Superior Oil Company

In one instance at the height of the oil boom in the 1920s in Los Angeles, he was the only "wildcatter" to purchase and retain a lease on 300 acres of Andrew Joughin's farm outside Torrance.

While other prospectors turned away from the property, Keck's "46 highly productive wells were considered one of California's most successful oil-drilling projects.

[5] Author Kevin Krajick has described Keck as "the world's greatest oil prospector, a man whose instincts about the location of petroleum were so uncanny, some believed him clairvoyant.

"[11] The Superior Oil Company was founded in 1921 in Coalinga, California, by Keck,[1] after he had accumulated enough leases to start his own firm.

[11] The first independent to drill offshore in the Gulf of Mexico[5] and the first to find commercial deposits in the Gulf of Mexico,[11] in 1938, the company constructed the first offshore oil platform off the coast of Louisiana[4] in cooperation with Pure Oil, another independent producer.

[5] The company also became the largest independent oil producer in the United States,[10] and according to author Kevin Krajick, Keck "practically ran the oil-rich nation of Venezuela.

[23] In October 1983, Howard B. Keck stepped down as a director, while still controlling 18.4 percent of the company, saying he wanted to sell his stake.

[23] Day had in April of that year[24] "led a stockholder revolt" leading to changes in Superior's bylaws, requiring the company's management to consider takeover bids.

[23] In March 1984, Mobil announced that it had "secretly" agreed to buy the 22 percent, and would offer the company's remaining stockholders the same price, at $45 a share.

[26] The takeover was completed in September 1984, with Superior, then based in Houston, becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Mobil.

[24] Among other changes, in February 1985 it was reported that Mobil was planning on selling an unprofitable Idaho gold mine it had acquired when it purchased Superior.