ExxonMobil is one of the few modern companies that were already operating during the nineteenth century. The current Benelux-based organization has its roots in Antwerp, Rotterdam and the United States.
After the division of the Standard Oil Trust into different 'Baby Standards' in 1911, its European activities were carried on by Jersey Standard.
To survive for more than a century, Esso and Mobil Oil have had to constantly adapt to an ever-changing world.
All chemicals start their life as an oil fraction. ExxonMobil Chemical is specialized in the production of chemical building blocks for the plastics industry using starting materials from ExxonMobil refineries or its own chemical plants.
Until the creation of ExxonMobil in 1999, Mobil Oil operated as an independent oil company, including operations in the Benelux. The roots of both this company and Exxon (Esso) are found in Rockefeller's Standard Oil Trust.