British Petroleum, which is a type of public limited company, is a multinational oil and gas company. It was founded on 14th April 1909 by William Knox D’Arcy. Its headquarters are located in London, England. Its production includes distribution, trading, manufacturing, power generation, refining, marketing, and petrochemicals. It is a nature-friendly company, so it also specializes in biofuels, wind power, smart grid, solar technology, and many other renewable resources.
It serves worldwide in nearly 80 countries with 28,700 service station. BP America is the largest division of the company. BP listens in many major stock exchange companies such as the London Stock Exchange, FTSE 100 Index, Frankfurt Stock Exchange, and New York Stock Exchange. It’s history dates back to Anglo- Persian Oil Company in 1908, which became Anglo-Iranian Oil Company in 1935 which was later known as British Petroleum in 1954.
From 1978, the majority of Standard Oil of Ohio was controlled by British Petroleum. British Petroleum became private in 1979. It was previously given the name of BP Amoco plc when it merged with Amoco in 1998, but currently, it is known as BP plc after merging with ARCO and Burmah Castrol in 2000. It has faced its major setback during the Texas City Refinery Explosion and Deepwater Horizon oil spill case.
Inception
William Knox D’Arcy and some other British geologists explored oil in the Middle East after he discovered oil at Masjid-i- Suleiman in May 1908. It was earlier known as AIOC and later in 1954 became the British Petroleum Company. In October 1954, in London, Iranian Oil Participants Ltd (IOP) was founded to bring Iranian oil to the international market. British Petroleum was a part of IOP with a 40% stake.
By the 1960s, it earned the title of worst safety record in the industry because of its reputation for taking risky ventures. In 1967 it merged with The Distillers Company to acquire it’s chemical and plastics goods. It began to serve in Libya, Kuwait, and Nigeria. But, it’s an operation in Iraq came to an end when IPC ceased the company.
From 1978, the majority of Standard Oil of Ohio was controlled by British Petroleum. British Petroleum lost its 70-year presence in Iran during the regime of Ayatollah Khomeini, and it lost 40% of its oil supplies. BP became the most significant institutional shareholder after the Kuwait Investment Office purchased a 10.06% interest. From 1981 to 1990, the chairman of the company was Peter Walters.
It was also listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 1987. The company was not doing well under Walters, so he was replaced by Robert Horton in 1990. It sold 57% stake to BP Canada and was later known as Talisman Energy. BP Solar was formed in 1981 when BP wished to enter the sector of solar technology.
Evolution
Carl-Henric Svanberg was appointed the company’s chairman in January 2010. It faced the major accident, Deepwater Horizon Oil spill in 2010. B.P. sold some of its services in Alberta, British Columbia, and Canada. B.P. was banned from bidding new contracts in November 2012 by the U.S. Government. However, the ban didn’t last long, and it was lifted in March 2014.
B.P. partnered with Reliance Industries in February 2011. B.P. sold its stake to Rosneft on March 21, 2013. The deal involved $12.3 billion and 18.5% stock of Rosneft.
The company closed down. It was the solar energy market in December 2011. It also started to make cellulosic ethanol after shutting down the B.P. Biofuels Highlands in 2012. From June 2014, it began to supply liquefied natural gas to CNOOC. The deal was done with the involvement of $20 billion in cash.
It sold it’s Forties pipeline system to Ineos in April 2017 for $250 million. It merged with Bridas Corporation and formed the Pan American Energy Group in Argentina. Butamax, its subsidiary, bought the company Nesika Energy in April 2017. It’s wind assets were sold in Texas in December 2018. B.P. also operated the U.K.’s largest electric vehicle charging network. Currently, the company’s chairman is Bob Dudley, who was appointed on February 5, 2024.
Awards & Achievements
It is the six-largest oil and gas company in the world. It also holds the sixth position in the criteria of the world’s largest energy company. It also has the 12th largest revenue in the world, with an income of $282.62 billion.
Net Worth of British Petroleum in 2024
As of January 2024 , The estimated net worth of BP is $300 billion and is the 12th largest revenue in the world.
British Petroleum, with its headquarters in London, is a multinational oil company that specializes in many oil products and renewable sources. It always deals with the riskiest ventures and has earned a reputation because of it. It serves worldwide and has spread its success all over the world. It produces around 3.7 million barrels per day. Seventy-three thousand employees work under the company as of 2019. It is a very fast-growing oil company and has secured many achievements since it’s inception.