Burmah Oil Co Ltd
Other Business Names:
- Cargill, David S
- Anglo Persian Oil Co Ltd
- Castrol Ltd
- Burmah Castrol Plc
- British Petroleum Co Ltd
- Finlay Fleming & Co
- Admiralty
- Lobitos Oilfields Ltd
- Manchester Oil Refinery Ltd
- Assam Oil Co Ltd
Locations city-town / local authority / county1974 / region-state / country:
- Burma
- India
- Iran
- London, Greater London, Greater London, Greater London, England
Sectors:
-
Extraction
Oil & gas extraction
-
Oil, coal, coke, etc, products manufacture
Oil products refining
-
Transport services
Shipping services - long distance, inc ship ownership & management
Notes:
Registered in Edinburgh in 1886 as Burmah Oil Co Ltd to acquire oil extraction and refining assets in Burma established by the agency house of Finlay Fleming & Co, and its leader, David S Cargill, in the 1870s. This followed the incorporation of Burma into the British Empire. By 1886 had three oil fields, the earliest being at Yenangyaung , and refineries at Rangoon. By 1899 shipping oil in its own tankers to India to which it had become a major supplier. 1905 entered a contract to supply oil to British Admiralty. 1905, with encouragement of British government, started oil exploration in Persia and in 1908 established Anglo Persian Oil Co Ltd, later British Petroleum, in which it sold a major stake to the Admiralty for the British government in 1914. Also established important oil interests in India notably post 1945 and including acquisition of Assam Oil Co Ltd in 1921. 1929 acquired 4% interest in Shell. Burma oil interests damaged 1939-45 and assets in Burma sold to Burmese government in 1963. Diversified outside India from late 1950s, acquiring Lobitos Oilfields Ltd and Manchester Oil Refinery Ltd in 1962, and lubricants and fluids businesses in UK, in particular Castrol Ltd in 1966. Other diversification included extraction and shipping of natural gas. Maintained BP shareholding until serious financial problems in 1975 required its sale to Bank of England. As Burmah Castrol Plc, a lubricants and speciality chemicals business, acquired by BP Plc in 2000
Publications:
- A Place in the Country by Unknown
- 'Admirals and the oilmen. The relationship between the Royal Navy and the oil companies, 1900-24' in S R Palmer & G Williams (eds), Charted and Uncharted Waters. Proceedings of a conference on British maritime history ... 1981 by Jones, Geoffrey
- Archives Report Number 8. Burmah Oil Plc by Logan, Katie
- Bank of England, 1950s to 1979 by Capie, Forrest
- British Firms and the Economy of Burma with Special Reference to the Rice and Teak Industries, 1917-1937 by Diokno, M S I
- British government and the oil companies, 1912-1924. The search for an oil policy by Jones, G Gareth
- Burmah Oil Co Ltd history and archives to 1966 by Stockford, Bridget
- Burmah. The early days by Unknown
- Chinthe Tales. Reminiscences by members of the Burmah Oil Society by Midwood, Jimmy (ed)
- History of the British Petroleum Company. Volume 1. The developing years, 1901-1932 by Ferrier, R W
- History of the British Petroleum Company. Volume 2. The Anglo Iranian Years, 1928-1954 by Bamberg, Jim H
- History of the Burmah Oil Company, Volume 2, 1924-1966 by Corley, T A B
- History of the Burmah Oil Company, Volume1,1886-1924 by Corley, T A B
- Pictorial Profile of the Burmah Oil Company, 1886-1986 by Unknown
- 'Strategic factors in the growth of a multinational enterprise. The Burmah Oil Co, 1886-1928' in M Casson (ed), The Growth of International Business by Corley, T A B
- The Oil Companies and the British Government, 1900-1925 by Jones, G Gareth
- The State and the Emergence of the British Oil Industry by Jones, Geoffrey
Groups:
Other Business Names:
- Cargill, David S
- Anglo Persian Oil Co Ltd
- Castrol Ltd
- Burmah Castrol Plc
- British Petroleum Co Ltd
- Finlay Fleming & Co
- Admiralty
- Lobitos Oilfields Ltd
- Manchester Oil Refinery Ltd
- Assam Oil Co Ltd
Locations city-town / local authority / county1974 / region-state / country:
- Burma
- India
- Iran
- London, Greater London, Greater London, Greater London, England
Sectors:
- Extraction Oil & gas extraction
- Oil, coal, coke, etc, products manufacture Oil products refining
- Transport services Shipping services - long distance, inc ship ownership & management
Notes:
Registered in Edinburgh in 1886 as Burmah Oil Co Ltd to acquire oil extraction and refining assets in Burma established by the agency house of Finlay Fleming & Co, and its leader, David S Cargill, in the 1870s. This followed the incorporation of Burma into the British Empire. By 1886 had three oil fields, the earliest being at Yenangyaung , and refineries at Rangoon. By 1899 shipping oil in its own tankers to India to which it had become a major supplier. 1905 entered a contract to supply oil to British Admiralty. 1905, with encouragement of British government, started oil exploration in Persia and in 1908 established Anglo Persian Oil Co Ltd, later British Petroleum, in which it sold a major stake to the Admiralty for the British government in 1914. Also established important oil interests in India notably post 1945 and including acquisition of Assam Oil Co Ltd in 1921. 1929 acquired 4% interest in Shell. Burma oil interests damaged 1939-45 and assets in Burma sold to Burmese government in 1963. Diversified outside India from late 1950s, acquiring Lobitos Oilfields Ltd and Manchester Oil Refinery Ltd in 1962, and lubricants and fluids businesses in UK, in particular Castrol Ltd in 1966. Other diversification included extraction and shipping of natural gas. Maintained BP shareholding until serious financial problems in 1975 required its sale to Bank of England. As Burmah Castrol Plc, a lubricants and speciality chemicals business, acquired by BP Plc in 2000Publications:
- A Place in the Country by Unknown
- 'Admirals and the oilmen. The relationship between the Royal Navy and the oil companies, 1900-24' in S R Palmer & G Williams (eds), Charted and Uncharted Waters. Proceedings of a conference on British maritime history ... 1981 by Jones, Geoffrey
- Archives Report Number 8. Burmah Oil Plc by Logan, Katie
- Bank of England, 1950s to 1979 by Capie, Forrest
- British Firms and the Economy of Burma with Special Reference to the Rice and Teak Industries, 1917-1937 by Diokno, M S I
- British government and the oil companies, 1912-1924. The search for an oil policy by Jones, G Gareth
- Burmah Oil Co Ltd history and archives to 1966 by Stockford, Bridget
- Burmah. The early days by Unknown
- Chinthe Tales. Reminiscences by members of the Burmah Oil Society by Midwood, Jimmy (ed)
- History of the British Petroleum Company. Volume 1. The developing years, 1901-1932 by Ferrier, R W
- History of the British Petroleum Company. Volume 2. The Anglo Iranian Years, 1928-1954 by Bamberg, Jim H
- History of the Burmah Oil Company, Volume 2, 1924-1966 by Corley, T A B
- History of the Burmah Oil Company, Volume1,1886-1924 by Corley, T A B
- Pictorial Profile of the Burmah Oil Company, 1886-1986 by Unknown
- 'Strategic factors in the growth of a multinational enterprise. The Burmah Oil Co, 1886-1928' in M Casson (ed), The Growth of International Business by Corley, T A B
- The Oil Companies and the British Government, 1900-1925 by Jones, G Gareth
- The State and the Emergence of the British Oil Industry by Jones, Geoffrey