"The Ponca City News" recently announced that with the split of ConocoPhillips into two companies, the ConocoPhillips operation in Ponca City, Oklahoma will soon be renamed Phillips 66.
Frank Phillips, the founder of the Phillips 66 Oil company, was a man who knew how to use his courage and initiative and great administrative ability to create industry and wealth in Oklahoma leaving a legacy in the oil company that bears his name that will always be a monument to his memory.
But there is another Oklahoma oil pioneer who was equally important in developing the oil industry and bringing prosperity and advancement to Northern Oklahoma and that man was EW Marland.
EW Marland pioneered the use of geological techniques in the oil industry and was years ahead of his time as an employer providing housing, loans, medical care, and other benefits for thousands of employees who worked at his refineries and pipelines but Marland lost everything to the powerful JP Morgan banking interests - even losing his name on the oil company that he founded in Ponca City.
It is altogether fitting and proper that Phillips 66 honor the heritage of oil development in Northern Oklahoma by recognizing Frank Phillips and EW Marland.
The executives of Phillip 66 have honored the memory of Frank Phillips by choosing to name their new company for Phillips. We think Phillips 66 should honor the legacy of oil pioneer EW Marland by naming their refinery in Ponca City for Marland, the man who started the refinery and brought advancement and development to North Central Oklahoma.
It would mean a great deal to the residents of Ponca City for Phillips 66 to acknowledge the history and heritage of the oil industry in Oklahoma by honoring these two great oil pioneers, Frank Phillips and EW Marland.
Renaming the refinery in Ponca City the "EW Marland Refinery" will serve as a symbol going forward of the partnership between the oil industry and the citizens of North Central Oklahoma that honors the legacy of these two great oil pioneers.
If you support renaming the refinery, we'd like your comments below.
Read more at our web site: "Honor the Legacy of EW Marland"
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