Freshly extracted crude soybean oil was obtained from a commercial soybean oil refinery, divided into aliquots, stored at 24 C and 5 C for varying lengths of time up to two weeks, and analyzed for total phosphorus. The concentrations of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidic acid (PA), phosphatidylinositol (PI) and phosphatidylcholine (PC) were determined by phosphorus analysis following separation by HPLC. Portions of the aliquots were degummed, and total phosphorus and individual phospholipids were determined as described above. Total phosphorus decreased 41% in crude oil stored at 24 C and 34% in crude oil stored at 5 C over two weeks. PE and PC precipitated more readily than PI and PA. Total phosphorus remaining in degummed oil was least after 12 hr storage of the crude oil and increased as the storage period became longer. The PE, PI and PA concentrations showed similar trends in degummed oil; however the PC concentration was least at 0 hr and increased thereafter. These results are discussed in terms of phospholipid‐phospholipid interactions and possible interactions between phospholipids and other compounds present in the oil.