Pennzoil is an American motor oil brand currently owned by Shell plc. The former Pennzoil Company had been established in 1913 in Pennsylvania, being active in business as an independent firm until it was acquired by Shell in 2002, becoming a brand of the conglomerate. History Beginning and expansion Origins of the company can be traced to the "South Penn Oil Company", an oil business started in Oil City, Pennsylvania by Michael Late Benedum and Joe Trees in May 1889 as a unit of Standard Oil. It became the largest oil producer in the region, becoming independent when Standard Oil was split in 1911. By those times, two companies, one on the East Coast and another on the West (founded in 1908 and 1913 respectively) started to market their motor oils under the brand Pennzoil. Their refineries and distributors were later incorporated as "The Pennzoil Company" in 1925. In 1955, South Penn Oil acquired complete ownership of Pennzoil Co. In 1963, South Penn Oil merged with Zapata Petroleum and Stetco Petroleum to form a new "Pennzoil Company", headquartered in Houston and appointing Hugh Liedtke as president. By 1965 Pennzoil marketed its petroleum products worldwide. In 1968, United Gas Corporation was purchased by Pennzoil, through a leveraged buyout, which was necessary because Pennzoil did not have enough assets to buy United outright. During the 1970s, the company moved its offices to the Pennzoil Place in Downtown Houston, Texas. In 1977 a spin-off company was formed called POGO, an acronym for Pennzoil Offshore Gas Operators. Pennzoil, Co. v. Texaco, Inc. In 1984, Pennzoil made an informal but binding contract with Getty Oil to purchase a large portion of Getty Oil to give Pennzoil rights to Getty's oil deposits. Following the deal, the Texaco oil company encroached on the complex merger in an attempt to acquire Getty for itself. Pennzoil sued Texaco in Texas state court, alleging that Texaco tortiously induced Getty to breach the contract with Pennzoil. At first it was adjudicated by Judge Anthony J.P. Farris; it was finished by visiting Judge Solomon (Sol) Casseb of San Antonio. A jury awarded Pennzoil, represented by Joe Jamail and Baine Kerr, $7.53 billion in compensatory damages and $3 billion in punitive damages. Under Texas law, Pennzoil could secure a lien on all of Texaco's property in the state, unless Texaco posted a bond that covered the judgment, interests and costs of the lawsuit