BP
Encyclopedia
BP p.l.c. is a global oil
and gas
company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajor
s". It is vertically-integrated
and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production
, refining
, distribution and marketing
, petrochemical
s, power generation and trading
. It also has major renewable energy
activities, including in biofuel
s, hydrogen
, solar
and wind power
.
BP has operations in over 80 countries, produces around 3.8 million barrels of oil equivalent
per day and has 22,400 service stations worldwide. Its largest division is BP America, which is the biggest producer of oil and gas in the United States and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. As at 31 December 2010 BP had total proven commercial reserves of 18.07 billion barrels of oil equivalent. The name "BP" derives from the initials of one of the company's former legal names, British Petroleum.
BP's track record of corporate social responsibility
has been mixed. The company has been involved in a number of major environmental and safety incidents and received criticism for its political influence. However, in 1997 it became the first major oil company to publicly acknowledge the need to take steps against climate change
, and in that year established a company-wide target to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gas
es. BP currently invests over $1 billion per year in the development of renewable energy sources, and has committed to spend $8 billion on renewables in the 2005 to 2015 period.
BP's primary listing is on the London Stock Exchange
and it is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index
. It has a secondary listing on the New York Stock Exchange
.
was granted a concession by the Shah of Iran
to search for oil, which he discovered in May 1908. This was the first commercially significant find in the Middle East. On 14 April 1909, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company
(APOC) was incorporated as a subsidiary of Burmah Oil Company to exploit this. In 1923, it employed future Prime Minister, Winston Churchill
as a paid consultant, to lobby the British government to allow Burmah to have exclusive rights to Persian
oil resources, which were successfully granted.
In 1935, it became the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC).
Following World War II, AIOC and the Iranian government initially resisted nationalist pressure to revise AIOC's concession terms still further in Iran
's favour. But in March 1951, the pro-western Prime Minister Ali Razmara was assassinated. The Majlis of Iran
(parliament) elected a nationalist, Mohammed Mossadeq, as prime minister. In April, the Majlis nationalised
the oil industry by unanimous vote. The National Iranian Oil Company
was formed as a result, displacing the AIOC. The AIOC withdrew its management from Iran, and organised an effective boycott of Iranian oil. The British government – which owned the AIOC – contested the nationalisation at the International Court of Justice
at The Hague
, but its complaint was dismissed.
By spring of 1953, incoming US President Dwight D. Eisenhower
authorised the Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA) to organise a coup against the Mossadeq government with support from the British government. On 19 August 1953, Mossadeq was forced from office by the CIA conspiracy, involving the Shah and the Iranian military, and known by its codename, Operation Ajax
.
Mossadeq was replaced by pro-Western general Fazlollah Zahedi
and the Shah, who returned to Iran after having left the country briefly to await the outcome of the coup. The Shah abolished the democratic Constitution and assumed autocratic powers.
After the coup, Mossadeq's National Iranian Oil Company
became an international consortium, and AIOC resumed operations in Iran as a member of it. The consortium agreed to share profits on a 50–50 basis with Iran, "but not to open its books to Iranian auditors or to allow Iranians onto its board of directors." AIOC, as a part of the Anglo-American coup d'état deal, was not allowed to monopolise Iranian oil as before. It was limited to a 40% share in a new international consortium. For the rest, 40% went to the five major American companies and 20% went to Royal Dutch Shell
and Compagnie Française des Pétroles, now Total S.A.
.
The AIOC became the British Petroleum Company in 1954. In 1959, the company expanded beyond the Middle East to Alaska and in 1965 it was the first company to strike oil in the North Sea
. In 1978 the company acquired a controlling interest in Standard Oil of Ohio
or Sohio, a breakoff of the former Standard Oil that had been broken up after anti-trust litigation.
In 1967 there was the disaster of the giant oil tanker, the Torrey Canyon, which founded off the English coast, even though the ship was flying the well known flag of convenience, that of Liberia. the ship was in fact operated on behalf of B.P.
the Prime Minister of that time, 1967, had the ship bombed by RAF jet bombers, in an effort to break it up and sink it, in regard to the final oil spill it was futile, and the method has not been repeated.
It continued to operate in Iran until the Islamic Revolution
in 1979. The new regime of Ayatollah Khomeini confiscated all of the company’s assets in Iran without compensation, bringing to an end its 70-year presence in Iran.
, the investment arm of the Kuwait
government, to acquire control of the company. This was ultimately blocked by the strong opposition of the British government. In 1987, British Petroleum negotiated the acquisition of Britoil
and the remaining publicly traded shares of Standard Oil of Ohio
.
Walters was replaced by Robert Horton
in 1989. Horton carried out a major corporate down-sizing exercise removing various tiers of management at the Head Office.
Standard Oil of California and Gulf Oil
merged in 1984, the largest merger in history at that time. Under the anti-trust regulation, SoCal divested many of Gulf's operating subsidiaries, and sold some Gulf stations and a refinery in the eastern United States.
John Browne
, who had been on the board as managing director since 1991, was appointed group chief executive in 1995. Browne was responsible for three major acquisitions; Amoco
, ARCO
and Burmah-Castrol (see below).
(formerly Standard Oil of Indiana) in December 1998, becoming BP Amoco plc. In 2000, BP Amoco acquired Arco (Atlantic Richfield Co.)
and Burmah Castrol plc. As part of the merger's brand awareness, the company helped the Tate Modern
British Art launch RePresenting Britain 1500–2000 In 2001, the company formally renamed itself as BP plc and adopted the tagline "Beyond Petroleum," which remains in use today. It states that BP was never meant to be an abbreviation of its tagline. Most Amoco stations in the United States were converted to BP's brand and corporate identity. In many states BP continued to sell Amoco branded petrol even in service stations with the BP identity as Amoco was rated the best petroleum brand by consumers for 16 consecutive years and also enjoyed one of the three highest brand loyalty reputations for petrol in the US, comparable only to Chevron
and Shell. In May 2008, when the Amoco name was mostly phased out in favour of "BP Gasoline with Invigorate", promoting BP's new additive, the highest grade of BP petrol available in the United States was still called Amoco Ultimate.
In April 2004, BP decided to move most of its petrochemical businesses into a separate entity called Innovene within the BP Group. BP sought to sell the new company possibly via an initial public offering
(IPO) in the US, and filed IPO plans for Innovene with the New York Stock Exchange
on 12 September 2005. On 7 October 2005 BP announced that it had agreed to sell Innovene to INEOS
, a privately held UK chemical company for $9 billion, thereby scrapping its plans for the IPO.
In 2005, BP announced that it would be leaving the Colorado
market. Many locations were re-branded as Conoco.
In 2006, when Chevron Corporation gave exclusive rights to the Texaco
brand name in the US Texaco sold most of the BP gas stations in the southeast. BP has recently looked to grow its oil exploration activities in frontier areas such as the former Soviet Union for its future reserves.
In Russia, BP owns 50% of TNK-BP
with the other half owned by three Russian billionaires. TNK-BP accounts for a fifth of BP's global reserves, a quarter of BP's production, and nearly a tenth of its global profits.
In 2007, BP sold its corporate-owned convenience stores, typically known as "BP Connect", to local franchisees and jobbers
.
On 12 January 2007, it was announced that Lord Browne would retire as chief executive at the end of July 2007. The new Chief Executive, Tony Hayward
, had been head of exploration and production. It had been expected that Lord Browne would retire in February 2008 when he reached the age of 60, the standard retirement age at BP. Browne resigned abruptly from BP on 1 May 2007, following the lifting of a legal injunction preventing Associated Newspapers
from publishing details about his private life. Hayward succeeded Browne with immediate effect.
On 1 October 2010, Bob Dudley
replaced Tony Hayward
as the company's CEO.
On 15 January 2011, Rosneft
and BP announced a deal to jointly develop East-Prinovozemelsky field
on the Russian arctic shelf. As part of the deal, Rosneft will receive 5% of BP's shares (worth approximately $7.8 billion, as of January 2011) and BP will get approximately 9.5% of Rosneft's shares in exchange. According to the deal, the two companies will also create an Arctic technology centre in Russia to develop technologies and engineering practices for safe arctic hydrocarbons extraction.
In February 2011, BP formed a partnership with Reliance Industries
, taking a 30 percent stake in a new Indian joint-venture for an initial payment of $7.2 billion.
symbol, a green and yellow sunflower pattern, and introduced a new corporate slogan – “Beyond Petroleum”. The transition to the name and logo was managed by the advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather
and the PR consultants, Ogilvy PR. The Helios
logo (Helios is the name of the Greek sun god), is designed to represent energy in its many forms. BP's tagline, "Beyond Petroleum", according to the company represents their focus on meeting the growing demand for fossil fuels, manufacturing and delivering more advanced products, and enabling the material transition to a lower carbon future.
In July 2006, critics pointed to the relative lack of press coverage about a spill of 270,000 gallons of crude oil that spread into the Alaskan tundra, noting this as evidence that BP had successfully greenwash
ed its image, while maintaining environmentally unsound practices. BP also put plans on hold to market a fuel that is 85% Ethanol and 15% Butanol (E85B), so existing internal combustion engines could run on a 100% renewable fuel. The lack of follow-through was cited as another example of BP's greenwashing. (Butanol can be used in internal combustion engines, but BP has no infrastructure to produce Butanol from biomass sources).
In 2008, BP was awarded a satirical prize, the "Emerald Paintbrush" award, from Greenpeace
UK. The "Emerald Paintbrush" award was given to BP in order to highlight its alleged greenwashing campaign. Critics point out that while BP advertises its activities in alternative energy sources, the majority of its capital investments continue to go into fossil fuels. BP was also one nominee for the 2009 Greenwash Awards.
By the end of July 2010, independent BP station owners reported sales down 10 to 40 percent in the quarter after the Gulf oil spill and, while some hoped BP would return to the Amoco brand once used by many of the stations, others considered that would be a gamble because BP put so much effort into the brand.
is the aviation division of BP, providing aviation fuel
, lubricants & services. It has operations in over 50 countries worldwide.
The BP-managed fleet consists of Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs), one North Sea shuttle tanker, medium size crude and product carriers, liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers, and coasters. All of these ships are double-hulled.
is a brand of industrial and automotive lubricants which is applied to a large range of BP oils, grease
s and similar products for most lubrication
applications.
ampm is a convenience store chain with branches located in several US states including Arizona, California, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Washington, recently in Illinois, Indiana, Georgia and Florida, and in several countries worldwide such as Japan. In the western US, the stores are usually attached to an ARCO gas station; elsewhere, the stores are attached to BP gas stations. BP Connect stations in the US are transitioning to the ampm brand.
