BP

This article is about the energy company. For other uses, see BP (disambiguation).

BP plc

File:BP Logo.svg
Company type	Public limited company
Traded as	LSE: BP, NYSE: BP
ISIN	DE0008618737
Industry	Oil and gas
Founded	1909 (as Anglo-Persian Oil Company) 1935 (as Anglo-Iranian Oil Company) 1954 (as British Petroleum) 1998 (as BP Amoco plc) 2001 (as BP plc)
Headquarters	London, United Kingdom
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Carl-Henric Svanberg (Chairman) Bob Dudley (CEO) Brian Gilvary (CFO)
Products	Petroleum Natural gas Motor fuels Aviation fuels
Services	Service stations
Revenue	US$388.285 billion (2012)
Operating income	US$19.733 billion (2012)
Net income	US$11.816 billion (2012)
Total assets	288,120,000,000 United States dollar (2022)
Number of employees	85,700 (2012)
Website	www.bp.com

BP plc (LSE: BP, NYSE: BP) is a British multinational 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 2011 revenues and is one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". It is vertically integrated and operates in all areas of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading. It also has renewable energy activities in biofuels and wind power.

As of December 2012, BP had operations in over 80 countries, produced around 3.3 million barrels per day of oil equivalent, and had around 20,700 service stations. Its largest division is BP America, which is the second-largest producer of oil and gas in the United States. BP owns a 19.75% stake in the Russian oil major Rosneft, the world's largest publicly traded oil and gas company by hydrocarbon reserves and production. As of December 2012, BP had total proven commercial reserves of 17 billion barrels of oil equivalent. BP has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It had a market capitalisation of £85.2 billion as of April 2013, the fourth-largest of any company listed on the London Stock Exchange. It has a secondary listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

BP's origins date back to the founding of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company in 1909, established as a subsidiary of Burmah Oil Company to exploit oil discoveries in Iran. In 1935, it became the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and in 1954 British Petroleum. 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. British Petroleum acquired majority control of Standard Oil of Ohio in 1978. Formerly majority state-owned, the British government privatised the company in stages between 1979 and 1987. British Petroleum merged with Amoco in 1998 and acquired ARCO and Burmah Castrol in 2000. From 2003 to 2013 BP was a partner in the TNK-BP joint venture in Russia.

BP has been involved in several major environmental and safety incidents, including the 2005 Texas City Refinery explosion which caused the death of 15 workers and resulted in a record-setting OSHA fine and the 2006 Prudhoe Bay spill, the largest oil spill on Alaska's North Slope. In 2010 the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was the world's largest accidental release of oil into marine waters. The company pled guilty to 11 counts of felony manslaughter, two misdemeanors, and one felony count of lying to Congress and agreed to pay more than $4.5 billion in fines and penalties, the largest criminal resolution in US history.The United States Department of Justice has accused BP of "gross negligence and willful misconduct," which BP has rejected. There is an ongoing court trial to determine payouts and fines under the Clean Water Act and the Natural Resources Damage Assessment. The Justice Department is seeking the stiffest fines possible.

History

1909 to 1954

Further information: Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and Iraq Petroleum Company

William Knox D'Arcy

A 1922 BP advertisement

In May 1901, William Knox D'Arcy 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. APOC and the Armenian businessman Calouste Gulbenkian were the driving forces behind the creation of Turkish Petroleum Company (TPC) in 1912; and by 1914, APOC held 50% of TPC shares. TPC was promised an oil exploration concession in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) by the Ottoman government.

In 1923, Burmah employed future Prime Minister Winston Churchill as a paid consultant to lobby the British government to allow APOC have exclusive rights to Persian oil resources, which were subsequently granted. In 1925, TPC received concession in the Mesopotamian oil resources from the Iraqi government under British mandate. TPC finally struck oil in Iraq on 14 October 1927. In 1928, the APOC's shareholding in TPC, which by now named Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC), would be reduced to 23.75%; as the result of the changing geopolitics post Ottoman empire break-up, and the Red Line Agreement.

In 1935, Rezā Shāh requested the international community to refer Persia as 'Iran', which reflected in the name change of APOC to the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC). The pro-west Hashemite Monarchy (1932–58) in Iraq and IPC relations were generally cordial, in spite of disputes centred around more Iraqi involvement and getting more royalties. During the 1928–68 time period, IPC monopolised oil exploration inside the Red Line; excluding Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

Following World War II, nationalistic sentiments were on the rise in the Middle East; most notable being Iranian nationalism, and Arab Nationalism. In Iran, AIOC and the pro western Iranian government led by Prime Minister Ali Razmara, initially resisted nationalist pressure to revise AIOC's concession terms still further in Iran's favour. In March 1951, Ali Razmara was assassinated; and Mohammed Mossadeq, a nationalist, was elected as the new prime minister by the Majlis of Iran (parliament). In April 1951, the Majlis nationalised the Iranian oil industry by unanimous vote, and the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) was formed, displacing the AIOC. The AIOC withdrew its management from Iran, and organised an effective worldwide embargo 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.

After the 1953 Iranian coup d'état. In August 1953, the coup brought pro-Western general Fazlollah Zahedi as the new PM, along with the return of the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi from his brief exile in Italy to Iran. The anti-Mossadeq plan was orchestrated under the code-name 'Operation Ajax' by CIA, and 'Operation Boot' by SIS (MI6).

1954 to 1979

In 1954, the AIOC became the British Petroleum Company. After the 1953 Iranian coup d'état, a holding company 'Iranian Oil Participants Ltd' (IOP) was founded in October 1954 in London to bring back Iranian oil to the international market. British Petroleum was a founding member of this company with 40% stake. IOP operated and managed oil facilities in Iran on behalf of NIOC. Similar to the Saudi-Aramco "50/50" agreement of 1950, 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." The negotiations leading to the creation of the consortium, during 1954–55, was considered as a feat of skilful diplomacy.

A couple of years earlier, in 1953, British Petroleum expanded beyond the Middle East; and entered the Canadian market through the purchase of a minority stake in Calgary-based Triad Oil Company, and expanded further to Alaska in 1959. In 1965, it was the first company to strike oil in the North Sea. The Canadian holding company of British Petroleum was renamed BP Canada in 1969; and in 1971, it acquired 97.8% stake of Supertest Petroleum Corporation. Subsequently, Supertest was renamed to BP Canada Ltd, and other Canadian interests of British Petroleum were amalgamated to the new company.

