The war's sudden end exploded a hectic scramble to adjust to the oil products needs of a changed world. Two weeks after V-J Day, Sinclair's military deliveries were cut 75,000 barrels a day--about one-fifth of capacity. By the end of 1945, only six percent of Sinclair business was in war contracts.

Fortunately, the slack was absorbed by civilian demand. By 1947, the use of oil burners had vaulted 41 percent, natural gas 28 percent, space heaters 112 percent, compared to pre-war figures. Airplanes would soon begin to convert to jet propulsion and railroads to diesel engines. All this made prime commodities of such former Sinclair marginal products as diesel fuels, kerosene, natural gas and liquid petroleum gases. Millions of families moved to the suburbs. Farm mechanization swelled tractor energy by 59 percent. Motor boat service became a major industry. Sinclair had to adjust its refinery runs and its sales areas to the needs of a new age.

A further complication was the change in the refined products themselves. Due to war-developed capacity to make 100-octane fuels, aromatics and alkylates, aviation gasoline components lifted the octane numbers of automobile gasolines to a new high. Military-required research of the time had created such novelties as all-weather lubricants, climate-tailored gasolines and long-lasting oils. These developments were harbingers of the petrochemical industry. At the same time, Sinclair's old pre-war friends had to be re-won and an entire new generation wooed to the virtues of 1,200 products which now ranged from rocket lubricant to micro-crystalline wax.

Sinclair's management reacted quickly to the crisis. Five months after the war's end, a $90 million renovation was budgeted to adjust to the new conditions. Of this, $40 million was allocated to give the refineries greater flexibility, improved yields and the quality needed to meet competition. Another $40 million was set aside for new service stations and terminals in the new suburbias. Extension of products pipelines to the areas of rapid population growth was estimated to cost $10 million.

In the Thirtieth Anniversary year--1946--all this revitalization was under way. The company's name also was back on stream. During the war, the name for the holding company was changed once again to Sinclair Oil Corporation.

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