In Germany and Luxembourg, BP operates its petrol retail chain under the name Aral
after acquiring the majority of Veba Öl AG in 2001 and rebranding almost all of its BP filling stations to Aral.
ARCO is BP's retail brand on the US West Coast in the seven Western states of California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Idaho, Arizona, and Utah. BP acquired ARCO (formerly the Atlantic Richfield Company) in 2000. ARCO is a popular "cash only" retailer, selling products refined from Alaska North Slope crude at the Cherry Point Refinery
in Washington, a plant in Los Angeles, and at other contract locations on the West Coast.
BP Connect
is BP's flagship retail brand name with BP Connect Service stations being operated around the UK, Europe, USA, Australia, New Zealand and other parts of the world. BP Connect sites feature the Wild Bean Cafe, which offers cafe-style coffee made by the staff and a selection of hot food as well as freshly baked muffins and sandwiches. The food offered in Wild Bean Cafe varies from each site. BP Connect sites usually offer table and chair seating and often an Internet kiosk. In the US, the BP Connect concept is gradually being transitioned to the ampm
brand and concept. Some BP Connect sites around the UK ran in partnership with Marks & Spencer
with the on-site shop being an M&S Simply Food instead of a BP Shop.
In the Netherlands, BP is opening unmanned stations with no shops or employees. These stations are called BP Express. Some of these stations used to be 'ordinary' BP stations and others are new to the BP network. Apart from these stations, BP Express shopping does also exist in the Netherlands.
BP 2go is a franchise brand used for independently operated sites in New Zealand and is currently being rolled out throughout Australia (although not all BP 2go stores are franchises in Australia). BP 2go sites mainly operate in towns and outer suburbs in New Zealand. BP 2go offers similar bakery food to BP Connect but in a pre-packaged form. Some BP Express sites around New Zealand and Australia that were considered too small to be upgraded to BP Connect were given the option to change to BP 2go; others were downgraded to BP Shop. Staff at some BP 2go sites wear a different style of uniform to the rest of the BP branded sites; however in company-owned and operated 2go sites in Australia the same uniform is worn across all sites.
BP Travel Centres are large-scale destination sites located in Australia which, on top of offering the same features of a BP Connect site with fuel and a Wild Bean Cafe, also feature major food-retail tenants such as McDonald's
, KFC
, Nando's
and recently Krispy Kreme
, with a large seating capacity food court. There are also facilities for long-haul truck drivers, including a lounge, showers and washing machines all in the same building. There are 4 travel centres located in South East Queensland
: two on the Pacific Highway
(Coomera
and Stapylton
) and two on the Bruce Highway
(Caboolture
). A fifth travel centre was opened in 2007 at Chinderah
in northern New South Wales
.
BP was named by Mother Jones Magazine
, an investigative journal that "exposes the evils of the corporate world, the government, and the mainstream media", as one of the ten worst corporations in both 2001 and 2005 based on its environmental and human rights records. In 1991 BP was cited as the most polluting company in the US based on EPA toxic release data. BP has been charged with burning polluted gases at its Ohio refinery (for which it was fined $1.7 million), and in July 2000 BP paid a $10 million fine to the EPA for its management of its US refineries. According to PIRG
research, between January 1997 and March 1998, BP was responsible for 104 oil spills. BP patented the Dracone Barge
to aid in oil spill clean-ups across the world.
As of 11 February 2007, BP announced that it would spend $8 billion over ten years to research alternative methods of fuel, including natural gas, hydrogen, solar, and wind. A $500 million grant to the University of California, Berkeley
, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
, to create an Energy Biosciences Institute
has recently come under attack, over concerns about the global impacts of the research and privatisation of public universities.
BP's investment in green technologies peaked at 4% of its exploratory budget, but they have since closed their alternative energy headquarters in London. As such they invest more than other oil companies, but it has been called greenwashing due to the small proportion of the overall budget. BP was a nominee for the 2009 Greenwash Awards for deliberately exaggerating its environmental credentials. According to Greenpeace
in 2008 BP invested $20 billion in fossil fuels, but only $1.5 billion in all alternative forms of energy.
In 2004, BP began marketing low-sulphur diesel fuel for industrial use.
BP Solar
is a leading producer of solar panels since its purchase of Lucas Energy Systems in 1980 and Solarex (as part of its acquisition of Amoco) in 2000. BP Solar had a 20% world market share in photovoltaic panels in 2004 when it had a capacity to produce 90 MW/year of panels. It has over 30 years' experience operating in over 160 countries with manufacturing facilities in the US, Spain, India and Australia, and has more than 2000 employees worldwide. BP has closed its US plants in Frederick, Maryland
as part of a transition to manufacturing in China. This is due in part to China's upswing in solar use and the protectionist laws that require 85% of the materials to be produced in China. Through a series of acquisitions in the solar power industry BP Solar became the third largest producer of solar panels in the world. It was recently announced that BP has obtained a contract for a pilot project to provide on-site solar power to Wal-Mart
stores.
Between 2005 and 2010, BP invested about $5 billion in its renewable energy business, mainly in biofuel
and wind power
projects. In 2011, BP plans to invest $1 billion in renewables, roughly the same amount it invested last year.
As of 2011, BP is planning to construct a biofuel refinery in the Southeastern US and has also acquired Verenium’s cellulosic biofuels business for $98 million. In Brazil, BP holds a 50 percent stake in Tropical BioEnergia and plans to operate two ethanol
refineries. In the US BP has more than 1,200 megawatts (MW) of wind-powered electricity capacity and in July 2010 it began construction of the 250 MW Cedar Creek II Wind Farm in Colorado.
's Climatic Research Unit
in 1971, the research unit that was at the center of the Climategate
scandal in November 2009.
BP Amoco was a member of the Global Climate Coalition
an industry organisation established to promote global warming scepticism but withdrew in 1997, saying "the time to consider the policy dimensions of climate change is not when the link between greenhouse gases and climate change is conclusively proven, but when the possibility cannot be discounted and is taken seriously by the society of which we are part. We in BP have reached that point.".
In March 2002, Lord Browne of Madingley declared in a speech that global warming
was real and that urgent action was needed, saying that "Companies composed of highly skilled and trained people can't live in denial of mounting evidence gathered by hundreds of the most reputable scientists in the world."
BP is a sponsor of the Scripps Institution CO2 program to measure carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.
, for $22 million. The settlement included the maximum $500,000 criminal fine, $6.5 million in civil penalties, and BP’s establishment of a $15 million environmental management system at all of BP facilities in the US and Gulf of Mexico that are engaged in oil exploration, drilling or production. The charges stemmed from the 1993 to 1995 dumping of hazardous wastes on Endicott Island, Alaska by BP’s contractor Doyon Drilling. The firm illegally discharged waste oil, paint thinner and other toxic and hazardous substances by injecting them down the outer rim, or annuli, of the oil wells. BPXA failed to report the illegal injections when it learned of the conduct, in violation of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act.
In May 2007, the company announced another partial field shutdown owing to leaks of water at a separation plant. Their action was interpreted as another example of fallout from a decision to cut maintenance of the pipeline and associated facilities.
On 16 October 2007, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation officials reported a toxic spill of methanol (methyl alcohol)
at the Prudhoe Bay oil field managed by BP PLC. Nearly 2,000 gallons of mostly methanol, mixed with some crude oil and water, spilled onto a frozen tundra pond as well as a gravel pad from a pipeline. Methanol, which is poisonous to plants and animals, is used to clear ice from the insides of the Arctic-based pipelines.
exploded
after a blowout
; it sank two days later, killing 11 people. This blowout
in the Macondo Prospect
field in the Gulf of Mexico
resulted in a partially capped oil well one mile below the surface of the water. Experts estimate the gusher to be flowing at 35000 oilbbl/d of oil. The exact flow rate is uncertain due to the difficulty of installing measurement devices at that depth and is a matter of ongoing debate. The resulting oil slick covers at least 2500 square mile, fluctuating from day to day depending on weather conditions. It threatens the coasts of Louisiana
, Mississippi
, Alabama
, Texas, and Florida.
The drilling rig was owned and operated by Transocean
Ltd on behalf of BP, which is the majority owner of the Macondo oil field. At the time of the explosion, there were 126 crew on board; seven were employees of BP and 79 of Transocean. There were also employees of various other companies involved in the drilling operation, including Anadarko, Halliburton and M-I Swaco.
The US Government
has named BP the responsible party, and officials have committed to hold the company accountable for all clean-up costs and other damage. BP has stated that it would harness all of its resources to battle the oil spill, spending $7 million a day with its partners to try to contain the disaster. In comparison, BP's 1st quarter profits for 2010 were approximately $61 million per day. BP has agreed to create a $20 billion spill response fund administered by Kenneth Feinberg
. The amount of this fund is not a cap or a floor on BP's liabilities. BP will pay $3 billion in third quarter of 2010 and $2 billion in fourth quarter into the fund followed by a payment of $1.25 billion per quarter until it reaches $20 billion. In the interim, BP posts its US assets worth $20 billion as bond. For the fund's payments, BP will cut its capital spending budget, sell $10 billion in assets, and drop its dividend. BP has also been targeted in litigation over the claims process it put in place for victims. A class action lawsuit was filed against BP and its initial claims administrator, the ACE, Ltd. Insurance Group company ESIS.
BP began testing the tighter-fitted cap designed to stop the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico from a broken well for the first time in almost three months. The test began Wednesday, 14 July with BP shutting off pipes that were funnelling some of the oil to ships on the surface, so the full force of the gusher went up into the cap. Then deep-sea robots began slowly closing – one at a time – three openings in the cap that let oil pass through. Ultimately, the flow of crude was stopped. All along, engineers were and still are watching pressure readings to learn whether the well is intact. Former coast guard admiral Thad Allen, the Obama administration's point man on the disaster, said the government gave the testing go-ahead after carefully reviewing the risks. "What we didn't want to do is compound that problem by making an irreversible mistake," he said.