In 1967, the giant oil tanker Torrey Canyon operated on behalf of British Petroleum, foundered off the English coast. Even though the ship was flying the well known flag of convenience, that of Liberia; the Prime Minister of that time, had the ship bombed by RAF jet bombers, in an effort to break the ship up and sink it. This caused the infamous Torrey Canyon oil spill.

The company's oil assets were nationalised in Libya in 1971, and Nigeria in 1979. In Iraq, IPC ceased its operations after it was nationalised by the Ba’athist Iraqi government in June 1972. But the company "Iraq Petroleum Company" still remains extant as a name on paper, and one of its associated company—Abu Dhabi Petroleum Company (ADPC), formerly Petroleum Development (Trucial Coast) Ltd—also continues with the original shareholding intact.

The intensified power struggle between oil companies and host governments in Middle East, along with the oil price shocks that followed the 1973 oil crisis; meant British Petroleum lost most of its direct access to crude oil supplies produced in countries that belonged to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and prompted it to diversify its operations beyond the heavily Middle East dependent oil production. In 1978 the company acquired a controlling interest in Standard Oil of Ohio or Sohio, a breakaway entity from former Standard Oil following the anti-trust litigation of 1911. In Iran, British Petroleum continued to operate 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.

1979 to 2000

File:BP old logo.svg

The final version of the BP shield logo, introduced in 1989 and used until 2002; the shield logo was originally designed by AR Saunders in 1920

The British Government sold 80 million shares of BP at $7.58 in 1979 as part of Thatcher-era privatisation. This sale represented slightly more than 5% of BP's total shares and reduced the government's ownership of the company to 46%. Following the worldwide stock market crash in October 1987 Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher initiated the sale of an additional $12.2 billion dollars of BP shares, representing the government's remaining 31% stake in the company. In November 1987 the Kuwait Investment Office purchased a 10.06% interest in BP, becoming the largest institutional shareholder. The following May, the KIO purchased additional shares, bringing their ownership to 21.6%. This raised concerns within BP that operations in the United States, BP's primary country of operations, would suffer. In October 1988, the British Department of Trade and Industry required the KIO to reduce its shares to 9.6% within 12 months.

In 1987, British Petroleum negotiated the acquisition of Britoil and the remaining publicly traded shares of Standard Oil of Ohio.

Sir Peter Walters was the company chairman from 1981 to 1990. 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. In 1982, the downstream assets of BP Canada were sold to Petro Canada. In 1984, Standard Oil of California was renamed to Chevron Corporation; and it bought Gulf Oil—the largest merger in history at that time. To settle the anti-trust regulation, Chevron divested many of Gulf's operating subsidiaries, and sold some Gulf stations and a refinery in the eastern United States to British Petroleum and Cumberland Farms in 1985. In 1992; British Petroleum sold off its 57% stake in BP Canada (upstream operations), which was renamed as Talisman Energy Inc.

John Browne, who had been on the board as managing director since 1991, was appointed group chief executive in 1995.

2000 to 2010

British Petroleum merged with Amoco (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.

Steven Koonin, BP's then-Chief Scientist, speaking in the company boardroom in 2005 (top right of picture)

In the beginning of 2000s, BP became the leading partner and later operator of the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline project. The pipeline opened a new oil transportation route from the Caspian region.

On 1 September 2003, BP and a group of Russian billionaires, known as AAR (Alfa-Access-Renova), announced the creation of a strategic partnership to jointly hold their oil assets in Russia and Ukraine. As a result, TNK-ВР was created. ААR contributed its holdings in TNK International, ONAKO, SIDANCO, RUSIA Petroleum (which held licenses for the Kovykta field and the Verkhnechonsk field), and the Rospan field in West Siberia (the New Urengoy and East Urengoy deposits). BP contributed its holding in SIDANCO, RUSIA Petroleum, and its BP Moscow retail network.

In April 2004, BP decided to move most of its petrochemical businesses into a separate entity called Innovene within the BP Group. In 2005, it was sold to Ineos, a privately held UK chemical company for $9 billion.

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 2007, BP sold its corporate-owned convenience stores, typically known as "BP Connect", to local franchisees and jobbers.

Lord Browne resigned from BP on 1 May 2007. The new chief executive became Tony Hayward, who had been head of exploration and production.

In 2009, BP obtained a production contract during the 2009/2010 Iraqi oil services contracts tender to develop the "Rumaila field" with joint venture partner CNPC, which contain an estimated 17 billion barrels (2.7×10⁹ m³) of oil, accounting for 12% of Iraq's oil reserves estimated at 143.1 billion barrels (22.75×10^⁹ m³). In June 2010, the BP/CNPC consortium took over development of the field, which was the epicentre of the 1990 Gulf war.

2010 to present

President Barack Obama meeting with BP executives at the White House in June 2010 to discuss the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico

On 1 October 2010, Bob Dudley replaced Tony Hayward as the company's CEO after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. After the oil spill BP announced a divestment program to sell about $38 billion worth of non-core assets by 2013 to compensate its liabilities related to the accident. In July 2010, it sold its natural gas activities in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada, to Apache Corporation. In October of the same year, it sold its stake in the Petroperija and Bouqeron fields in Venezuela and in the Lan Tay and Lan Do fields, the Nam Con Son pipeline and terminal, and the Phu My 3 power plant in Vietnam to TNK-BP. At the same time, it sold its forecourts and supply businesses in Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Tanzania and Malawi to Puma Energy, a subsidiary of Trafigura. In May 2011, BP sold the Wytch Farm onshore oilfield in Dorset to Perenco and in March 2012, it sold a package of North Sea gas assets to the same buyer. In December 2011, BP sold its natural-gas liquids business in Canada to Plains All American Pipeline LP, including 2,500 miles (4,000 km) of pipelines, 21 million barrels (3.3×10^⁶ m³) of storage capacity and fractionation plants in Sarnia, Fort Saskatchewan and Empress, Alberta. In February 2012, BP sold its natural gas assets in Kansas to Linn Energy. In August 2012, BP sold its Carson Refinery in southern California to Tesoro and Sunray and Hemphill gas processing plants in Texas, together with their associated gas gathering system, to Eagle Rock Energy Partners. In September 2012, BP agreed to sell the Gulf of Mexico located Marlin, Dorado, King, Horn Mountain, and Holstein fields as also its stake in non-operated Diana Hoover and Ram Powell fields to Plains Exploration & Production for $5.55 billion. The sale of the Texas City Refinery and associated assets to Marathon Petroleum was agreed in October 2012 and was completed on 1 February 2013.

