The 10 Largest Gas Station Chains In The United States – Zippia (2023)

Exxon Mobil. Irving, Texas

2021 Annual Revenue: $285.6 billion

Number of Employees: 71,100

The merger of the gas companies Exxon and Mobil in 1999 ended up being one of the most profitable moves ever seen by a business. Conjoining two powerful gas station chains was an effort to have a global presence in the industry. Not only were they successful in this endeavor, but the merger also cut their production costs by $3.8 billion.

ExxonMobil currently produces 3.9 million barrels of oil daily. While this turnout profits the oil conglomerate greatly, their actions have negatively impacted the environment.

The organization has a bad history of denying climate change, although their opinions on this matter have progressed a bit in recent years. They’re also responsible for the 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in Alaska, which is generally considered the largest in history, and several other major spills throughout the 2000s.

Their operations have made ExxonMobil the fifth-largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions over the past 20 years. While the company has contributed massively to environmental decay, the yearly revenue that ExxonMobil brings in is still massive (over $200 billion every year, to be exact).

This has earned them a position as the second-largest company in the world by revenue according to the Fortune 500 and the largest gas station chain in the United States.

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Shell Energy North America. Houston, Texas

2021 Annual Revenue: $261.5 billion

Number of Employees: 82,000

Founded in 1929 as Shell Chemicals, it wasn’t until the mid-1940s that the company began offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico’s first commercial well. This single commercial well gave rise to hundreds more within the first decade of drilling.

Today, Shell Energy is a world-renowned gas station chain with a particular presence in the United States with 25,000 locations. They also own several recognizable subsidiaries, such as Jiffy Lube.
While Shell has seen an enormous amount of success in their nearly 100 years and remains one of the largest gas station chains in the U.S., they’ve also gotten into some sticky legal situations during that time. They’ve been sued and fined up to $290,000 for their company’s violations against the Clean Air Act.

They’re the second-largest violator of this environmental action in the Pacific Northwest.

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Chevron Corporation. San Ramon, California

2021 Annual Revenue: $162.465 billion

Number of Employees: 44,679

After a hundred years in business, Chevron Corporation has accumulated gas station locations in 180 countries worldwide. They function in hydrocarbon exploration, chemical manufacturing, and power generation. These specialties have enabled Chevron Corporation to become one of the largest companies across the globe.

While they have an extensive history of oil spills and the Clean Air Act settlements, their business tactics have changed in recent years.

Chevron Corporation has become more involved in alternative energy sources in the 21st century, such as geothermal solar and wind power. The company claims to be the largest producer of geothermal energy globally, although this isn’t confirmed.

Their extensive efforts in the oil and natural gas industry have made them the 15th largest company globally, as ranked by the Fortune 500.

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Speedway LLC. Enon, Ohio

2020 Annual Revenue: $23.6 Billion

Number of Employees: 40,230

The story of Speedway began as a Michigan-bound gas station chain until the Ohio Oil Company purchased it, later called Marathon, in 1959. Speedway became the go-to location for quick and plentiful fill-ups with the rising popularity of self-service gas stations.

This branding move turned out to be successful, and the company went on to acquire several other gas station chains across the region, such as:

• GasAmerica

• Gastown

• Wake Up

• United

• Ecol

Speedway is one of the most profitable gas station chains on the market, but the company hasn’t always been seen in the best light. They’ve come under scrutiny for being ranked as the 4th worst company to work for in the United States in 2018 due to their extremely poor work-life balance.

While Speedway has been owned by Marathon for most of its life as a company, this came to an end in 2020 when it was announced that 7-Eleven, Seven I Holdings bought it out for $21 billion.

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Love’s Travel Stop. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

2020 Annual Revenue: $20.0 Billion

Number of Employees: 22,000

With one of the most inviting names of all the gas stations on this list, Love’s Travel Stop is a highway convenience store that caters to truck drivers and late-night motorists by being open 24/7. Love’s locations function as smaller country stores and larger travel stops that often partner with popular restaurant chains, like McDonald’s and Subway.

Love’s Travel Stops came from an original single store that Tom and Judy Love bought as an abandoned service station for the low sum of $5,000.

After less than ten years, this single renovated country store grew into 40 gas stations across Oklahoma that ran on Kerr-McGee gasoline exclusively. The number of locations associated with Love’s never stopped growing. As of 2019, they opened up their 500th location in the United States.