, BP's stock fell by 52% in 50 days on the New York Stock Exchange
, going from $60.57 on 20 April 2010, to $29.20 on 9 June, its lowest level since August 1996. There were speculations in the press, guided by the commentary of Fred Lucas, Energy Analyst at J.P. Morgan Cazenove
, that there would be a takeover of the company, focusing on possible bids from Exxon
or Shell
at a presumed price of £88 billion. In addition, BP executives held talks with a number of sovereign wealth fund
s including funds from Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Qatar and Singapore, for creation of a strategic partnership to avoid takeover by other major oil companies. BP has either rejected or refused to react to these overtures.
On 27 July 2010, BP announced a net loss of $16.97 billion during the second quarter of 2010, with the oil spill costing $32.2 billion up to that point. Also on 27 July 2010, BP confirmed that CEO Hayward would resign and be replaced by Bob Dudley on 1 October 2010.
First Nation describe this as 'the biggest environmental crime on the planet'.
refinery, one of its largest refineries, exploded causing 15 deaths, injuring 180 people and forcing thousands of nearby residents to remain sheltered in their homes.
A large column filled with hydrocarbon overflowed to form a vapour cloud, which ignited. The explosion caused all the casualties and substantial damage to the rest of the plant. The incident came as the culmination of a series of less serious accidents at the refinery, and the engineering problems were not addressed by the management. Maintenance and safety at the plant had been cut as a cost-saving measure, the responsibility ultimately resting with executives in London.
The fallout from the accident continues to cloud BP's corporate image because of the mismanagement at the plant. There have been several investigations of the disaster, the most recent being that from the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board
which "offered a scathing assessment of the company." OSHA found "organizational and safety deficiencies at all levels of the BP Corporation" and said management failures could be traced from Texas to London.
The company pleaded guilty to a felony
violation of the Clean Air Act
, was fined $50 million, and sentenced to three years probation.
On 30 October 2009, the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA) fined BP an additional $87 million—the largest fine in OSHA history—for failing to correct safety hazards revealed in the 2005 explosion. Inspectors found 270 safety violations that had been previously cited but not fixed and 439 new violations. BP is appealing that fine. (see #Environmental record).
refinery in three separate accidents. In July 2006 a worker was crushed between a pipe stack and mechanical lift, in June 2007, a worker was electrocuted, and in January 2008, a worker was killed by a 500-pound piece of metal that came loose under high pressure and hit him.
Facing scrutiny after the Texas City Refinery explosion, two BP-owned refineries in Texas City
, and Toledo
, were responsible for 97 percent (829 of 851) of wilful safety violations by oil refiners between June 2007 and February 2010, as determined by inspections by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
. Jordan Barab, deputy assistant secretary of labour at OSHA, said "The only thing you can conclude is that BP has a serious, systemic safety problem in their company."
Disclosed US diplomatic cables
by WikiLeaks
revealed that BP had covered up a gas leak and blowout incident in September 2008 at a gas field under production in the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshi area of the Azerbaijan
Caspian Sea
. According to the cables, BP was lucky to have been able to evacuate everyone safely given the explosive potential. BP did not only hold back information to the public about the incident but even upset its partner firms in limiting the information shared. In January 2009, BP blaimed a bad cement job as the cause for the incident. The Guardian
noted a striking resemblance with the later oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma ferrying workers from BP's platform in the Miller oilfield
in the North Sea
off Scotland crashed in good weather killing all 16 on board.
, $100 million to the Justice Department
, $53.3 million to a restitution fund for purchasers of the propane BP sold, and $25 million to a US Postal Service consumer fraud education fund.
agreed in support of the country’s antimonopoly service’s decision to a 1.1 billion Ruble fine ($35.2 million) against TNK/BP, a 50/50 joint venture, for abusing anti-trust legislation
and setting artificially high oil products prices in 2008, TNK and BP declined comment.
n farmers won a multi-million pound settlement from BP after the company was accused of benefiting from a regime of terror carried out by Colombian government paramilitaries to protect the 450 miles (724.2 km) Ocensa pipeline
.
, BP is the United States' hundredth largest donor to political campaigns, having contributed more than US$5 million since 1990, 72% and 28% of which went to Republican
and Democratic
recipients, respectively. BP has lobbied to gain exemptions from US corporate law reforms. Additionally, BP paid the Podesta Group
, a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying firm, $160,000 in the first half of 2007 to manage its congressional and government relations.
In February 2002, BP's chief executive, Lord Browne of Madingley, renounced the practice of corporate campaign contributions, noting: "That's why we've decided, as a global policy, that from now on we will make no political contributions from corporate funds anywhere in the world."
Despite this, in 2009 BP used nearly US$16 million to lobby US Congress, breaking the company's previous record (from 2008) of US$10.4 million.
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
and gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajor
Supermajor
Supermajor is a name commonly used to describe the world's five largest publicly owned oil and gas companies.-Composition:Trading under various names around the world, the supermajors are considered to be:* BP p.l.c...
s". It is vertically-integrated
Vertical integration
In microeconomics and management, the term vertical integration describes a style of management control. Vertically integrated companies in a supply chain are united through a common owner. Usually each member of the supply chain produces a different product or service, and the products combine to...
and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production
Extraction of petroleum
The extraction of petroleum is the process by which usable petroleum is extracted and removed from the earth.-Locating the oil field:Geologists use seismic surveys to search for geological structures that may form oil reservoirs...
, refining
Refining
Refining is the process of purification of a substance or a form. The term is usually used of a natural resource that is almost in a usable form, but which is more useful in its pure form. For instance, most types of natural petroleum will burn straight from the ground, but it will burn poorly...
, distribution and marketing
Midstream
The petroleum industry is usually divided into three major components: upstream, midstream and downstream. Midstream operations are usually included in the downstream category....
, petrochemical
Petrochemical
Petrochemicals are chemical products derived from petroleum. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable sources such as corn or sugar cane....
s, power generation and trading
Trader (finance)
A trader is someone in finance who buys and sells financial instruments such as stocks, bonds, commodities and derivatives. A broker who simply fills buy or sell orders is not a trader, as they are merely executing instructions given to them. According to the Wall Street Journal in 2004, a managing...
. It also has major renewable energy
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
activities, including in biofuel
Biofuel
Biofuel is a type of fuel whose energy is derived from biological carbon fixation. Biofuels include fuels derived from biomass conversion, as well as solid biomass, liquid fuels and various biogases...
s, hydrogen
Hydrogen economy
The hydrogen economy is a proposed system of delivering energy using hydrogen. The term hydrogen economy was coined by John Bockris during a talk he gave in 1970 at General Motors Technical Center....
, solar
Solar power
Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the available...
and wind power
Wind power
Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships....
.
BP has operations in over 80 countries, produces around 3.8 million barrels of oil equivalent
Barrel of oil equivalent
The barrel of oil equivalent is a unit of energy based on the approximate energy released by burning one barrel of crude oil. The US Internal Revenue Service defines it as equal to 5.8 × 106 BTU...
per day and has 22,400 service stations worldwide. Its largest division is BP America, which is the biggest producer of oil and gas in the United States and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. As at 31 December 2010 BP had total proven commercial reserves of 18.07 billion barrels of oil equivalent. The name "BP" derives from the initials of one of the company's former legal names, British Petroleum.
BP's track record of corporate social responsibility
Corporate social responsibility
Corporate social responsibility is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model...
has been mixed. The company has been involved in a number of major environmental and safety incidents and received criticism for its political influence. However, in 1997 it became the first major oil company to publicly acknowledge the need to take steps against climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
, and in that year established a company-wide target to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gas
Greenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...
es. BP currently invests over $1 billion per year in the development of renewable energy sources, and has committed to spend $8 billion on renewables in the 2005 to 2015 period.
BP's primary listing is on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
and it is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index
FTSE 100 Index
The FTSE 100 Index, also called FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the footsie , is a share index of the 100 most highly capitalised UK companies listed on the London Stock Exchange....
. It has a secondary listing on the New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
.
Activity in 1909–1979
In May 1901, William Knox D'ArcyWilliam Knox D'Arcy
William Knox D'Arcy was one of the principal founders of the oil and petrochemical industry in Persia .-Early life:...
was granted a concession by the Shah of Iran
Qajar dynasty
The Qajar dynasty was an Iranian royal family of Turkic descent who ruled Persia from 1785 to 1925....
to search for oil, which he discovered in May 1908. This was the first commercially significant find in the Middle East. On 14 April 1909, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company
Anglo-Persian Oil Company
The Anglo-Persian Oil Company was founded in 1908 following the discovery of a large oil field in Masjed Soleiman, Iran. It was the first company to extract petroleum from the Middle East...
(APOC) was incorporated as a subsidiary of Burmah Oil Company to exploit this. In 1923, it employed future Prime Minister, Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
as a paid consultant, to lobby the British government to allow Burmah to have exclusive rights to Persian
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
oil resources, which were successfully granted.
In 1935, it became the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC).
Following World War II, AIOC and the Iranian government initially resisted nationalist pressure to revise AIOC's concession terms still further in Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
's favour. But in March 1951, the pro-western Prime Minister Ali Razmara was assassinated. The Majlis of Iran
Majlis of Iran
The National Consultative Assembly of Iran , also called The Iranian Parliament or People's House, is the national legislative body of Iran...
(parliament) elected a nationalist, Mohammed Mossadeq, as prime minister. In April, the Majlis nationalised
Nationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
the oil industry by unanimous vote. The National Iranian Oil Company
National Iranian Oil Company
The National Iranian Oil Company , a government-owned corporation under the direction of the Ministry of Petroleum of Iran, is an oil and natural gas producer and distributor headquartered in Tehran. It was established in 1948...
was formed as a result, displacing the AIOC. The AIOC withdrew its management from Iran, and organised an effective boycott of Iranian oil. The British government – which owned the AIOC – contested the nationalisation at the International Court of Justice
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
at The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, but its complaint was dismissed.
By spring of 1953, incoming US President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
authorised the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
(CIA) to organise a coup against the Mossadeq government with support from the British government. On 19 August 1953, Mossadeq was forced from office by the CIA conspiracy, involving the Shah and the Iranian military, and known by its codename, Operation Ajax
Operation Ajax
The 1953 Iranian coup d'état was the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh on 19 August 1953, orchestrated by the intelligence agencies of the United Kingdom and the United States under the name TPAJAX Project...
.
Mossadeq was replaced by pro-Western general Fazlollah Zahedi
Fazlollah Zahedi
Mohammad Fazlollah Zahedi was an Iranian general and statesman who replaced democratically elected Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadeq through a western-backed coup d'état, in which he played a major role.-Early years:Born in Hamedan in 1897, Fazlollah Zahedi was the son of Abol Hassan...
and the Shah, who returned to Iran after having left the country briefly to await the outcome of the coup. The Shah abolished the democratic Constitution and assumed autocratic powers.
