From Latin flÅ«ctuÄns, flÅ«ctuant- , present participle of flÅ«ctuÄre, to fluctuate; see fluctuate. adjective. 1  Subject to change or variation: variable: fluctuant oil prices. 2  Medicine Capable of being moved or compressed.3  Used of an abnormal mass such as a tumor or abscess. 4  Moving in waves.djective. 1  Subject to change or variation: variable: fluctuant oil prices. 2  Medicine Capable of being moved or compressed. 3  Moving in waves.
Like Gulf Oil, Texaco was founded in 1901 after a major oil strike at Spindletop near Beaumont, Texas. The company was officially incorporated as The Texas Company in 1902 and the word Texaco was first used as a brand (for asphalt, not gasoline) in 1903.
Standard Oil of California acquired Standard Oil of Kentucky in 1961 and was renamed Chevron Corporation in 1984. Standard Oil Company (New Jersey) changed its name to Exxon Corporation in 1972. British Petroleum Company PLC completed the purchase of Standard Oil Company (Ohio) in 1987, and in 1998 British Petroleum (renamed BP) merged with Amoco. Exxon and Mobil merged in 1999, and Chevron merged with Texaco in 2001.