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Sunoco. Dallas, Texas

2020 Annual Revenue: $11.7 Billion

Number of Employees: 6,513

Sunoco is one of the oldest gas station chains globally, growing larger every year since being founded in the early 1900s. Sunoco is one of those companies that’s experienced a long evolution to reach their current status as a gas station mogul owning over 7,000 locations across the United States.

The company has changed hands numerous times over the years, but it continued to grow stronger as the years passed. By the end of the 20th century, Sunoco was acquiring new brands under their conglomerate and making effective branding decisions that would come to cement their place in gas station history.

As with many gas station chains, Sunoco has gotten in trouble with the law for many environmental violations. They’ve been responsible for leaking hundreds of thousands of oil from a cracked pipe in 2000.

As recently as 2014, Sunoco was also placed on a list of 50 companies sued by Pennsylvania for polluting waters with a gasoline additive.

Despite these environmental indiscretions, Sunoco continues to thrive as one of the largest gas station chains in the United States, bringing in $20 billion annually.

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7-Eleven Inc. Dallas, Texas

2020 Annual Revenue: $10.0 Billion

Number of Employees: 31,500

While the well-known gas station chain, 7-Eleven Inc., was originally established in the United States, it didn’t get its modern name and esteem until it was absorbed by a Japanese company that revamped its brand.

Like Sheetz, Inc., the parent company that would go on to be 7-Eleven, started as a small business storefront in its founding city of Dallas called “Tote’m.” After being acquired by Japan, the name change took place to advertise the location’s new hours of staying open from 7 AM to 11 PM.

These humble beginnings turned into a massive chain of stores that includes 8,500 locations across just the United States. This number only accounts for 14% of the 7-Eleven convenience stores in the whole world.

The biggest move that 7-Eleven Inc has made recently was buying another North American gas station brand, Speedway, for $21 billion.

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Sheetz Inc. Altoona, Pennsylvania

2020 Annual Revenue: $7.2 Billion

Number of Employees: 17,500

Sheetz Inc. began as a family-owned small business in Altoona, Pennsylvania, by Robert Sheetz in 1952. It was a single convenience store that eventually blossomed into three over the next ten years. Today, the Sheetz brand of gas filling stations has grown to have nearly 600 locations across the East coast.

Unlike many other gas station chains, Sheetz has an impressive reputation and has won many awards for its services.
Some of these awards include:

• Best Employers from the Best Companies Group for North Carolina and Ohio (2013-2015)

• Alternative Fuels Leader of the Year Award (2015)

• Fortune 100 Best Workplaces for Millennials (2016)

• Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For (2016-2020)

While Sheetz Inc might not have as many locations as some of the other giant gasoline companies, they’re respected in the field. They still hold a position as one of the largest gas station chains after starting from a single Altoona convenience store.

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Circle K. Tempe, Arizona

2020 Annual Revenue: $3.0 Billion

Number of Employees: 40,000

Circle K is a multinational gas station chain that serves over 20 countries and the United States. They’ve carved their place on the list of biggest gas station chains in America way back in the 1980s and have remained there until today. Circle K currently has over 7,000 locations across the United States alone.

Circle K supplies their stations with gas from brands including:

• Shell

• Valero

• BP

• Exxon Mobil

• Phillips 66

Although they’ve seen success, the Circle K company was bought out by Alimentation Couche-Tard in 2003 after succumbing to bankruptcy.

Circle K’s went on to replace all of their convenience store locations worldwide, such as Mac’s and Kangaroo Express. This branding move ended up being the best decision because Circle K has continued to see increasing success ever since.

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Kwik Trip. La Crosse, Wisconsin

2020 Annual Revenue: $750 Million

Number of Employees: 18,000

The Kwik Trip gas station chain functions under various names across Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa. Some of their subsidiaries include:

• Kwik Star

• Stop-N-Go

• Hearty Platter

• Tobacco Outlet Plus

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The chain features a fair amount of grocery store products for a gas station, which sets it apart from other companies in the industry. It functions as a small-scale grocery store in the form of a grab-and-go selection.

Their collection of various convenience stores and their unique business model has earned Kwik Trip a spot on the largest gas stations in North America.

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