Abstract
Founded in 1908 as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, BP has transformed itself from the humble beginning of a local oil company into a global energy group. Its operations are well established in six continents, with the sale of its products in over 100 countries (Christiansen). Upstream, BP is active in 26 countries with production activities in 22 countries, while downstream, its assets include 19 refineries and 28, 500 service stations worldwide. Due to these reasons, BP is one of the four "vertically integrated private sector oil, natural gas, and petrol super majors in the world" (Wikipedia).
The following figures from the 2005 annual report are a general indication of the size and scope of BP's operations:
-2.6 million barrels of oil produced daily
-5.8 million barrels of oil refined daily
-Profit of $19.3 Billion
-Total assets of 207 Billion
-96,200 employees
Its origins date back to the early 20th century with the discovery of oil deposits in Persia (now Iran), which led to the formation of the Anglo-Persia Oil Company. Following Iranian nationalization, BP was forced to look beyond the Middle East to the USA, and the North Sea, and it is largely this strategic move which helped it survive the oil shock of the 1970s. In 1954 the Anglo-Persia Oil Company was renamed British Petroleum, and then from the mid-1970s, BP pursed a diversification strategy which led to the inclusion of new business areas, such as minerals, coal and chemicals. Towards the late 1980s, BP decided to change its strategy, concentrating efforts on its core activities in petroleum and chemicals.