After the coup, Mossadeq's National Iranian Oil Company
National Iranian Oil Company
The National Iranian Oil Company , a government-owned corporation under the direction of the Ministry of Petroleum of Iran, is an oil and natural gas producer and distributor headquartered in Tehran. It was established in 1948...
became an international consortium, and AIOC resumed operations in Iran as a member of it. The consortium agreed to share profits on a 50–50 basis with Iran, "but not to open its books to Iranian auditors or to allow Iranians onto its board of directors." AIOC, as a part of the Anglo-American coup d'état deal, was not allowed to monopolise Iranian oil as before. It was limited to a 40% share in a new international consortium. For the rest, 40% went to the five major American companies and 20% went to Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
and Compagnie Française des Pétroles, now Total S.A.
Total S.A.
Total S.A. is a French multinational oil company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world.Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas exploration and production to power generation, transportation, refining, petroleum product marketing, and...
.
The AIOC became the British Petroleum Company in 1954. In 1959, the company expanded beyond the Middle East to Alaska and in 1965 it was the first company to strike oil in the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
. In 1978 the company acquired a controlling interest in Standard Oil of Ohio
Standard Oil of Ohio
Standard Oil of Ohio or Sohio was an American oil company that was acquired by British Petroleum, now called BP.It was one of the successor companies to Standard Oil after the antitrust breakup in 1911. Standard Oil of Ohio was the original Standard Oil company founded by John D. Rockefeller. It...
or Sohio, a breakoff of the former Standard Oil that had been broken up after anti-trust litigation.
In 1967 there was the disaster of the giant oil tanker, the Torrey Canyon, which founded off the English coast, even though the ship was flying the well known flag of convenience, that of Liberia. the ship was in fact operated on behalf of B.P.
the Prime Minister of that time, 1967, had the ship bombed by RAF jet bombers, in an effort to break it up and sink it, in regard to the final oil spill it was futile, and the method has not been repeated.
It continued to operate in Iran until the Islamic Revolution
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the...
in 1979. The new regime of Ayatollah Khomeini confiscated all of the company’s assets in Iran without compensation, bringing to an end its 70-year presence in Iran.
1980s and 1990s
Sir Peter Walters was the company chairman from 1981 to 1990. This was the era of the Thatcher government's privatisation strategy. The British government sold its entire holding in the company in several tranches between 1979 and 1987. The sale process was marked by an attempt by the Kuwait Investment AuthorityKuwait Investment Authority
The Kuwait Investment Authority is Kuwait's sovereign wealth fund , managing body, specializing in local and foreign investment...
, the investment arm of the Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
government, to acquire control of the company. This was ultimately blocked by the strong opposition of the British government. In 1987, British Petroleum negotiated the acquisition of Britoil
Britoil
Britoil was originally a privatised British oil company operating in the North Sea. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.-History:...
and the remaining publicly traded shares of Standard Oil of Ohio
Standard Oil of Ohio
Standard Oil of Ohio or Sohio was an American oil company that was acquired by British Petroleum, now called BP.It was one of the successor companies to Standard Oil after the antitrust breakup in 1911. Standard Oil of Ohio was the original Standard Oil company founded by John D. Rockefeller. It...
.
Walters was replaced by Robert Horton
Robert Horton
Sir Robert Horton, FRSA is a British businessman. He is a Director of the European Advisory Council and of Emerson Electric Company. He spent 30 years working for BP, formerly British Petroleum. He became Chief Executive and Chairman of the Board of BP in March 1990, but was forced out in 1992...
in 1989. Horton carried out a major corporate down-sizing exercise removing various tiers of management at the Head Office.
Standard Oil of California and Gulf Oil
Gulf Oil
Gulf Oil was a major global oil company from the 1900s to the 1980s. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies...
merged in 1984, the largest merger in history at that time. Under the anti-trust regulation, SoCal divested many of Gulf's operating subsidiaries, and sold some Gulf stations and a refinery in the eastern United States.
John Browne
John Browne, Baron Browne of Madingley
Edmund John Philip Browne, Baron Browne of Madingley, FRS FREng is President of the Royal Academy of Engineering and was group Chief Executive of BP until his resignation on 1 May 2007...
, who had been on the board as managing director since 1991, was appointed group chief executive in 1995. Browne was responsible for three major acquisitions; Amoco
Amoco
Amoco Corporation, originally Standard Oil Company , was a global chemical and oil company, founded in 1889 around a refinery located in Whiting, Indiana, United States....
, ARCO
ARCO
Atlantic Richfield Company is an oil company with operations in the United States as well as in Indonesia, the North Sea, and the South China Sea. It has more than 1,300 gas stations in the western part of the United States. ARCO was originally formed by the merger of East Coast-based Atlantic...
and Burmah-Castrol (see below).
21st century
British Petroleum merged with AmocoAmoco
Amoco Corporation, originally Standard Oil Company , was a global chemical and oil company, founded in 1889 around a refinery located in Whiting, Indiana, United States....
(formerly Standard Oil of Indiana) in December 1998, becoming BP Amoco plc. In 2000, BP Amoco acquired Arco (Atlantic Richfield Co.)
ARCO
Atlantic Richfield Company is an oil company with operations in the United States as well as in Indonesia, the North Sea, and the South China Sea. It has more than 1,300 gas stations in the western part of the United States. ARCO was originally formed by the merger of East Coast-based Atlantic...
and Burmah Castrol plc. As part of the merger's brand awareness, the company helped the Tate Modern
Tate Modern
Tate Modern is a modern art gallery located in London, England. It is Britain's national gallery of international modern art and forms part of the Tate group . It is the most-visited modern art gallery in the world, with around 4.7 million visitors per year...
British Art launch RePresenting Britain 1500–2000 In 2001, the company formally renamed itself as BP plc and adopted the tagline "Beyond Petroleum," which remains in use today. It states that BP was never meant to be an abbreviation of its tagline. Most Amoco stations in the United States were converted to BP's brand and corporate identity. In many states BP continued to sell Amoco branded petrol even in service stations with the BP identity as Amoco was rated the best petroleum brand by consumers for 16 consecutive years and also enjoyed one of the three highest brand loyalty reputations for petrol in the US, comparable only to Chevron
Chevron Corporation
Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation headquartered in San Ramon, California, United States and active in more than 180 countries. It is engaged in every aspect of the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries, including exploration and production; refining,...
and Shell. In May 2008, when the Amoco name was mostly phased out in favour of "BP Gasoline with Invigorate", promoting BP's new additive, the highest grade of BP petrol available in the United States was still called Amoco Ultimate.
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
(IPO) in the US, and filed IPO plans for Innovene with the New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
on 12 September 2005. On 7 October 2005 BP announced that it had agreed to sell Innovene to INEOS
Ineos
INEOS Group Limited is a privately owned multinational chemicals company headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland and with its registered office in Lyndhurst, United Kingdom...
, a privately held UK chemical company for $9 billion, thereby scrapping its plans for the IPO.
In 2005, BP announced that it would be leaving the Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
market. Many locations were re-branded as Conoco.
In 2006, when Chevron Corporation gave exclusive rights to the Texaco
Texaco
Texaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand....
brand name in the US Texaco sold most of the BP gas stations in the southeast. BP has recently looked to grow its oil exploration activities in frontier areas such as the former Soviet Union for its future reserves.
In Russia, BP owns 50% of TNK-BP
TNK-BP
TNK-BP is a major vertically integrated Russian oil company. It is Russia's third largest oil producer and among the ten largest private oil companies in the world. TNK-BP is Russia's third largest oil company in terms of reserves and crude oil production...
with the other half owned by three Russian billionaires. TNK-BP accounts for a fifth of BP's global reserves, a quarter of BP's production, and nearly a tenth of its global profits.
In 2007, BP sold its corporate-owned convenience stores, typically known as "BP Connect", to local franchisees and jobbers
Jobber (fuel)
A jobber, or petroleum marketer, is a person or company that purchases quantities of refined fuel from refining companies , either for sale to retailers , or to sell directly to the users of those products...
.
On 12 January 2007, it was announced that Lord Browne would retire as chief executive at the end of July 2007. The new Chief Executive, Tony Hayward
Tony Hayward
Anthony Bryan "Tony" Hayward is a British businessman, the former chief executive of oil and energy company BP. He replaced John Browne, Baron Browne of Madingley on 1 May 2007. His tenure ended on 1 October 2010 in large part due to the circumstances of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill...
, had been head of exploration and production. It had been expected that Lord Browne would retire in February 2008 when he reached the age of 60, the standard retirement age at BP. Browne resigned abruptly from BP on 1 May 2007, following the lifting of a legal injunction preventing Associated Newspapers
Associated Newspapers
Associated Newspapers is a large national newspaper publisher in the UK, which is a subsidiary of the Daily Mail and General Trust. The group was established in 1905 and is currently based at Northcliffe House in Kensington...
from publishing details about his private life. Hayward succeeded Browne with immediate effect.
On 1 October 2010, Bob Dudley
Bob Dudley
Robert "Bob" Dudley is the CEO of BP. He had served as President and Chief Executive of TNK-BP and on June 18, 2010, was assigned to be BP executive in charge of the Gulf Coast Restoration Organisation responding to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.-Early life:Dudley was born in Queens, New York,...
replaced Tony Hayward
Tony Hayward
Anthony Bryan "Tony" Hayward is a British businessman, the former chief executive of oil and energy company BP. He replaced John Browne, Baron Browne of Madingley on 1 May 2007. His tenure ended on 1 October 2010 in large part due to the circumstances of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill...
as the company's CEO.
On 15 January 2011, Rosneft
Rosneft
Rosneft is an integrated oil company majority owned by the Government of Russia. Rosneft is headquartered in Moscow’s Balchug district near the Kremlin, across the Moskva river...
and BP announced a deal to jointly develop East-Prinovozemelsky field
East-Prinovozemelsky field
The East-Prinovozemelsky field is a gigantic undeveloped Arctic oil and gas field located on the continental shelf of Russia in the South Kara Sea between the Yamal Peninsula and Novaya Zemlya island.-History:The field is divided into three license blocks: EPNZ-1, EPNZ2, and...
on the Russian arctic shelf. As part of the deal, Rosneft will receive 5% of BP's shares (worth approximately $7.8 billion, as of January 2011) and BP will get approximately 9.5% of Rosneft's shares in exchange. According to the deal, the two companies will also create an Arctic technology centre in Russia to develop technologies and engineering practices for safe arctic hydrocarbons extraction.