In the United Kingdom, BP agreed to sell its liquefied petroleum gas distribution business to DCC. In Norway, it sold its non-operating stake in the Draugen oil field to Norske Shell.

On 15 January 2011, Rosneft and BP announced a deal to jointly develop East-Prinovozemelsky field on the Russian arctic shelf. However, the deal was blocked by BP's co-shareholders in TNK-BP due to a dispute over Russian exploration rights between the two companies, and was nullified. In October 2012, Rosneft reached separate agreements with BP and AAR to acquire TNK-BP, with each deal subject to regulatory approval; the price for BP's shares was $12.3 billion in cash and 18.5% of Rosneft's stock. The deal was completed on 21 March 2013.

In February 2011, BP formed a partnership with Reliance Industries, taking a 30% stake in a new Indian joint-venture for an initial payment of $7.2 billion. In September 2012, BP sold its subsidiary BP Chemicals (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., an operator of the Kuantan purified terephthalic acid in Malaysia, to Reliance Industries for $230 million.

By 2013 BP had fallen from the second largest oil company to the fourth after selling off assets to cover Deepwater Horizon oil spill-related payouts.

Operations

BP's world headquarters in St. James's, City of Westminster, London

BP has operations in around 80 countries worldwide. BP's global headquarters are located in the St James's area of London, United Kingdom and its exploration headquarters are located in Houston, United States. As of January 2012, the company had a total of 83,400 employees. BP operations are organised into three main "business segments": Upstream, Downstream, and BP Alternative Energy.

Operations by location

United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland

The BP chemicals plant in Salt End, United Kingdom

As of 2011 the company employs more than 15,000 people in the UK and Ireland, or about 20% of its total workforce. BP has a major corporate campus in Sunbury-on-Thames which is home to around 4,500 employees and over 40 business units. Its North Sea operations are headquartered in Aberdeen, Scotland, where it employs around 3,000 people. BP's trading functions are based at 20 Canada Square in Canary Wharf, London, where around 2,200 employees are based. BP also has three research and development facilities in the UK.

BP operates more than 40 offshore oil and gas fields, four onshore terminals and a pipeline network that transports around 50 percent of the oil and gas produced in the UK, according to the company. As of 2011, BP had produced 5 billion barrels (790×10^⁶ m³) of oil and gas equivalent in the North Sea and as of 2012 its level of production was about 200,000 barrels per day (32,000 m³/d), BP has invested more than £35 billion in the North Sea since the 1960s, and in 2012 announced its plans to invest another £10 billion until 2017. The company announced that it is focusing its investment in the UK North Sea into four development projects including the Clair, Devenick, Schiehallion and Loyal, and Kinnoull oilfields. BP is the operator of the Clair oilfield, which has been appraised as the largest hydrocarbon resource in the UK.

In Saltend near Hull, BP operates a petrochemicals plant that produces acetic acid and acetic anhydride used in the production of pharmaceuticals, textiles and other chemical products. At the same location, the company operates a biofuel technology demonstration plant in partnership with DuPont, which uses feedstocks such as wheat to produce biobutanol. In 2007 BP formed a joint venture called Vivergo with AB Sugar and DuPont to build a biofuel plant near Hull to convert wheat into ethanol; the remaining plant matter is sold as animal feed. The plant went online in December 2012.

Retail sites operated by BP in the UK include over 1,100 service stations. Its flagship retail brand is BP Connect, a chain of service stations combined with a convenience store, a café called the "Wild Bean Cafe", and in many stations, a M&S Simply Food shop.

United States

The headquarters of BP America in Westlake Park, Houston

The Thunder Horse PDQ semi-submersible oil platform in the Thunder Horse Oil Field

Part of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System

BP's operations in the United States comprise nearly one-third of its worldwide business interests, with more investment and employees than any other nation. As of March 2013, the company employs approximately 23,000 people in the US, where it has invested over $55 billion in energy development since 2007. In the US, BP is the second-largest producer of oil and gas. The company's US operations include assets acquired from its mergers with Amoco in 1998 and with ARCO in 2000.

BP's major subsidiary in the United States is BP America, Inc. based in Warrenville, Illinois, which is a parent company for the BP's operations in the United States. BP Exploration & Production Inc., a 1996 established Houston-based company, is dealing with oil exploration and production, including Gulf of Mexico activities. BP Corporation North America, Inc., a 1889 established Warrenville-based company, provides petroleum refining services as also transportation fuel, heat and light energy, and petrochemical products. BP Products North America, Inc., a 1954 established Houston-based company, is engaged in the exploration, development, production, refining, and marketing of oil and natural gas. BP America Production Company, a 1930 established Eunice-based company, is engages in oil and gas exploration and development. BP Energy Company, a 1985 established Houston-based company, is a provider of natural gas, power, and risk management services to the industrial and utility sectors and a retail electric provider in Texas.

BP is the largest producer of oil and gas and the largest leaseholder in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The company produces over 200,000 barrels per day (32,000 m³/d) of oil equivalent in the region. It operates four out of the seven largest drilling platforms in the region. As of 2012 BP has oil and gas production in the Gulf from fields including Atlantis, Mad Dog, Na Kika, and Thunder Horse. The company also holds stakes in fields operated by other companies, including the Mars, Ursa, and Great White fields. It also owns corrupted Macondo field. In December 2011, BP acquired 11 newly available leases for resource exploration rights to areas of federal waters in the Gulf and in June 2012 it acquired 40 further leases in the central region of the Gulf.

BP has operated in Alaska since 1959. As of 2012, BP operated about two-thirds of all North Slope production. It operates 13 oil fields, four pipelines, and owns a stake in six additional fields in the North Slope. BP is the largest partner with 46.9% stake in the 800-mile (1,300 km) long Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. In 2011 BP invested a third of its capital budget in Alaska in infrastructure renewal.

