History

Although Lyondell has experienced tremendous growth and change in recent years, our fundamental beliefs have not wavered.

 

1985
  • Lyondell is formed in 1985 from selected chemical and refining assets of Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO).
1989
  • Lyondell is spun off from ARCO, becoming a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (Ticker symbol: LYO).
1990
  • Lyondell acquires low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polypropylene (PP) businesses from Rexene.
1993
  • LYONDELL-CITGO Refining (LCR) is formed as the Houston Refinery becomes a joint venture with CITGO Petroleum Corporation.
1995
  • Lyondell acquires Occidental Chemical Corporation's Alathon® high-density polyethylene business.
1997
  • Major upgrade project at LCR is completed.
  • Equistar Chemicals, LP is formed as a joint venture with Millennium Chemicals Inc.
1998
  • Equistar is expanded when Occidental Petroleum Corporation becomes a partner in Equistar.
  • Lyondell acquires ARCO Chemical Company.
2000
  • Lyondell sells worldwide polyols business to Bayer AG.
  • Site preparation begins on a world-scale propylene oxide (PO) plant in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
2001
  • Lyondell exits aliphatic diisocyanates (ADI) business and sells majority of ADI assets to Bayer.
2002
  • Lyondell increases interest in Equistar to 70.5 percent with acquisition of Occidental's share.
  • Lyondell starts BDO production in The Netherlands.
2003
  • Lyondell and its partner, Bayer, complete construction of the Maasvlakte propylene oxide/styrene monomer manufacturing facility.
  • Lyondell and its partner, Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd., complete a restructuring of their Nihon Oxirane joint venture in Japan, giving Lyondell access to new technology and providing a platform for enhancing its market position in Asia for propylene oxide and propylene glycol.
  • Lyondell completes construction of a pilot plant to demonstrate its newest proprietary propylene oxide production technology.
  • Equistar continues its drive to divest non-strategic assets by selling a polypropylene unit.
2004
  • Lyondell acquires Millennium Chemicals Inc. As a result, Equistar becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Lyondell.
2005
  • Lyondell achieved a record full-year net income of $531 million, a $477 million improvement compared with 2004 net income.
2006
  • Lyondell acquires CITGO’s 41.25 percent ownership interest in LCR. As a result of this transaction, Houston Refining LP(formerly LCR) becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Lyondell.
  • Lyondell is recognized as #1 in Revenue Growth among the Fortune 500, and #2 in Profit Growth.
  • Among the Global Fortune 500, Lyondell is ranked #3 in Increase in Revenues and #3 in Increase in Profits.

Core Strategies

Lyondell has built its businesses around the fundamental belief that to be a successful competitor in the global chemical and refining industries, the company must have:

  • Global scale and product depth and breadth
  • Sustainable competitive advantage through raw material flexibility, technology or market position
  • Disciplined operating focus that maximizes the value of each business
  • Disciplined use of cash flow to create shareholder value