In February 2011, BP formed a partnership with Reliance Industries
Reliance Industries
Reliance Industries Limited is an Indian conglomerate company headquartered at Mumbai, India. The company operates through three business segments: petrochemicals, refining, and oil and gas, other segment of the company includes textile, retail business, special economic zone development and...
, taking a 30 percent stake in a new Indian joint-venture for an initial payment of $7.2 billion.
Governance
The Board Members are:- Carl-Henric SvanbergCarl-Henric SvanbergCarl-Henric Svanberg, born on May 29 1952 in Porjus, Sweden, is a businessman and current Chairman of BP.-Life and career:Svanberg holds a Master's degree in Applied Physics from the Linköping Institute of Technology and a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Uppsala University...
– Chairman - Byron GroteByron GroteByron E. Grote is currently an Executive Member of BP. He has been with the company since 1987 following their acquisition of Standard Oil of Ohio where he had worked since 1979. He took the position of Executive member in 2002....
– Chief Financial Officer - Andy InglisAndy InglisAndrew G. Inglis b. 51 is a British engineer and Head of Exploration and Production of British oil company BP.-Background:Andrew graduated from Pembroke College with an MA in engineering in 1980....
– Chief executive, Exploration and Production - Antony BurgmansAntony BurgmansAntony Burgmans was formerly the non-executive Chairman of the Anglo-Dutch food and health products giant Unilever.-Career:...
– Non-executive director, board of MauritshuisMauritshuisThe Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis is an art museum in The Hague, the Netherlands. Previously the residence of count John Maurice of Nassau, it now has a large art collection, including paintings by Dutch painters such as Johannes Vermeer, Rembrandt van Rijn, Jan Steen, Paulus Potter and Frans...
, AEGONAEGONAegon N.V. is one of the world’s largest life insurance and pension groups, and a strong provider of investment products. Aegon's head office is in The Hague, Netherlands...
, UnileverUnileverUnilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products.... - Cynthia CarrollCynthia CarrollCynthia Carroll is an American businessperson. She is the chief executive officer of Anglo American PLC, a London, UK mining company, which, among other things, is the world's largest platinum producer....
– Non-executive director, CEO of Anglo American, also board of De BeersDe BeersDe Beers is a family of companies that dominate the diamond, diamond mining, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. De Beers is active in every category of industrial diamond mining: open-pit, underground, large-scale alluvial, coastal and deep sea... - Sir William CastellWilliam CastellSir William Castell LVO is Chairman of the Wellcome Trust and a Director of General Electric and BP. He was CEO of Amersham plc from 1989 until it was acquired by GE in April 2004 and then became CEO of GE Healthcare and a Vice-Chairman of GE.He was born on 10 April 1947 and educated at St....
– Non-executive director chairman of The Prince’s Trust - Paul AndersonPaul Anderson- Politics and public figures :* Paul Anderson , member of the Minnesota House of Representatives* Paul H. Anderson , U.S. judge* Paul Francis Anderson , U.S...
– Non-executive director - Robert DudleyBob DudleyRobert "Bob" Dudley is the CEO of BP. He had served as President and Chief Executive of TNK-BP and on June 18, 2010, was assigned to be BP executive in charge of the Gulf Coast Restoration Organisation responding to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.-Early life:Dudley was born in Queens, New York,...
– CEO (as of 1 October 2010) - Iain ConnIain ConnIn his role as an executive director of the BP Group, Iain Conn has regional responsibility for Europe, including the UK, together with Russia, the Middle East, the Caspian and Africa...
- George DavidGeorge DavidGeorge David is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of United Technologies Corporation. David was elected UTC’s President in 1992 and Chief Executive Officer in 1994. He joined UTC’s Otis Elevator subsidiary in 1975 and became its President in 1986.-Life and career:David was born in...
vice-chairman of the Peterson Institute for International Economics - Ian DavisIan DavisIan Davis was a longtime top senior partner and director at management consultancy McKinsey & Company, serving as managing director from 2003 to 2009. He succeeded Rajat Gupta on July 1, 2003. He joined McKinsey in 1979, retired in 2010 and currently serves as a senior partner emeritus.Davis was...
– Non-executive director - Douglas FlintDouglas FlintDouglas Jardine Flint CBE, is a British banking businessman. He is currently the Group Chairman of HSBC Holdings.- Education :Flint graduated with a bachelor's degree with honours in Accounting from the University of Glasgow...
, CBE director HSBCHSBCHSBC Holdings plc is a global banking and financial services company headquartered in Canary Wharf, London, United Kingdom. it is the world's second-largest banking and financial services group and second-largest public company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine... - Dr DeAnne JuliusDeAnne JuliusDeAnne Shirley Julius is a former CIA analyst and a British-based American economist, notable as a founder member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England. She has also worked at the World Bank and extensively in the private sector, and since July 2003 she has been Chairman of...
, director of Chatham HouseChatham HouseChatham House, formally known as The Royal Institute of International Affairs, is a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in London whose mission is to analyse and promote the understanding of major international issues and current affairs. It is regarded as one of the world's leading... - David JacksonDavid JacksonDavid Jackson may refer to:*David Jackson , American physician, Continental Congressman for Pennsylvania*David Edward Jackson , American explorer, frontiersman, and trapper...
, company secretary
Financial data
| Year | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales | 180,186 | 236,045 | 294,849 | 249,465 | 265,906 | 284,365 | 361,341 | 239,272 |
| EBITDA EBITDA EBITDA is an acronym for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. It is a non-GAAP metric that is measured exactly as stated. All interest, tax, depreciation and amortization entries in the income statement are reversed out from the bottom-line net income... |
22,941 | 28,200 | 37,825 | 41,453 | 44,835 | |||
| Net results | 6,845 | 10,267 | 15,961 | 22,341 | 22,000 | 20,845 | 21,157 | 16,578 |
| Net debt | 20,273 | 20,193 | 21,607 | 16,202 | 16,202 |
-
-
-
-
-
- Source :OpesC
-
-
-
-
Company name
Until 31 December 1998 the company was formally registered as the British Petroleum Company plc. Following a merger with Amoco the company adopted the name BP Amoco plc in January 1999, which was retained until May 2001 when the company was renamed BP p.l.c. In the first quarter of 2001 the company adopted the marketing name of BP, replaced its “Green Shield” logo with the HeliosHelios
Helios was the personification of the Sun in Greek mythology. Homer often calls him simply Titan or Hyperion, while Hesiod and the Homeric Hymn separate him as a son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia or Euryphaessa and brother of the goddesses Selene, the moon, and Eos, the dawn...
symbol, a green and yellow sunflower pattern, and introduced a new corporate slogan – “Beyond Petroleum”. The transition to the name and logo was managed by the advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather
Ogilvy & Mather
Ogilvy & Mather is an international advertising, marketing and public relations agency based in Manhattan and owned by the WPP Group. The company operates 497 offices in 125 countries with approximately 16,000 employees.-History:...
and the PR consultants, Ogilvy PR. The Helios
Helios
Helios was the personification of the Sun in Greek mythology. Homer often calls him simply Titan or Hyperion, while Hesiod and the Homeric Hymn separate him as a son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia or Euryphaessa and brother of the goddesses Selene, the moon, and Eos, the dawn...
logo (Helios is the name of the Greek sun god), is designed to represent energy in its many forms. BP's tagline, "Beyond Petroleum", according to the company represents their focus on meeting the growing demand for fossil fuels, manufacturing and delivering more advanced products, and enabling the material transition to a lower carbon future.
In July 2006, critics pointed to the relative lack of press coverage about a spill of 270,000 gallons of crude oil that spread into the Alaskan tundra, noting this as evidence that BP had successfully greenwash
Greenwash
Greenwashing , or "green sheen", is a form of spin in which green PR or green marketing is deceptively used to promote the perception that a company's policies or products are environmentally friendly.-Usage:...
ed its image, while maintaining environmentally unsound practices. BP also put plans on hold to market a fuel that is 85% Ethanol and 15% Butanol (E85B), so existing internal combustion engines could run on a 100% renewable fuel. The lack of follow-through was cited as another example of BP's greenwashing. (Butanol can be used in internal combustion engines, but BP has no infrastructure to produce Butanol from biomass sources).
In 2008, BP was awarded a satirical prize, the "Emerald Paintbrush" award, from Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
UK. The "Emerald Paintbrush" award was given to BP in order to highlight its alleged greenwashing campaign. Critics point out that while BP advertises its activities in alternative energy sources, the majority of its capital investments continue to go into fossil fuels. BP was also one nominee for the 2009 Greenwash Awards.
By the end of July 2010, independent BP station owners reported sales down 10 to 40 percent in the quarter after the Gulf oil spill and, while some hoped BP would return to the Amoco brand once used by many of the stations, others considered that would be a gamble because BP put so much effort into the brand.
Exploration and production
BP's Exploration and Production division is responsible for the discovery, production and transportation of oil and gas to market. It operates in around 30 countries and employs more than 20,000 people.Refining and Marketing
BP's Refining and Marketing division is responsible for the supply and trading, refining, marketing and transportation of oil, gas and petroleum products.Air BP
Air BPAir BP
Air BP is the specialised aviation division of BP. Air BP services are available at over 1000 airport locations in 70 countries and serves airlines, commercial aviation and general aviation....
is the aviation division of BP, providing aviation fuel
Aviation fuel
Aviation fuel is a specialized type of petroleum-based fuel used to power aircraft. It is generally of a higher quality than fuels used in less critical applications, such as heating or road transport, and often contains additives to reduce the risk of icing or explosion due to high temperatures,...
, lubricants & services. It has operations in over 50 countries worldwide.
BP Shipping
BP Shipping provides the logistics to move BP's oil and gas cargoes to market, as well as marine structural assurance on everything that floats in the BP group. It manages a large fleet of vessels most of which are held on long-term operating leases. BP Shipping's chartering teams based in London, Singapore, and Chicago also charter third party vessels on both time charter and voyage charter basis.The BP-managed fleet consists of Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs), one North Sea shuttle tanker, medium size crude and product carriers, liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers, and coasters. All of these ships are double-hulled.