In the lower 48 states, BP has a presence in seven of the top gas basins and in 2012 produced more than 1,651 million cubic feet per day (46.8 million cubic metres per day) of natural gas. The company is the country's sixth largest natural gas producer with a total of 10,000 wells. Its North America Gas division has shale positions in the Woodford, Oklahoma, Fayetteville, Arkansas, Haynesville, Texas and Eagle Ford, Texas shales. In March 2012, BP announced that it had acquired a lease for gas exploration of the Utica Shale in Ohio. In Colorado, BP operates approximately 1,500 oil and gas wells, primarily in the San Juan Basin. The majority of these wells are "unconventional", using methods other than conventional oil wells to produce oil or gas. The company has gas extraction operations in "unconventional" gas fields in the New Mexico section of the San Juan basin, and in Moxa and Wamsutter, Wyoming.

BP operates refineries in Whiting, Indiana; Toledo, Ohio; and Cherry Point, Washington. The company's Whiting refinery is the sixth largest in the US and can refine more than 400,000 barrels per day (64,000 m³/d) of crude oil. The Toledo refinery in northwestern Ohio, which processes approximately 160,000 barrels per day (25,000 m³/d) of crude oil, is a joint venture with Husky Energy, an operator of the refinery. The Cherry Point refinery produces gasoline, jet fuel, diesel and some propane and butane. It supplies 20% of the gasoline in Washington state, and also supplies gasoline to Oregon and California. The refinery produces 8% of the world's calcined coke and is the largest supplier of calcined coke to the global aluminum industry. Since the early 2000s, the company has been focusing its refining business on processing crude from oil sands and shales.

The company owns three petrochemical plants in the US, which produce approximately four million tons of petrochemicals each year. Its petrochemical plant in Texas City, located on the same site as the formerly owned Texas City Refinery, produces industrial chemicals including propylene and styrene. BP's Decatur, Alabama and Cooper River, South Carolina petrochemical plants both produce purified terephthalic acid, more commonly known as PTA, which is used in the production of synthetic fibre for clothing, packaging and optical films. The Decatur plant also produces paraxylene and naphthalene dicarboxlate.

The company's alternative energy operations based in the US include 16  wind farms. However, the company has announced a plan to sell its wind energy unit in the United States. BP has established a "Global Biofuels Technology Center" in San Diego to develop cellulosic technology and this technology is being tested at scalable levels at a biofuels demonstration plant, located in Jennings, Louisiana.

There are over 10,000 retail sites in the US operating under a BP brand including BP, ARCO and ampm. On the US West Coast, BP primarily operates service stations under the ARCO brand.

Other locations

Africa

In Egypt, BP produces approximately 15% of the country's total oil production and 40% of its domestic gas. The company also has offshore gas developments in the East Nile Delta Mediterranean, and in the West Nile Delta, where the company has a joint investment of US$9 billion with RWE to develop two offshore gas fields.

BP is active in offshore oil development in Angola, where it holds an interest in a total of nine oil exploration and production blocks covering more than 30,000 square kilometres (12,000 sq mi). This includes four blocks it acquired in December 2011 and an additional block that is operated by Brazilian national oil company, Petrobras, in which it holds a 40% stake.

Asia

BP has a stake in exploration of two blocks of offshore deepwater assets in the South China Sea.

In Azerbaijan, BP operates the two largest oil and gas production projects in the Caspian Sea, the Azeri–Chirag–Guneshli offshore oil fields, which supplies 80% of the country's oil production, and the Shah Deniz gas field, and develops the Shafag-Asiman complex of offshore geological structures. In addition, it operates the Azerbaijan's major export pipelines such as Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan, Baku–Supsa and South Caucasus Pipeline.

In India, BP owns a 30% share of oil and gas assets operated by Reliance Industries, including exploration and production rights in more than 20 offshore oil and gas blocks, representing an investment of more than US$7 billion into oil and gas exploration in the country.

BP has major liquefied natural gas activities in Indonesia, where it operates the Tangguh LNG project, which began production in 2009 and has a capacity of 7.6 million tonnes of liquid natural gas per year. Also in that country, the company has invested in the exploration and development of coalbed methane.

BP operates in Iraq as part of the joint venture Rumaila Operating Organization in the Rumaila oil field, the world's fourth largest oilfield, where it produced over 1 million barrels per day (160×10^³ m³/d) of oil equivalent in 2011.

Australasia

A BP "Road Train" in the Australian Outback

In Australia, BP operates two out of the country's seven refineries: Kwinana in Western Australia, which can process up to 146,000 barrels (23,200 m³) of crude oil per day and is the country's largest refinery, and the Bulwer Island refinery in Queensland, which can process up to 102,000 barrels (16,200 m³) of crude per day.

Europe (ex. United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland)

BP's refining operations in continental Europe include Europe's second-largest oil refinery, located in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, which can process up to 377,000 barrels (59,900 m³) of crude oil per day.

In addition to its offshore operations in the British zone of North Sea, BP has interests in the Norwegian section of the sea.

As of March 2013, BP holds a 19.75% stake in Russia's state-controlled oil company Rosneft.

North America (ex. United States)

BP's Canadian operations are headquartered in Calgary and the company operates primarily in Alberta, the Northwest Territories, and Nova Scotia. It purchases crude oil for the company's refineries in the US and has oil sands holdings in Alberta and four offshore blocks in Nova Scotia. The company's Canadian oil sands leases include joint ventures with Husky Energy in the Sunrise Energy Project (50%), and Devon Energy in Pike, and a partnership with Value Creation Inc. in the development of the Terre de Grace oil sands lease. The BP's investment in the Sunrise Project is £1.6 billion and it is expected to start production in 2014.

BP is the largest oil and gas producer in Trinidad and Tobago, where it holds more than 1,350 square kilometres (520 sq mi) of offshore assets and is the largest shareholder in Atlantic LNG, one of the largest LNG plants in Western Hemisphere.

South America

In Brazil, BP holds stakes in offshore oil and gas exploration in the Barreirinhas, Ceará and Campos basins, in addition to onshore processing facilities. BP also operates biofuel production facilities in Brazil, including three cane sugar mills for ethanol production.

Operations by activity

Upstream

See also: Oil fields operated by BP

BP Upstream's activities include exploring for new oil and natural gas resources, developing access to such resources, and producing, transporting, storing and processing oil and natural gas. Upstream is responsible for the operation of BP's wells, pipelines, offshore platforms and processing facilities. The activities in this area of operations take place in 30 countries worldwide, including Angola, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, India, Iraq, Norway, Russia, Trinidad & Tobago, the UK, and the US. In addition to the conventional oil exploration and production, BP has a stake in the three oil sands projects in Canada.

