Creole Petroleum Corporation

The Creole Petroleum Corporation was an American oil company. It was formed in 1920 to produce fields on Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela. Gulf Oil began field operations on behalf of Creole in 1924 and Creole received royalty payments from the oil that was found. In 1928, the Standard Oil of New Jersey gained a controlling interest by merger with its own Venezuelan operation and a cash infusion. A few weeks later, the company discovered the Quiriquire oil field, the first major oil strike in Eastern Venezuela. After merging with Standard's Lago Petroleum Corporation in 1943, for a few years until 1951, it was the world's number one oil producer when it was supplanted by the Arabian American Oil Company. In 1951 Creole was responsible for more than a third of Standard Oil of New Jersey's net income.

In 1950, Creole opened its refinery at Amuay bay. This is now a part of the Paraguaná Refinery Complex considered the world's third largest refinery complex, just after Jamnagar Refinery (India) and Ulsan Refinery (South Korea).

The Venezuelan assets of Creole Petroleum Corporation were nationalized along with those of other foreign oil firms on January 1, 1976, becoming as Lagoven filial part of PDVSA, a Venezuelan government-owned operating company.