Sustainable Development at British Petroleum

Subsequently in 1905, he required more finances and these were met by the Burmah Oil Company.⁷ In 1909, oil deposits were discovered in South West Persia. This marked the founding of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC). D'Arcy was appointed as a director and Lord Strathcona (Strathcona) was made chairman of APOC. The Burmah Oil Company held 97% of the company's ordinary shares and the remaining 3% was held by Lord Strathcona. In 1914, the British government acquired a majority shareholding in APOC. In 1917, APOC acquired a division of the German-based Europaische Union which was under the control of the British government and used 'British Petroleum' as its trade name. With this deal, APOC incorporated 'British Petroleum' as its trade name.

In 1936, Persia was renamed Iran and with this, APOC became the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC). In 1947, the company diversified into petrochemicals through an agreement with the Distillers Company.⁸

By the mid-1900s, the AIOC had begun explorations in Canada, South America, Africa, Europe, and Indonesia/Papua New Guinea. It also constructed refineries in Europe and Australia. In 1951, with the nationalization of the oil industry, the Iranian government sought to nationalize the company's assets. The British government was not in favor of nationalization and therefore decided to leave the country. As a result, AIOC decided to expand to other Middle East countries of Kuwait, Libya, and Iraq...