Downstream

An Aral service station in Weiterstadt, Germany

BP Downstream's activities include the refining, marketing, manufacturing, transportation, trading and supply of crude oil, petrochemicals products and petroleum. Downstream is responsible for BP's fuels, lubricants and petrochemical businesses and has major operations located in Europe, North America and Asia. As of February 2013, BP owned or held a share in 15 refineries worldwide, of which seven were located in Europe and four were in the US.

BP owns or has a share in more than a dozen petrochemical manufacturing plants worldwide. The company's petrochemicals plants produce products including purified terephthalic acid, paraxylene, and acetic acid. Its petrochemicals, lubricants, fuels and related services are marketed in over 70 countries.

Air BP is the aviation division of BP, providing aviation fuel, lubricants & services. It has operations in over 50 countries worldwide. BP Shipping provides the logistics to move BP's oil and gas cargoes to market, as well as marine structural assurance. 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.

BP markets petroleum products in approximately 80 countries worldwide. It has around 20,700 service stations, which are primarily operated under the BP brand. BP Connect is BP's flagship retail format, although in the US it is gradually being transitioned to the ampm format. In Germany and Luxembourg, BP operates service stations under the Aral brand, having acquired the majority of Veba Öl AG in 2001 and subsequently rebranded its existing stations in Germany to the Aral name. On the US West Coast, in the states of California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Idaho, Arizona, and Utah, BP primarily operates service stations under the ARCO brand. In Australia BP operates a number of BP Travel Centres, large-scale destination sites located which, in addition to the usual facilities in a BP Connect site, also feature food-retail tenants such as McDonald's, KFC and Nando's and facilities for long-haul truck drivers.

Castrol is BP's main brand for industrial and automotive lubricants and is applied to a large range of BP oils, greases and similar products for most lubrication applications.

Alternative energy

The Fowler Ridge Wind Farm, of which BP is joint owner; it was put up for sale in April 2013

BP established its alternative energy business in 2005 to explore low-carbon energy options. BP Alternative Energy primarily invests in wind and biofuel operations. The alternative energy division is headed by Katrina Landis. Originally the business's headquarters were based in London, but were later moved to Washington, D.C.. Its biofuel and wind units are headquartered in Houston. As of 2012, the BP Alternative Energy business employed 5,000 people worldwide.

In 2005, BP committed to spending $8 billion on renewable energy over the next 10 years. By 2011, it had already invested approximately $7 billion of that, including $1.6 billion in 2011 alone. As of June 2012, BP planned to invest an additional $1 billion per year in renewable energy. Along with its investments in proprietary projects, BP also runs a corporate venture capital arm through BP Alternative Energy. Key areas of focus for BP Emerging Business & Ventures include carbon innovation, bio-energy and electrification. In 2006–2012, BP invested approximately $150 million in growth stage companies that develop clean energy technologies.

BP expects that biofuels will make up 30% of the gasoline pool by 2030. In Brazil, BP owns ethanol and sugar producers Companhia Nacional de Açúcar e Álcool and holds a 50% stake in ethanol producer Tropical BioEnergia. In England, BP runs a bioethanol plant in a joint venture called Vivergo, and is running a biobutanol demonstration plant in a joint venture with DuPont. In the US, BP entered into a joint venture with Verenium Corporation in 2008 to develop methods to make cellulosic ethanol from emerging energy crops like switchgrass and from biomass. In 2010 BP acquired Verenium's stake in the project for $98.3 million. The project, BP Biofuels Highlands, was in advanced stages of planning a cellulosic ethanol plant in Florida, when BP shut down the project in 2012. As of 2013 BP is still conducting R&D on cellulosic ethanol production at its BP Biofuels Global Technology Center in San Diego, California and through a demonstration plant in Louisiana. In addition, BP has invested in an agricultural biotechnology company Chromatin, a company developing crops that can grow on marginal land and that are optimized to be used as feedstock for biofuel, and Vedrezyne, which produces petrochemicals in yeast. For the biofuel technology research, BP granted $10 million to the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2001–2010 and $500 million to the University of California, Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2007 to create an Energy Biosciences Institute.

With respect to solar and wind, BP's solar power business BP Solar operated for 40 years, until the company announced its departure from the solar energy market in December 2011. In wind, as of April 2013 BP had built or bought 16 wind farms in the United States with total gross capacity of around 2,600 megawatts. In April 2013 BP announced a plan to sell the United States wind energy unit.

Corporate affairs

The chairman of the BP board of directors is Carl-Henric Svanberg and the chief executive officer is Robert Dudley.

Stock

BP stock value (open, high, low and close prices) on the New York Stock Exchange in 2000–2012

BP stock is composed of original BP shares as well as shares acquired through mergers with Amoco in 1998 and the Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) in 2000. The company's shares are primarily traded on the London Stock Exchange, but also listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in Germany. In the United States shares are traded in US$ on the New York Stock Exchange in the form of American depository shares. One ADS represents six ordinary shares.

Following the United States Federal Trade Commission's approval of the BP-Amoco merger in 1998, Amoco's stock was removed from Standard & Poor's 500 and was merged with BP shares on the London Stock Exchange. The merger with Amoco resulted in a 40% increase in share price by April 1999. However, shares fell nearly 25% by early 2000, when the Federal Trade Commission expressed opposition to BP-Amoco's acquisition of ARCO. The acquisition was ultimately approved in April 2000 increasing stock value 57 cents over the previous year.

After the Texas City Refinery explosion in 2005, stock prices again fell. By January 2007, the explosion, coupled with a pipeline spill in Alaska and production delays in the Gulf of Mexico, left BP's stock down 4.5% from its position prior to the Texas City explosion. However by April 2007, stocks had rebounded 13% erasing the 8.3% loss from 2006. Declining oil prices and concerns over oil sustainability also caused shares to fall in value in late 2008.

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in April 2010 initiated a sharp decline in share prices, and BP's shares lost roughly 50% of their value in 50 days. BP's shares reached a low of $26.97 per share on 25 June 2010 totalling a $100 billion loss in market value before beginning to climb again. Shares reached a post-spill high of $49.50 in early 2011 and as of April 2012 shares remain down approximately 30% from pre-spill levels.

