Paz Oil Company Ltd. (tase: PZOL) is the largest Israeli fuels company. Paz distributes gasoline and other petroleum products through a network of gas stations, as well as LPG and natural gas for home use (cooking and heating) through its subsidiary PazGaz. Paz operates combined cafes and stores in many gas stations, through its subsidiary Yellow. It also owns the supermarket chains Freshmarket and Super Yuda.
History
Foundation, names, and ownership in the 20th century
Paz was founded in 1922 as Anglo-Asiatic Petroleum. From 1927, it operated as part of Royal Dutch Shell under the name Shell Palestine.
In 1957, Shell decided to withdraw from Israel due to economic pressure from Arab countries. In 1958, the company changed to the ownership of the Briton Isaac Wolfson and the French Nahmias brothers, and it was renamed Paz Petroleum Company Ltd. The company's symbol, a yellow triangle, still resembles that of Shell.
Wolfson sold his holdings in the company in 1981 to the State of Israel, which sold it in 1988 to the Australian Jack Liberman. Since 1999, the Israeli businessman