessionary claims and joined the Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC) in 1928.[4][5][6][7][8]

Vacuum Oil Company began operating mechanical gas pumps in 1924. In 1931, Socony and Vacuum merged to form Socony-Vacuum Oil Company. By the 1940s, various transnational oil companies were operating in Mandatory Palestine, including IPC, Shell and Socony-Vacuum.[9] IPC owned terminal facilities of the Kirkuk–Haifa pipeline; Shell jointly controlled the Haifa oil refinery with British Petroleum; and Socony-Vacuum maintained a local distributing agency accounting for 25–30% of the local oil market.[10][11][12][13]^: 43

In the late 1940s, around the time Israel gained its independence, Socony-Vacuum made its pumps electric motor-driven.[14][15] Saudi pressure in 1956 compelled Socony-Vacuum – which theretofore had been one of Israel's principal oil suppliers and which a year earlier had changed its name to Socony Mobil – to terminate its relationship with Israel and sell its interests there. In 1957 Socony Mobil's Israel operations were acquired by Rudolf Sonneborn and Sonol became the name of the company.[13]^: 50–51[16][17]

Sonol acquired gas distribution company Supergas in 1975. In 1981 Sonol was acquired by Granite Hacarmel Investments Ltd., one of the largest holding companies in Israel.[18] In 1990 Sonol acquired car battery manufacturer Vulcan from Koor Industries Ltd for $2 million.[19]

Sonol gas station near Kfar Adumim

Vulcan was sold in 2000 to Focus Capital Group Ltd.[20] Sonol announced the establishment of its own chain of gas station convenience stores in 2004, following a similar trend set by rivals Paz, Delek and Dor Alon.[21] By 2010 it was operating 140 such stores under the brand So Good.[22]

In September 2005 Granite Hacarmel agreed to sell Sonol's 210 gas stations and other Granite-held assets to Dor Alon for $155 million.[23] The Antitrust Authority opposed the deal and in April 2006 filed an appeal with the Supreme Court.[24] In June 2006 the Supreme Court ruled to suspend the Sonol deal.[25] In October 2010 Azrieli Group acquired 54% of Granite for $148 million and in December increased its stake to 63.8% for an additional NIS109.2 million.[26][27][28]

In 2011 Sonol was one of four companies that together controlled 90% of the Israeli fuel market.[29] In March Sonol and Better Place signed an agreement to deploy electric car battery recharging terminals at Sonol's gas stations.[30] In October Sonol stations began offering gas containing an additive produced by Lubrizol Corporation shown in one study to reduce fumes and carbon dioxide emissions.[31][32]

On 12 February 2020, the United Nations published a database of companies doing business related in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as well as in the occupied Golan Heights.[41] Sonol was listed on the database on account of its activities in Israeli settlements in these occupied territories,[42] which are considered illegal under international law.[43]