Editing Shell USA (section)

==History==
In 1979, Shell purchased Belridge Oil Company for $3.65 billion, which at the time was called the "biggest cash takeover in American history" by US government sources. <ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/09/30/shell-to-purchase-calif-oil-land-for-365-billion/2dda0dcd-78b7-4288-92a8-81b183837cda/|title=Shell to Purchase Calif. Oil Land For $3.65 Billion|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=September 29, 1979|access-date=February 22, 2024|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818133845/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/09/30/shell-to-purchase-calif-oil-land-for-365-billion/2dda0dcd-78b7-4288-92a8-81b183837cda/|archive-date=August 18, 2020|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

In 1997, Shell and [[Texaco]] entered into two refining/marketing joint ventures. One combined their Midwestern and Western operations and was known as Equilon. The other, known as [[Motiva Enterprises]], combined the Eastern and Gulf Coast operations of Shell Oil and Star Enterprise, itself a joint venture between [[Saudi Aramco]] and Texaco.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/finance/mergers/stindex.html|title=Aspects of the Refining/Marketing Joint Ventures of Shell Oil, Star Enterprises, and Texaco|publisher=[[Energy Information Administration|U.S. Energy Information Administration]]|date=July 23, 2001|access-date=February 27, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615132522/http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/finance/mergers/stindex.html|archive-date=June 15, 2010|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

After Texaco merged with [[Chevron Corporation|Chevron]] in 2001, Shell purchased Texaco's shares in the joint ventures.<ref name="houston">{{Cite news| url=http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2002/02/04/daily41.html| title=Shell to brand new U.S. gas stations| date=February 8, 2002| work=[[American City Business Journals|Houston Business Journal]]| publisher=bizjournals.com}}</ref> In 2002, Shell began converting these Texaco stations to the Shell brand, a process that was to be completed by June 2004 and was called "the largest retail re-branding initiative in American business history".<ref>{{Cite news| title=Trust Your Car to the Man who Wears the... Shell| url=http://driving.myfoxcharlotte.com/news_this_week/2002-05-08-1912-driving/index.html| publisher=[[WCCB]]-TV| date=May 8, 2002| access-date=February 27, 2012| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224120733/http://driving.myfoxcharlotte.com/news_this_week/2002-05-08-1912-driving/index.html| archive-date=February 24, 2012| df=mdy-all}}</ref>

In recent years, The Shell Oil Company's Midstream, and Downstream, in particular, have become limited to petroleum, and chemical products. This has come as a result of [[Royal Dutch Shell]] breaking off its [[Natural Gas]] and power businesses into a new segment named Integrated Gas. The Shell Oil Company's former Natural Gas, and energy divisions are now [[Shell Energy North America]], a closely integrated, but a distinctive entity that runs across North America and is headquartered out of [[Houston, Texas]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Annual Report and Form 20-F 2016|url=http://reports.shell.com/annual-report/2016/|publisher=Shell|access-date=29 April 2017}}</ref>