text: By November 1929, the company expanded; throughout the Maritime provinces, Irving Oil Company went from 10 wholesale bulk stations to 30 since its formation earlier that year.The company also went from having 27 retail service stations distributing its products to 450. The following year, the company went forward with developments toward creating an oil plant; the Saint John Harbor Commissioners leased out land for the company to go through with these developments. In August 1931, an unconfirmed report claimed that the company was acquired by Imperial Oil; by the end of that year, Irving Oil had grown to become one of the largest gasoline distributors in the Maritimes. The company expanded across the Maritimes through the 1930s, to Quebec in 1940, Newfoundland in 1949, and to Maine in 1972. Environmental initiatives
  In 1977, Irving Oil became the first Canadian oil company to offer unleaded gasoline at its retail outlets. In the late 1990s it became the first oil company in Canada and one of the first in North America to offer gasoline with very low sulphur content, a fact which was recognized by many automobile manufacturers. 