Castrol
CastrolCastrol
Castrol is a brand of industrial and automotive lubricants which is applied to a large range of oils, greases and similar products for most lubrication applications...
is a brand of industrial and automotive lubricants which is applied to a large range of BP oils, grease
Grease (lubricant)
The term grease is used to describe semisolid lubricants. Although the word grease is also used to describe rendered fat of animals, in the context of lubrication, grease typically applies to a material consisting of a soap emulsified with mineral or vegetable oil...
s and similar products for most lubrication
Lubrication
Lubrication is the process, or technique employed to reduce wear of one or both surfaces in close proximity, and moving relative to each another, by interposing a substance called lubricant between the surfaces to carry or to help carry the load between the opposing surfaces. The interposed...
applications.
ampm
ampm is a convenience store chain with branches located in several US states including Arizona, California, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Washington, recently in Illinois, Indiana, Georgia and Florida, and in several countries worldwide such as Japan. In the western US, the stores are usually attached to an ARCO gas station; elsewhere, the stores are attached to BP gas stations. BP Connect stations in the US are transitioning to the ampm brand.
Aral
In Germany and Luxembourg, BP operates its petrol retail chain under the name Aral
Aral AG
Aral is a brand of automobile fuels and gas stations, present in Germany and Luxembourg, but formerly used in most countries of Western and Central Europe. The company behind the brand name, Aral AG , is owned by BP, but was established in 1898 as Westdeutsche Benzol-Verkaufs-Vereinigung GmbH...
after acquiring the majority of Veba Öl AG in 2001 and rebranding almost all of its BP filling stations to Aral.
ARCO
ARCO is BP's retail brand on the US West Coast in the seven Western states of California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Idaho, Arizona, and Utah. BP acquired ARCO (formerly the Atlantic Richfield Company) in 2000. ARCO is a popular "cash only" retailer, selling products refined from Alaska North Slope crude at the Cherry Point Refinery
Cherry Point Refinery
The Cherry Point Refinery is the largest oil refinery in Washington. It is located about south of Blaine and miles northwest of Ferndale, a few miles south of the Canadian border, on the Strait of Georgia between Birch Bay and Lummi Bay. The Project was overseen by George W. Glade, President of...
in Washington, a plant in Los Angeles, and at other contract locations on the West Coast.
BP Connect
BP Connect
BP Connect
BP Connect is brand name for corporate owned stores belonging to BP, as opposed to jobber owned stores. BP Connect locations combine a convenience store with a "Wild Bean Cafe", and are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.-United Kingdom:...
is BP's flagship retail brand name with BP Connect Service stations being operated around the UK, Europe, USA, Australia, New Zealand and other parts of the world. BP Connect sites feature the Wild Bean Cafe, which offers cafe-style coffee made by the staff and a selection of hot food as well as freshly baked muffins and sandwiches. The food offered in Wild Bean Cafe varies from each site. BP Connect sites usually offer table and chair seating and often an Internet kiosk. In the US, the BP Connect concept is gradually being transitioned to the ampm
Ampm
ampm is a convenience store chain with branches located in several U.S. states including Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, recently in Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida, and in several countries worldwide, including Japan...
brand and concept. Some BP Connect sites around the UK ran in partnership with Marks & Spencer
Marks & Spencer
Marks and Spencer plc is a British retailer headquartered in the City of Westminster, London, with over 700 stores in the United Kingdom and over 300 stores spread across more than 40 countries. It specialises in the selling of clothing and luxury food products...
with the on-site shop being an M&S Simply Food instead of a BP Shop.
BP Express
In the Netherlands, BP is opening unmanned stations with no shops or employees. These stations are called BP Express. Some of these stations used to be 'ordinary' BP stations and others are new to the BP network. Apart from these stations, BP Express shopping does also exist in the Netherlands.
BP 2go
BP 2go is a franchise brand used for independently operated sites in New Zealand and is currently being rolled out throughout Australia (although not all BP 2go stores are franchises in Australia). BP 2go sites mainly operate in towns and outer suburbs in New Zealand. BP 2go offers similar bakery food to BP Connect but in a pre-packaged form. Some BP Express sites around New Zealand and Australia that were considered too small to be upgraded to BP Connect were given the option to change to BP 2go; others were downgraded to BP Shop. Staff at some BP 2go sites wear a different style of uniform to the rest of the BP branded sites; however in company-owned and operated 2go sites in Australia the same uniform is worn across all sites.
BP Travel Centre
BP Travel Centres are large-scale destination sites located in Australia which, on top of offering the same features of a BP Connect site with fuel and a Wild Bean Cafe, also feature major food-retail tenants such as McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
, KFC
KFC
KFC, founded and also known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, is a chain of fast food restaurants based in Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States. KFC has been a brand and operating segment, termed a concept of Yum! Brands since 1997 when that company was spun off from PepsiCo as Tricon Global...
, Nando's
Nando's
Nando's is a casual dining restaurant group originating from South Africa with a Portuguese/Mozambican theme. Founded in 1987, Nando's operates in thirty countries on five continents....
and recently Krispy Kreme
Krispy Kreme
Krispy Kreme is the name of an international chain of doughnut stores that was founded by Vernon Rudolph in 1937 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The parent company of Krispy Kreme is Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc...
, with a large seating capacity food court. There are also facilities for long-haul truck drivers, including a lounge, showers and washing machines all in the same building. There are 4 travel centres located in South East Queensland
South East Queensland
South East Queensland is a region of the state of Queensland in Australia, which contains approximately two-thirds of the state population...
: two on the Pacific Highway
Pacific Highway (Australia)
The Pacific Highway is a major transport route along part of the east coast of Australia and is part of Australia's national route 1.It is 960 km long and links Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, to Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, along the coast, via Gosford, Newcastle, Taree, Port...
(Coomera
Coomera, Queensland
Coomera is a suburb on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 Census, Coomera had a population of 1,420. The name Coomera comes from the Aboriginal word for fern....
and Stapylton
Stapylton County, New South Wales
Stapylton County is one of the 141 Cadastral divisions of New South Wales. It is located to the south of the Barwon River and includes part of the Newell Highway....
) and two on the Bruce Highway
Bruce Highway
The Bruce Highway is a major highway in Queensland, Australia. Commencing in the state capital, Brisbane, it passes through areas close to the eastern coast to Cairns in Far North Queensland. The route is a part of the Australian National Highway and also part of Highway 1...
(Caboolture
Caboolture, Queensland
Caboolture is an urban centre approximately north of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. Caboolture is considered to be the northernmost urban area of the greater Brisbane metropolitan region within South East Queensland, and it marks the end of the Brisbane suburban commuter...
). A fifth travel centre was opened in 2007 at Chinderah
Chinderah, New South Wales
Chinderah is a suburb in the Tweed Shire. It is located south of Tweed Heads and next to the seaside township of Kingscliff. An industrial estate, golf course and small shopping precinct are located within the area....
in northern New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
.
Environmental record
Mother Jones (magazine)
Mother Jones is an American independent news organization, featuring investigative and breaking news reporting on politics, the environment, human rights, and culture. Mother Jones has been nominated for 23 National Magazine Awards and has won six times, including for General Excellence in 2001,...
, an investigative journal that "exposes the evils of the corporate world, the government, and the mainstream media", as one of the ten worst corporations in both 2001 and 2005 based on its environmental and human rights records. In 1991 BP was cited as the most polluting company in the US based on EPA toxic release data. BP has been charged with burning polluted gases at its Ohio refinery (for which it was fined $1.7 million), and in July 2000 BP paid a $10 million fine to the EPA for its management of its US refineries. According to PIRG
Pirg
Pirg is a municipality in the Korçë District, Korçë County, southeastern Albania. The municipality consists of the villages Pirg, Gurishtë, Zvirinë, Leminot, Qershizë, Kakaç, Shqitas, Veliternë, Sovjan, Novoselë and Bubuq....
research, between January 1997 and March 1998, BP was responsible for 104 oil spills. BP patented the Dracone Barge
Dracone Barge
A Dracone Barge is a large flexible watertight tube intended to carry a liquid cargo while towed mostly-submerged behind a ship. One large current example of the type has a capacity of 935 cubic metres while weighing only 6.5 tonnes empty.The Dracone Barge was invented in 1956 by Professor William...
to aid in oil spill clean-ups across the world.
As of 11 February 2007, BP announced that it would spend $8 billion over ten years to research alternative methods of fuel, including natural gas, hydrogen, solar, and wind. A $500 million grant to the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory conducting unclassified scientific research. It is located on the grounds of the University of California, Berkeley, in the Berkeley Hills above the central campus...
, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
, to create an Energy Biosciences Institute
Energy Biosciences Institute
The Energy Biosciences Institute , formally announced on February 1, 2007, is an organization that will pursue research "to develop new sources of energy and reduce the impact of energy consumption on the environment." Funded primarily by BP, which has signed a contract to contribute 500 million...
has recently come under attack, over concerns about the global impacts of the research and privatisation of public universities.
BP's investment in green technologies peaked at 4% of its exploratory budget, but they have since closed their alternative energy headquarters in London. As such they invest more than other oil companies, but it has been called greenwashing due to the small proportion of the overall budget. BP was a nominee for the 2009 Greenwash Awards for deliberately exaggerating its environmental credentials. According to Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
in 2008 BP invested $20 billion in fossil fuels, but only $1.5 billion in all alternative forms of energy.
In 2004, BP began marketing low-sulphur diesel fuel for industrial use.
Renewable energy
BP Solar
BP has been involved in solar power since 1973 and its subsidiary, BP Solar, is a solar power company with production facilities in India and the People's Republic of China, employing a workforce of over 2,000 people worldwide. BP Solar is worldwide manufacturer and installer of photovoltaic solar...
is a leading producer of solar panels since its purchase of Lucas Energy Systems in 1980 and Solarex (as part of its acquisition of Amoco) in 2000. BP Solar had a 20% world market share in photovoltaic panels in 2004 when it had a capacity to produce 90 MW/year of panels. It has over 30 years' experience operating in over 160 countries with manufacturing facilities in the US, Spain, India and Australia, and has more than 2000 employees worldwide. BP has closed its US plants in Frederick, Maryland
Frederick, Maryland
Frederick is a city in north-central Maryland. It is the county seat of Frederick County, the largest county by area in the state of Maryland. Frederick is an outlying community of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of a greater...
as part of a transition to manufacturing in China. This is due in part to China's upswing in solar use and the protectionist laws that require 85% of the materials to be produced in China. Through a series of acquisitions in the solar power industry BP Solar became the third largest producer of solar panels in the world. It was recently announced that BP has obtained a contract for a pilot project to provide on-site solar power to Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
stores.
