Invention and Engineering
BP p.l.c. is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. It is one of the oil and gas "supermajors" and one of the world's largest companies measured by revenues and profits. It is a vertically integrated company operating in all areas of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and extraction, refining, distribution and marketing, power generation, and trading. BP's origins date back to the founding of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company in 1909, established as a subsidiary of the Burmah Oil Company to exploit oil discoveries in Iran. In 1935, it became the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and in 1954, adopted the name British Petroleum. The company 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, becoming BP Amoco p.l.c., and acquired ARCO, Burmah Castrol and Aral AG shortly thereafter. The company's name was shortened to BP p.l.c. in 2001. As of 2024, BP had operations in 61 countries, produced around 2.4 million barrels per day (380,000 m3/d) of oil equivalent, and had total proven reserves of 6.25 billion barrels (994,000,000 m3) of oil equivalent. The company has around 21,200 service stations worldwide, which it operates under the BP brand (worldwide) and under the Amoco brand (in the U.S.) and the Aral brand (in Germany). Its largest division is BP America in the United States. BP has been directly involved in several major environmental and safety incidents.
GWR 7800 Class 7820 Dinmore Manor.
John Smeaton.
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