BP's origins trace back to the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC), founded in 1909 as a subsidiary of the Burmah Oil Company. This was established to exploit oil discoveries in Iran, following the first commercially significant find in the Middle East at Masjed Soleyman in 1908. In 1914, the British government acquired a controlling interest in APOC, urged by Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, to secure oil supplies for the Royal Navy. The company became the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) in 1935 and adopted the name British Petroleum in 1954.
The British government privatized the company in stages between 1979 and 1987. In 1978, BP acquired majority control of Standard Oil of Ohio. Under John Browne, British Petroleum acquired other oil companies, transforming BP into the third-largest oil company in the world. BP merged with Amoco in 1998, becoming BP Amoco p.l.c., and subsequently acquired ARCO, Burmah Castrol, and Aral AG. The company's name was shortened to BP p.l.c. in 2001. In 2003, BP and a group of Russian businesses formed TNK-BP, though BP later sold its stake in TNK-BP to Rosneft in 2012 for cash and Rosneft stock.
BP has been directly involved in several major environmental and safety incidents. These include the 2005 Texas City refinery explosion, which killed 15 workers and resulted in a record-setting OSHA fine. In 1967, the wreck of the Torrey Canyon caused Britain's largest oil spill. The 2006 Prudhoe Bay oil spill, the largest on Alaska's North Slope, led to a US$25 million civil penalty.
The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill was the largest accidental release of oil into marine waters in history, leaking about 4.9 million barrels of oil. This catastrophe caused severe environmental, human health, and economic consequences, leading to over $4.5 billion in fines and penalties, and an additional $18.7 billion in Clean Water Act-related penalties and other claims, marking the largest criminal resolution in US history. A federal judge ruled that BP had committed gross negligence and acted with "conscious disregard of known risks."
As of 2018, BP's operations were organized into three business segments: Upstream, Downstream, and Renewables. The company operates around 21,200 service stations worldwide under the BP brand (worldwide), Amoco brand (in the U.S.), and Aral brand (in Germany). Its largest division is BP America in the United States.
In February 2020, BP set a goal to cut its greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050. However, in February 2025, the company declared it would cut renewable energy investments and focus on increasing oil and gas production, with plans for an increase in investment in these fossil fuels of around 20% to $10 billion per year, while decreasing planned funding for renewables by more than £5 billion. This decision was criticized by Greenpeace UK as "proof that fossil fuel companies can't or won't be part of climate crisis solutions." In January 2025, BP announced plans to cut 4,700 staff and 3,000 contractors, more than 5% of its total workforce.
Helge Lund succeeded Carl-Henric Svanberg as chairman of BP Plc board of directors on 1 January 2019. Bernard Looney succeeded Bob Dudley as chief executive on 5 February 2020. Murray Auchincloss became CEO in January 2024. In July 2025, the company announced the appointment of Albert Manifold as its next chairman from 1 October 2025, replacing Helge Lund. In December 2025, the company announced the stepping down of Murray Auchincloss and the appointment of Meg O'Neill as its new chief executive effective from April 2026. She will be the first external hire and first female CEO of a major global oil producer, and will lead the shift in focus back to oil and gas following Murray Auchincloss's resignation. Carol Howle will serve as interim CEO.
BP has faced scrutiny regarding its international operations and market activities. In June 2019, investigative journalism by BBC Panorama and Africa Eye criticized BP for its acquisition of development rights for blocks off the coast of Senegal in 2017, alleging a failure in due diligence regarding payments to Timis Corporation. BP refuted implications of improper conduct, stating it "paid what it considered a fair market value for the interests at this stage of exploration/development" but did not make the basis of the valuation public.
The company has also been investigated for market manipulation. In 2007, BP paid $303 million in restitution and fines as part of an agreement to defer prosecution related to charges of conspiring to raise the price of propane by seeking to corner the market in 2004. In 2013, the European Commission investigated allegations that BP and other companies reported distorted prices to Platts to manipulate published prices for oil and biofuel products, but the investigation was dropped in December 2015 due to lack of evidence.
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