Between 2005 and 2010, BP invested about $5 billion in its renewable energy business, mainly in biofuel
Biofuel
Biofuel is a type of fuel whose energy is derived from biological carbon fixation. Biofuels include fuels derived from biomass conversion, as well as solid biomass, liquid fuels and various biogases...
and wind power
Wind power
Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships....
projects. In 2011, BP plans to invest $1 billion in renewables, roughly the same amount it invested last year.
As of 2011, BP is planning to construct a biofuel refinery in the Southeastern US and has also acquired Verenium’s cellulosic biofuels business for $98 million. In Brazil, BP holds a 50 percent stake in Tropical BioEnergia and plans to operate two ethanol
Ethanol
Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a...
refineries. In the US BP has more than 1,200 megawatts (MW) of wind-powered electricity capacity and in July 2010 it began construction of the 250 MW Cedar Creek II Wind Farm in Colorado.
Climate change
BP was a founding sponsor of the University of East AngliaUniversity of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia is a public research university based in Norwich, United Kingdom. It was established in 1963, and is a founder-member of the 1994 Group of research-intensive universities.-History:...
's Climatic Research Unit
Climatic Research Unit
The Climatic Research Unit is a component of the University of East Anglia and is one of the leading institutions concerned with the study of natural and anthropogenic climate change....
in 1971, the research unit that was at the center of the Climategate
Climatic Research Unit email controversy
The Climatic Research Unit email controversy began in November 2009 with the hacking of a server at the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia...
scandal in November 2009.
BP Amoco was a member of the Global Climate Coalition
Global Climate Coalition
The Global Climate Coalition was a group of mainly United States businesses opposing immediate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The group formed in response to several reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change . A major scientific report on the severity of global warming...
an industry organisation established to promote global warming scepticism but withdrew in 1997, saying "the time to consider the policy dimensions of climate change is not when the link between greenhouse gases and climate change is conclusively proven, but when the possibility cannot be discounted and is taken seriously by the society of which we are part. We in BP have reached that point.".
In March 2002, Lord Browne of Madingley declared in a speech that global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
was real and that urgent action was needed, saying that "Companies composed of highly skilled and trained people can't live in denial of mounting evidence gathered by hundreds of the most reputable scientists in the world."
BP is a sponsor of the Scripps Institution CO2 program to measure carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.
1993–1995: Hazardous substance dumping
In September 1999, one of BP’s US subsidiaries, BP Exploration Alaska (BPXA), agreed to resolve charges related to the illegal dumping of hazardous wastes on the Alaska North SlopeAlaska North Slope
The Alaska North Slope is the region of the U.S. state of Alaska located on the northern slope of the Brooks Range along the coast of two marginal seas of the Arctic Ocean, the Chukchi Sea being on the western side of Point Barrow, and the Beaufort Sea on the eastern.The region contains the...
, for $22 million. The settlement included the maximum $500,000 criminal fine, $6.5 million in civil penalties, and BP’s establishment of a $15 million environmental management system at all of BP facilities in the US and Gulf of Mexico that are engaged in oil exploration, drilling or production. The charges stemmed from the 1993 to 1995 dumping of hazardous wastes on Endicott Island, Alaska by BP’s contractor Doyon Drilling. The firm illegally discharged waste oil, paint thinner and other toxic and hazardous substances by injecting them down the outer rim, or annuli, of the oil wells. BPXA failed to report the illegal injections when it learned of the conduct, in violation of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act.
2006–2007: Prudhoe Bay
In August 2006, BP shut down oil operations in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, due to corrosion in pipelines leading up to the Alaska Pipeline. The wells were leaking insulating agent called Arctic pack, consisting of crude oil and diesel fuel, between the wells and ice. BP had spilled over one million litres of oil in Alaska's North Slope. This corrosion is caused by sediment collecting in the bottom of the pipe, protecting corrosive bacteria from chemicals sent through the pipeline to fight these bacteria. There are estimates that about 5000 barrels (794.9 m³) of oil were released from the pipeline. To date 1513 barrels (240.5 m³) of liquids, about 5200 cubic yards (3,975.7 m³) of soiled snow and 328 cubic yards (250.8 m³) of soiled gravel have been recovered. After approval from the DOT, only the eastern portion of the field was shut down, resulting in a reduction of 200000 oilbbl/d until work began to bring the eastern field to full production on 2 October 2006.In May 2007, the company announced another partial field shutdown owing to leaks of water at a separation plant. Their action was interpreted as another example of fallout from a decision to cut maintenance of the pipeline and associated facilities.
On 16 October 2007, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation officials reported a toxic spill of methanol (methyl alcohol)
Methanol
Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol, wood alcohol, wood naphtha or wood spirits, is a chemical with the formula CH3OH . It is the simplest alcohol, and is a light, volatile, colorless, flammable liquid with a distinctive odor very similar to, but slightly sweeter than, ethanol...
at the Prudhoe Bay oil field managed by BP PLC. Nearly 2,000 gallons of mostly methanol, mixed with some crude oil and water, spilled onto a frozen tundra pond as well as a gravel pad from a pipeline. Methanol, which is poisonous to plants and animals, is used to clear ice from the insides of the Arctic-based pipelines.
2010: Texas City chemical leak
Two weeks prior to the Deepwater Horizon explosion, BP admitted that malfunctioning equipment lead to the release of over 530,000 lbs of chemicals into the air of Texas City and surrounding areas from 6 April to 16 May. The leak included 17,000 pounds of benzene (a known carcinogen), 37,000 pounds of nitrogen oxides (which contribute to respiratory problems), and 186,000 pounds of carbon monoxide.2010: Deepwater Horizon oil spill
On 20 April 2010, the semi-submersible exploratory offshore drilling rig Deepwater HorizonDeepwater Horizon
Deepwater Horizon was an ultra-deepwater, dynamically positioned, semi-submersible offshore oil drilling rig owned by Transocean. Built in 2001 in South Korea by Hyundai Heavy Industries, the rig was commissioned by R&B Falcon, which later became part of Transocean, registered in Majuro, Marshall...
exploded
Deepwater Horizon explosion
The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion refers to the April 20, 2010 explosion and subsequent fire on the Deepwater Horizon semi-submersible Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit , which was owned and operated by Transocean and drilling for BP in the Macondo Prospect oil field about southeast of the...
after a blowout
Blowout (well drilling)
A blowout is the uncontrolled release of crude oil and/or natural gas from an oil well or gas well after pressure control systems have failed....
; it sank two days later, killing 11 people. This blowout
Blowout
-Science and technology:*Blowout , a sudden release of oil and gas from a well*Blowout , a sandy depression caused by the removal of sediment by wind*Blowout grass is a grass that can be found on sand dunes...
in the Macondo Prospect
Macondo Prospect
The Macondo Prospect is an oil and gas prospect in the United States Exclusive Economic Zone of the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana...
field in the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
resulted in a partially capped oil well one mile below the surface of the water. Experts estimate the gusher to be flowing at 35000 oilbbl/d of oil. The exact flow rate is uncertain due to the difficulty of installing measurement devices at that depth and is a matter of ongoing debate. The resulting oil slick covers at least 2500 square mile, fluctuating from day to day depending on weather conditions. It threatens the coasts of Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, Texas, and Florida.
The drilling rig was owned and operated by Transocean
Transocean
Transocean Ltd. is one of the world's largest offshore drilling contractors. The company rents floating mobile drill rigs, along with the equipment and personnel for operations, to oil and gas companies at an average daily rate of US$282,700...
Ltd on behalf of BP, which is the majority owner of the Macondo oil field. At the time of the explosion, there were 126 crew on board; seven were employees of BP and 79 of Transocean. There were also employees of various other companies involved in the drilling operation, including Anadarko, Halliburton and M-I Swaco.
The US Government
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
has named BP the responsible party, and officials have committed to hold the company accountable for all clean-up costs and other damage. BP has stated that it would harness all of its resources to battle the oil spill, spending $7 million a day with its partners to try to contain the disaster. In comparison, BP's 1st quarter profits for 2010 were approximately $61 million per day. BP has agreed to create a $20 billion spill response fund administered by Kenneth Feinberg
Kenneth Feinberg
Kenneth Feinberg is an American attorney, specializing in mediation and alternative dispute resolution. Feinberg was appointed Special Master of the U.S...
. The amount of this fund is not a cap or a floor on BP's liabilities. BP will pay $3 billion in third quarter of 2010 and $2 billion in fourth quarter into the fund followed by a payment of $1.25 billion per quarter until it reaches $20 billion. In the interim, BP posts its US assets worth $20 billion as bond. For the fund's payments, BP will cut its capital spending budget, sell $10 billion in assets, and drop its dividend. BP has also been targeted in litigation over the claims process it put in place for victims. A class action lawsuit was filed against BP and its initial claims administrator, the ACE, Ltd. Insurance Group company ESIS.
BP began testing the tighter-fitted cap designed to stop the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico from a broken well for the first time in almost three months. The test began Wednesday, 14 July with BP shutting off pipes that were funnelling some of the oil to ships on the surface, so the full force of the gusher went up into the cap. Then deep-sea robots began slowly closing – one at a time – three openings in the cap that let oil pass through. Ultimately, the flow of crude was stopped. All along, engineers were and still are watching pressure readings to learn whether the well is intact. Former coast guard admiral Thad Allen, the Obama administration's point man on the disaster, said the government gave the testing go-ahead after carefully reviewing the risks. "What we didn't want to do is compound that problem by making an irreversible mistake," he said.
Stock decline and takeover speculations
Following the Deepwater Horizon Oil SpillDeepwater Horizon oil spill
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico which flowed unabated for three months in 2010, and continues to leak fresh oil. It is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry...
, BP's stock fell by 52% in 50 days on the New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
, going from $60.57 on 20 April 2010, to $29.20 on 9 June, its lowest level since August 1996. There were speculations in the press, guided by the commentary of Fred Lucas, Energy Analyst at J.P. Morgan Cazenove
J.P. Morgan Cazenove
J.P. Morgan Cazenove is a leading investment bank focused on mergers & acquisitions, debt and equity placements and equity research and distribution based in the UK. The firm has approximately 900 employees....
