History

Trecora was not always a petrochemical company. The Company enjoys an interesting and unique history. It was in fact founded in 1967 as Arabian Shield Development Company primarily to exploit a rich, newly discovered mineral prospect. These mineral prospects were within the geologic zone known as the ‘Arabian Shield’ in southwestern Saudi Arabia. Arabian Shield Development Company became a publicly traded company in 1972. The Company was successful in acquiring mineral licenses and successfully promoted its new mineral rights. Over the next two decades, Arabian Shield raised over $30 million in new capital largely from prominent Saudi Arabian private investors – literally a who’s who of Saudi royalty and merchant families. These funds, along with an $11 million loan from the Saudi government, provided the means to make significant progress in developing the new Al-Masane mine.

In 1987 an opportunity in the hydrocarbon field in the US presented itself on very attractive terms. The Company was able to purchase an old, but well located, Sinclair Oil refinery in Silsbee, Texas (just north of Beaumont, TX) that is now operating as South Hampton Resources. This facility has been updated and expanded and has become the primary processing facility for transforming the Company's focus which is the production and marketing of high purity specialty petrochemicals. For more information on South Hampton Resources visit http://www.southhamptonr.com/about   

In 2000 the Company changed its name from Arabian Shield to Arabian American Development Company.

By 2006 the Company realized that completing the mine complex including the processing mill was going to cost considerably more than originally expected. Thus a new group of Saudi investors was sought out regarding the possibility of a joint venture. Al-Masane Al-Kobra or ‘AMAK’ was formed in 2008. Saudi investors contributed $60 million for a 59% interest in the new entity. Arabian American contributed the Al-Masane assets for the other 41%. The new entity assumed the $11 million long term debt obligation.

In 2012 as a testament to the Company's successes, it joined the New York Stock Exchange, and in 2015 in recognition of its emphasis away from mineral extraction towards petrochemicals, the Company changed its name to Trecora Resources with its corporate head office in Sugar Land, TX which is southwest of Houston.