Tidewater Oil Refinery Photo courtesy of Delaware Public Archives, Dover, Delaware During the 1950s, Joseph Frederick ran his business out of his truck and his garage. In the mid-1960s, he opened his first shop off Kirkwood Highway, featuring water heaters, plumbing equipment, and pink and blue toilet seat covers.

Refinery Built in Delaware City Tidewater Oil, which began production in Delaware City in 1957, was touted in Reader's Digest as the largest refinery ever built from the ground up. In 1967, Tidewater merged with Getty Oil, and the Delaware City plant took on the Getty name. In 1984, Texaco purchased the refinery and then sold it again in 1988 to Saudi Arabia's national oil company, which renamed the plant as Star Enterprise. In 1998, the plant changed hands again when Shell Oil purchased 35 percent share of Star Enterprise. Delaware City and other group holdings become part of Motiva Enterprises. Following a series of highly publicized environmental incidents and the death of an employee, independent refiner Premcor Inc. purchased the Delaware City plant in 2004. Valero Energy announced agreement to purchase Premcor's four refineries as part of an $8 billion deal. The $200 million refinery, which Premcor sold to Valero in 2005, now produces 210,000 barrels per day and employs 570 people.