Porter[2][4] convinced the presidents of the five largest companies in the Kern River Oil Field of California to enter into an agreement[2][4] to turn over their oil interests to form a new company in exchange for stocks and bonds for the appraised value of their properties.

[2] Until then the company had produced and marketed fuel oils only and with the completion of the refinery were launched into the manufacture of gasoline and kerosene.

[2] Also in 1913, unfavorable commuting conditions prompted the Associated Oil Company to build a company town called the Avon Village and by 1920 consisted of 65 cottages, a one-room schoolhouse, worker's bunkhouse, a dining hall and a clubhouse that included an indoor swimming pool, auditorium and a two-lane bowling alley which serves today as the Refinery Museum.

[2] Associated purchased the Amoroco Terminal in 1923 from the American-Oriental Refining Company (AMORCO)[2] and consisted of a topping plant, storage tanks, a wharf, pipelines and pumping equipment.

[2] The quality of the oils treated was so excellent that it prompted the U.S. Navy to purchase these lubricants exclusively from the Avon Refinery for many years.

[2] The Southern Pacific Company bought the terminal in 1929 to construct a new railroad drawbridge a year later.