On 22 March 2013, BP announced an $8 billion share repurchase programme which will be implemented during 12–18 months. As of April 2013, $300 million was used, with a minimal impact to the share price. The buyback decision followed closure of the TNK-BP deal and it has to offset the dilution to earnings per share following the loss of dividends from TNK-BP. According to the company the buyback programme would provide ro shareholders near-term benefits from the reshaping of the company's Russian business. The buyback is also seen as a way to invest excess cash from the TNK-BP deal.

As of 2012, 38% of BP shares were held by American investors and 35% by British investors, with the remaining shares held by investors from other countries. As of the dates indicated below, the major institutional investors are:

• BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Ltd. (5.39% as of 19 Feb 2013)
• Legal & General Investment Management Ltd. (3.82% as of 19 Feb 2013)
• Capital Research & Management Co. (Global Investors) (2.33% as of 19 Feb 2013)
• Norges Bank Investment Management (2.20% as of 04 Mar 2013)
• Kuwait Investment Office (1.71% as of 04 Mar 2013)
• M&G Investment Management Ltd. (1.65% as of 04 Mar 2013)
• Capital Research & Management Co. (World Investors) (1.55% as of 19 Feb 2013)
• Standard Life Investments Ltd. (1.23% as of 04 Mar 2013)
• State Administration of Foreign Exchange (1.19% as of 04 Mar 2013)
• Scottish Widows Investment Partnership Ltd. (1.18% as of 04 Mar 2013)

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 plc.

Branding and public relations

In the first quarter of 2001 the company adopted the marketing name of BP, replaced its "Green Shield" logo with the "Helios" symbol, a green and yellow sunflower pattern named after the Greek sun god and designed to represent energy in its many forms, and introduced a new corporate slogan – "Beyond Petroleum" with a $200M campaign. The new slogan, according to the company, represented 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.

The branding campaign was successful, as consumers came to perceive BP as one of the greenest petroleum companies in the world, and the campaign won BP a 2007 gold Effie Award from the American Marketing Association. Environmentalists and marketing experts were critical of the campaign, on the grounds that the company's alternative energy activities were a small part of the company's business at the time. Environmentalists claimed that marketing campaign amounted to greenwashing citing BP's 2008 budget which included $20 billion in fossil fuel investment and $1.5 billion in all alternative forms of energy. According to activist Antonia Juhasz, BP's investment in green technologies peaked at 4% of its exploratory budget prior to cutbacks, including the discontinuation of the Solar Programme and the closure of the alternative energy headquarters in London.

BP's public image in the US was hurt by the series of industrial accidents that occurred through the 2000s, culminating with the Deepwater Horizon explosion and Gulf Oil spill. In the immediate aftermath of the spill, BP struggled, and made many of the same PR errors that Exxon had made subsequent to the Exxon Valdez disaster. BP was criticised for the way it deployed CEO Tony Hayward, who committed several gaffes, including stating that he "wanted his life back." However, BP was praised for its social media efforts in the media. These efforts included the section of its website where it communicated its efforts to clean up the spill and its use of Twitter and Facebook.

BP began a researching a re-branding campaign in the fall of 2010, and decided to focus its brand on the idea of "bringing brilliant minds together with technology at a massive scale to meet the world's energy needs" and focused its messaging on telling stories about people. In February 2012 BP North America launched a $500M campaign to rebuild its brand.

With respect to social media, BP has tasked a press office staff member to openly join discussions on the Talk page for its Wikipedia article, and to suggest content to be posted by other editors. Controversy emerged in 2013 over the amount of content from BP that had entered the article, but Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales noted that these actions complied with site policy regarding conflicts of interest.

Environmental record

BP was named by Multinational Monitor 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. What follows is a discussion of major environmental initiatives, events, issues, etc.; others are discussed in the 'Industrial accidents' section below. Environmentalists have taken issue with BP's "Beyond Petroleum" branding campaign, as discussed in the Public Relations section.

Environmental initiatives

BP was a founding sponsor of the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit in 1971.

In 1997 BP became the first multinational outside the reinsurance industry to publicly support the scientific consensus on climate change, which Eileen Caussen, President of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change described as a transformative moment on the issue. Prior to 1997, BP 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 John Browne, the group chief executive of BP, 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's 2007 Sustainability Report said that "BP Alternative Energy plans to invest around $8 billion over 10 years in alternative and renewable energy technologies." and in the same year announced 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. BP's funding of the institute has come under attack over concerns about the global impacts of the research and privatisation of public universities.

In 2009, Tony Hayward apparently shifted gears from former chief executive Lord Browne's focus on alternative energy, announcing that safety was the company's "number one priority".

Hazardous substance dumping 1993–1995

In September 1999, one of BP's US subsidiaries, BP Exploration Alaska (BPXA), pleaded guilty to illegally dumping hazardous wastes on the Alaska North Slope, paying fines and penalties totaling $22 million. BP paid the maximum $500,000 in criminal fines, $6.5 million in civil penalties, and established 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.

Colombian farmland damages claim

In 2009, a group of 95 Colombian farmers filed a suit against BP, claiming the company's Ocensa pipeline caused landslides and damage to soil and groundwater, affecting crops, livestock, and contaminating water supplies, making fish ponds unsustainable. Most of the land traversed by the pipeline was owned by peasant farmers who were illiterate and unable to read the environmental impact assessment conducted by BP prior to construction, which acknowledged significant and widespread risks of damage to the land.

In 2006, another group of Colombian farmers reached a multimillion dollar out-of-court settlement with BP for alleged environmental damage caused by the Ocensa pipeline. An agreed statement said: "The Colombian farmers group are pleased to say that after a mediation process which took place in Bogotá in June 2006 at the joint initiative of the parties, an amicable settlement of the dispute in relation to the Ocensa pipeline has been reached, with no admissions of liability." The company was accused of benefiting from a regime of terror carried out by Colombian government paramilitaries to protect the 450-mile (720 km) Ocensa pipeline; BP insisted throughout that it has acted responsibly and that landowners were fairly compensated.

Canadian oil sands

In Canada, BP is involved in the extraction of oil sands, also known as tar sands or bituminous sands. The company uses in-situ drilling technologies such as Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage to extract the oil. Members of US and Canadian oil companies claim that using recycled groundwater makes in situ drilling a more environmentally friendly option when compared with oil sands mining.