, that there would be a takeover of the company, focusing on possible bids from Exxon
Exxon
Exxon is a chain of gas stations as well as a brand of motor fuel and related products by ExxonMobil. From 1972 to 1999, Exxon was the corporate name of the company previously known as Standard Oil Company of New Jersey or Jersey Standard....
or Shell
Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
at a presumed price of £88 billion. In addition, BP executives held talks with a number of sovereign wealth fund
Sovereign wealth fund
A sovereign wealth fund is a state-owned investment fund composed of financial assets such as stocks, bonds, property, precious metals or other financial instruments. Sovereign wealth funds invest globally. Some of them have grabbed attention making bad investments in several Wall Street financial...
s including funds from Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Qatar and Singapore, for creation of a strategic partnership to avoid takeover by other major oil companies. BP has either rejected or refused to react to these overtures.
On 27 July 2010, BP announced a net loss of $16.97 billion during the second quarter of 2010, with the oil spill costing $32.2 billion up to that point. Also on 27 July 2010, BP confirmed that CEO Hayward would resign and be replaced by Bob Dudley on 1 October 2010.
Mist mountain project
There have been some calls by environmental groups for BP to halt its "Mist Mountain" Coalbed Methane Project in the Southern Rocky Mountains of British Columbia and for the UN to investigate the mining activities. The proposed 500 km² project is directly adjacent to the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.Canadian oil sands
BP is one of numerous firms who are extracting oil from Canadian oil sands, a process that produces four times as much CO2 as conventional drilling. The CreeCree
The Cree are one of the largest groups of First Nations / Native Americans in North America, with 200,000 members living in Canada. In Canada, the major proportion of Cree live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, although...
First Nation describe this as 'the biggest environmental crime on the planet'.
1965: Sea Gem offshore oil rig disaster
In December 1965, while the BP oil rig Sea Gem was being moved, two of its legs collapsed and the rig capsised. Thirteen crew were killed. Sea Gem was the first British offshore oil rig.2005: Texas City Refinery explosion
In March 2005, BP's Texas City, TexasTexas City, Texas
Texas City is a city in Chambers and Galveston counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 41,521 at the 2000 census. It is a part of the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
refinery, one of its largest refineries, exploded causing 15 deaths, injuring 180 people and forcing thousands of nearby residents to remain sheltered in their homes.
A large column filled with hydrocarbon overflowed to form a vapour cloud, which ignited. The explosion caused all the casualties and substantial damage to the rest of the plant. The incident came as the culmination of a series of less serious accidents at the refinery, and the engineering problems were not addressed by the management. Maintenance and safety at the plant had been cut as a cost-saving measure, the responsibility ultimately resting with executives in London.
The fallout from the accident continues to cloud BP's corporate image because of the mismanagement at the plant. There have been several investigations of the disaster, the most recent being that from the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board
U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, also known as the Chemical Safety Board or CSB, is an independent U.S. federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the agency's board members are appointed by the president and...
which "offered a scathing assessment of the company." OSHA found "organizational and safety deficiencies at all levels of the BP Corporation" and said management failures could be traced from Texas to London.
The company pleaded guilty to a felony
Felony
A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
violation of the Clean Air Act
Clean Air Act
A Clean Air Act is one of a number of pieces of legislation relating to the reduction of airborne contaminants, smog and air pollution in general. The use by governments to enforce clean air standards has contributed to an improvement in human health and longer life spans...
, was fined $50 million, and sentenced to three years probation.
On 30 October 2009, the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Labor. It was created by Congress of the United States under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, signed by President Richard M. Nixon, on December 29, 1970...
(OSHA) fined BP an additional $87 million—the largest fine in OSHA history—for failing to correct safety hazards revealed in the 2005 explosion. Inspectors found 270 safety violations that had been previously cited but not fixed and 439 new violations. BP is appealing that fine. (see #Environmental record).
2006–2010: Refinery fatalities and safety violations
From January 2006 to January 2008, three workers were killed at the company's Texas City, TexasTexas City, Texas
Texas City is a city in Chambers and Galveston counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 41,521 at the 2000 census. It is a part of the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
refinery in three separate accidents. In July 2006 a worker was crushed between a pipe stack and mechanical lift, in June 2007, a worker was electrocuted, and in January 2008, a worker was killed by a 500-pound piece of metal that came loose under high pressure and hit him.
Facing scrutiny after the Texas City Refinery explosion, two BP-owned refineries in Texas City
Texas City, Texas
Texas City is a city in Chambers and Galveston counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 41,521 at the 2000 census. It is a part of the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
, and Toledo
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
, were responsible for 97 percent (829 of 851) of wilful safety violations by oil refiners between June 2007 and February 2010, as determined by inspections by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Labor. It was created by Congress of the United States under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, signed by President Richard M. Nixon, on December 29, 1970...
. Jordan Barab, deputy assistant secretary of labour at OSHA, said "The only thing you can conclude is that BP has a serious, systemic safety problem in their company."
Disclosed US diplomatic cables
United States diplomatic cables leak
The United States diplomatic cables leak, widely known as Cablegate, began in February 2010 when WikiLeaks—a non-profit organization that publishes submissions from anonymous whistleblowers—began releasing classified cables that had been sent to the U.S. State Department by 274 of its consulates,...
by WikiLeaks
Wikileaks
WikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...
revealed that BP had covered up a gas leak and blowout incident in September 2008 at a gas field under production in the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshi area of the Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
Caspian Sea
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...
. According to the cables, BP was lucky to have been able to evacuate everyone safely given the explosive potential. BP did not only hold back information to the public about the incident but even upset its partner firms in limiting the information shared. In January 2009, BP blaimed a bad cement job as the cause for the incident. The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
noted a striking resemblance with the later oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
2009: North Sea helicopter accident
On 1 April 2009, a Bond Offshore HelicoptersBond Offshore Helicopters
Bond Offshore Helicopters is a British Helicopter operator, specialising in providing offshore helicopter transportation services between Aberdeen, Scotland and several North Sea Oil platforms...
Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma ferrying workers from BP's platform in the Miller oilfield
Miller oilfield
The Miller oilfield is a deep reservoir under the North Sea, 240 kilometres northeast of Peterhead in UKCS Blocks 16/7b and 16/8b. It was discovered in 1982 by BP in a water depth of 100 metres. Production from Miller field started in June 1992, and plateau production was from late 1992 to 1997 at...
in the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
off Scotland crashed in good weather killing all 16 on board.
2010: Deepwater Horizon well explosion
The 20 April 2010 explosion on BP's offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico resulted in the deaths of eleven people and caused the biggest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry.2007: Propane price manipulation
Four BP energy traders in Houston were charged with manipulating prices of propane in October 2007. As part of the settlement of the case, BP paid the US government a $303 million fine, the largest commodity market settlement ever in the US. The settlement included a $125 million civil fine to the Commodity Futures Trading CommissionCommodity Futures Trading Commission
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates futures and option markets....
, $100 million to the Justice Department
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
, $53.3 million to a restitution fund for purchasers of the propane BP sold, and $25 million to a US Postal Service consumer fraud education fund.
2008: Oil price manipulation
In May 2010, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian FederationSupreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation
The Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation is the court of final instance in commercial disputes in Russia. Additionally, it supervises the work of lower courts of arbitration and gives interpretation of laws and elucidations concerning their implementations, which are compulsory...
agreed in support of the country’s antimonopoly service’s decision to a 1.1 billion Ruble fine ($35.2 million) against TNK/BP, a 50/50 joint venture, for abusing anti-trust legislation
and setting artificially high oil products prices in 2008, TNK and BP declined comment.
Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline
BP has been criticised for its involvement with Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline due to human rights, environmental and safety concerns.Colombian pipeline
In July 2006, a group of ColombiaColombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n farmers won a multi-million pound settlement from BP after the company was accused of benefiting from a regime of terror carried out by Colombian government paramilitaries to protect the 450 miles (724.2 km) Ocensa pipeline
Ocensa pipeline
The Ocensa pipeline is a crude oil pipeline in Colombia. It starts on the Cusiana and Cupiagua oilfields and runs to Coveñas on Colombia's Caribbean coastline. It is owned by the consortium of Ecopetrol, and BP, Total S.A. and Triton Colombia.-Technical description:The pipeline is long. It has...
.
Contributions to political campaigns
According to the Center for Responsive PoliticsCenter for Responsive Politics
The Center for Responsive Politics is a non-profit, nonpartisan research group based in Washington, D.C. that tracks money in politics and the effect of money and lobbying activity on elections and public policy and maintains a public online database of its information.Their database...
, BP is the United States' hundredth largest donor to political campaigns, having contributed more than US$5 million since 1990, 72% and 28% of which went to Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
and Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
recipients, respectively. BP has lobbied to gain exemptions from US corporate law reforms. Additionally, BP paid the Podesta Group
Podesta Group
The Podesta Group is a lobbying and public affairs firm based in Washington, D.C.. It was founded in 1988 by brothers John Podesta and Tony Podesta and has previously been known as Podesta Associates, podesta.com and PodestaMattoon...
, a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying firm, $160,000 in the first half of 2007 to manage its congressional and government relations.
In February 2002, BP's chief executive, Lord Browne of Madingley, renounced the practice of corporate campaign contributions, noting: "That's why we've decided, as a global policy, that from now on we will make no political contributions from corporate funds anywhere in the world."
Despite this, in 2009 BP used nearly US$16 million to lobby US Congress, breaking the company's previous record (from 2008) of US$10.4 million.
See also
- Oil fields operated by BPOil fields operated by BP- United Kingdom :All fields in British territory are operated as part of the BP's North Sea Strategic Performance Unit from their office in Dyce, Aberdeen. This includes some fields not strictly in the North Sea itself...
- Shell-Mex and BPShell-Mex and BPShell-Mex and BP Ltd was a British joint marketing venture between Shell and British Petroleum. It was formed in 1932 when both companies decided to merge their United Kingdom marketing operations, partly in response to the difficult economic conditions of the times.The parent organisations...
- BP SolarBP SolarBP has been involved in solar power since 1973 and its subsidiary, BP Solar, is a solar power company with production facilities in India and the People's Republic of China, employing a workforce of over 2,000 people worldwide. BP Solar is worldwide manufacturer and installer of photovoltaic solar...
- BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team
- Deepwater Horizon oil spillDeepwater Horizon oil spillThe Deepwater Horizon oil spill is an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico which flowed unabated for three months in 2010, and continues to leak fresh oil. It is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry...
Official
- BP's Corporate History
- BP Solar
- BP Whiting Refinery Information
- Statistical Review of World Energy
- BP's YouTube page