Members of Canada's Cree Nation have criticized BP's involvement in the Canadian project for the impacts oil sands extraction has on the environment. NASA scientist James Hansen has stated that the exploitation of Canadian oil sands would mean "game over for the climate". In 2010, activist shareholders asked BP for a full investigation of the project, but were defeated. In 2013 shareholders criticized the project for being carbon-intensive.

Industrial accidents

1965 Sea Gem offshore oil rig disaster

Main article: Sea Gem

In December 1965, Britain's first oil rig, Sea Gem, capsized when two of the legs collapsed during an operation to move it to a new location. The oil rig had been hastily converted in an effort to quickly start drilling operations after the North Sea was opened for exploration. Thirteen crew members were killed. No hydrocarbons were released in the accident.

2005 Texas City Refinery explosion

Main article: Texas City Refinery explosion

In March 2005, the Texas City Refinery, one of the largest refineries owned then by BP, exploded causing 15 deaths, injuring 180 people and forcing thousands of nearby residents to remain sheltered in their homes. A 20-foot (6.1 m) 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 clouded BP's corporate image because of the mismanagement at the plant. There had 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, the largest ever assessed under the Clean Air Act, 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 appealed the fine.

In 2010, BP agreed to pay a settlement of $50.6 million for the safety violations that were not fixed after the explosion. In July 2012, the company agreed to pay $13 million to settle the new violations. At that time OSHA found "no imminent dangers" at the Texas plant. Thirty violations remain under discussion.

2006–2010: Refinery fatalities, safety violations, and leaks

From January 2006 to January 2008, three workers were killed at the company's Texas City, Texas 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% (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."

BP has admitted that malfunctioning equipment lead to the release of over 530,000 pounds (240,000 kg) of chemicals into the air of Texas City and surrounding areas from 6 April to 16 May 2010. The leak included 17,000 pounds (7,700 kg) of benzene (a known carcinogen), 37,000 pounds (17,000 kg) of nitrogen oxides (which contribute to respiratory problems), and 186,000 pounds (84,000 kg) of carbon monoxide. In June 2012, over 50,000 Texas City residents joined a class-action suit against BP, alleging they got sick in 2010 from the 41-day emissions release from the refinery. Texas has also sued BP over the release of emissions. BP says the release harmed no one.

Prudhoe Bay

Main article: Prudhoe Bay oil spill

In March 2006, corrosion of a BP Exploration Alaska (BPXA) oil transit pipeline in Prudhoe Bay transporting oil to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline led to a five-day leak and the largest oil spill on Alaska's North Slope. According to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC), a total of 212,252 US gallons (5,053.6 bbl; 803.46 m³) of oil was spilled, covering 2 acres (0.81 ha) of the North Slope. BP admitted that cost cutting measures had resulted in a lapse in monitoring and maintenance of the pipeline and the consequent leak. At the moment of the leak, pipeline inspection gauges (known as "pigs") had not been run through the pipeline since 1998. BP completed the clean-up of the spill by May 2006, including removal of contaminated gravel and vegetation, which was replaced with new material from the Arctic tundra.

Following the spill, the company was ordered by regulators to inspect the 35 kilometres (22 mi) of pipelines in Prudhoe Bay using "smart pigs". In late July 2006, the "smart pigs" monitoring the pipelines found 16 places where corrosion had thinned pipeline walls. A BP crew sent to inspect the pipe in early August discovered a leak and small spill, following which, BP announced that the eastern portion of the Alaskan field would be shut down for repairs on the pipeline, with approval from the Department of Transportation. The shutdown resulted in a reduction of 200,000 barrels per day (32,000 m³/d) until work began to bring the eastern field to full production on 2 October 2006. In total, 23 barrels (3.7 m³) of oil were spilled and 176 barrels (28.0 m³) were "contained and recovered", according to ADEC. The spill was cleaned up and there was no impact upon wildlife.

After the shutdown, BP pledged to replace 26 kilometres (16 mi) of its Alaskan oil transit pipelines and the company completed work on the 16 miles (26 km) of new pipeline by the end of 2008. In November 2007, BP pled guilty to a misdemeanor violation of the Clean Water Act and paid a $20 million fine for the March 2006 oil spill. There was no charge brought for the smaller spill in August 2006 due to BP's quick response and clean-up.

On 16 October 2007, ADEC officials reported a "toxic spill" from a BP pipeline in Prudhoe Bay comprising 2,000 US gallons (7,600 L; 1,700 imp gal) of primarily methanol (methyl alcohol) mixed with crude oil and water, which spilled onto a gravel pad and frozen tundra pond.

In the settlement of a civil suit, in July 2011 investigators from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration determined that the 2006 spills were a result of BPXA’s failure to properly inspect and maintain the pipeline to prevent corrosion. The government issued a Corrective Action Order to BP XA that addressed the pipeline’s risks and ordered pipeline repair or replacement. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had investigated the extent of the oil spills and oversaw BPXA’s cleanup. When BP XA did not fully comply with the terms of the corrective action, a complaint was filed in March 2009 alleging violations of the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act and the Pipeline Safety Act. In July 2011, the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska entered a consent decree between the United States and BPXA resolving the government’s claims. Under the consent decree, BPXA paid a $25 million civil penalty, the largest per-barrel penalty at that time for an oil spill, and agreed to take measures to significantly improve inspection and maintenance of its pipeline infrastructure on the North Slope to reduce the threat of additional oil spills.

2008 Caspian Sea gas leak and blowout

On 17 September 2008, a gas leak was discovered and one gas-injection well blown out in the area of the Central Azeri platform at the Azeri oilfield, a part of the Azeri–Chirag–Guneshli (ACG) project, in the Azerbaijan sector of Caspian Sea. The platform was shut down and the staff was evacuated. As the Western Azeri Platform was being powered by a cable from the Central Azeri Platform, it was also shut down. According to leaked US Embassy cables, BP had been "exceptionally circumspect in disseminating information" and revealed that BP thought the cause for the blowout was a bad cement job. The cables further said that some of BP's ACG partners complained that the company was so secretive that it was withholding information even from them. Production at the Western Azeri Platform resumed on 9 October 2008 and at the Central Azeri Platform in December 2008.

2010 Deepwater Horizon well explosion and oil spill

Main articles: Deepwater Horizon explosion and Deepwater Horizon oil spill

See also: Deepwater Horizon (disambiguation), Deepwater Horizon litigation, Economic effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and Environmental impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

External videos
Frontline: The Spill (54:25), Frontline on PBS

Anchor handling tugs combat the fire on the Deepwater Horizon while the United States Coast Guard searches for missing crew

On 20 April 2010, the semi-submersible exploratory offshore drilling rig Deepwater Horizon located in the Macondo Prospect in the Gulf of Mexico exploded after a blowout. After burning it sank two days later, killing 11 people, injuring 16 others, causing the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. Before the well was capped on 15 July 2010, an estimated 4.9 million barrels (780×10^³ m³) of oil was spilled and 1.8 million US gallons (6,800 m³) of Corexit dispersant was applied. The spill caused extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats and to the Gulf's fishing and tourism industries as well as human health impacts.

On 31 August 2012, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed papers in federal court in New Orleans blaming BP for the Gulf oil spill, describing the spill as an example of "gross negligence and willful misconduct." BP has rejected the charges saying "BP believes it was not grossly negligent and looks forward to presenting evidence on this issue at trial in January."

On 14 November 2012, BP and the Department of Justice reached a $4.0 billion settlement, the largest of its kind in US history. Under the settlement, BP agreed to plead guilty to 11 felony counts of manslaughter, two misdemeanors, and a felony count of lying to Congress and agreed to four years of government monitoring of its safety practices and ethics. BP also paid a $525 million to settle civil charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission that it misled investors about the flow rate of oil from the well. As part of the announcement of the settlement, BP said it was increasing its reserve for costs and claims related to the spill to about $42 billion. On the same day, the US government filed criminal charges against three BP employees; two site managers were charged with manslaughter and negligence, and one former vice president with obstruction. The settlement did not resolve possible fines under the Clean Water Act, which was the subject of a trial that commenced in New Orleans in February 2013. Near the end of November 2012, the U.S. Government temporarily banned BP from bidding any new federal contracts. In March 2013, Louisiana senator Mary Landrieu called on government to lift the ban.

Clean Water Act trial

BP, Transocean and Halliburton went on trial on 25 February 2013 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans to determine payouts and fines under the Clean Water Act and the Natural Resources Damage Assessment. The plaintiffs included the U.S. Justice Department, Gulf states and private individuals.

The trial's first phase is to determine the liability of BP, Transocean, Halliburton, and other companies, and if they acted with gross negligence and wilful misconduct. The second phase scheduled in September 2013 will focus on the flow rate of the oil and the third phase scheduled in 2014 will consider damages.

Political record

Release of Lockerbie bomber

BP admitted that it had lobbied the British government to conclude a prisoner-transfer agreement which the Libyan government had wanted to secure the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the only person convicted for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing over Scotland, which killed 270 people. BP stated that it pressed for the conclusion of prisoner transfer agreement (PTA) amid fears that delays would damage its "commercial interests" and disrupt its £900 million offshore drilling operations in the region, but it denied claims that it had been involved in negotiations concerning the release of Megrahi.

Political contributions and lobbying

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, BP was the United States' hundred and thirty-sixth largest donor to political campaigns, having contributed more than US$6.6 million since 1989, 70% and 29% of which went to Republican and Democratic recipients, respectively.

In February 2002, BP's then 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." When the Washington Post reported in June 2010 that BP North America "donated at least $4.8 million in corporate contributions in the past seven years to political groups, partisan organizations and campaigns engaged in federal and state elections", mostly to oppose ballot measures in two states aiming to raise taxes on the oil industry, the company clarified that the commitment had only applied to contributions to individual candidates.

During the 2008 US election cycle, BP employees contributed to various candidates, with Barack Obama receiving the largest amount of money, broadly in line with contributions from Shell and Chevron, but significantly less than those of Exxon Mobil.

In 2009 BP spent nearly $16 million lobbying the US Congress. In 2011, BP spent a total of $8,430,000 on lobbying and hired 47 lobbyists.

Accusations of market manipulation

The US Justice Department and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission accused BP Products North America Inc. (subsidiary of BP plc) and several BP traders with conspiring to raise the price of propane by seeking to corner the propane market in 2004. In 2006, one former trader pleaded guilty. In 2007, BP paid $303 million in restitution and fines as part of an agreement to defer prosecution. That same year, four other former traders were charged. These charges were dismissed by a US District Court in 2009, and the dismissal was upheld by the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in 2011.

In November 2010, US regulators FERC and CFTC began an investigation of BP for allegedly manipulating the gas market. The investigation relates to trading activity that occurred in October and November 2008.

See also

• Shell-Mex and BP

Further reading

• Ferrier, R.W. (1982). The History of the British Petroleum Company: The Developing Years 1901–1932. Vol. vol. I. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521246477. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
• Bamberg, James H (1994). The History of the British Petroleum Company: The Anglo-Iranian Years, 1928–1954. Vol. vol. II. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521259507. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
• Bamberg, James H (2000). The History of the British Petroleum Company: British Petroleum and Global Oil, 1950–1975: The Challenge of Nationalism. Vol. vol. III. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521785150. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
• Meyer, Karl E (2008). Kingmakers: The Invention of the Modern Middle East. New York: W.W. Norton. ISBN 9780393061994. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Kinzer, Stephen (2003). All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror. Wiley. p. 272. ISBN 9780471265177.
• Louis, Wm. Roger (2007). Ends of British Imperialism: The Scramble for Empire, Suez, and Decolonization. I.B.Tauris. p. 1082. ISBN 9781845113476.
• Sztucki, Jerzy (1984). Interim measures in the Hague Court. Brill Archive. p. 43. ISBN 9789065440938.
• Vassiliou, M. S. (2009). Historical Dictionary of the Petroleum Industry : Volume 3. Scarecrow Press. p. 662. ISBN 9780810859937.
• Lauterpacht, E. (1973). International Law Reports. Cambridge University Press. p. 560. ISBN 9780521463911.
• Strategies, Markets and Governance: Exploring Commercial and Regulatory Agendas. Cambridge University Press. 2008. p. 360. ISBN 9780521868457.
• The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 7. Cambridge University Press. 1991. p. 1096. ISBN 9780521200950.

External links

• Official website
• BP's Corporate History
• BP companies grouped at OpenCorporates