Analysis of British Petroleum

Analysis of British Petroleum

British Petroleum Company PLC

Public Company

Incorporated: 19909 as Anglo-Persian Oil Company

Employees: 118,050

Sales: £41.71 billion (US$80.51 billion)

Stock Exchanges: London, New York, Toronto, Tokyo, Paris, Zurich,

Amsterdam, Frankfurt

Company History

British Petroleum (BP) is one of the worlds leading oil companies, and

one of the United Kingdoms largest corporations. The company, which

was the pioneer of the Middle Eastern oil industry, having discovered

oil in Iran before World War I, is now engaged in all aspects of oil

exploration, production, refining, transportation, and marketing. It

has significant interest in chemicals and plastics, including a range

of specialty products- mostly detergents, advanced composite

materials, and advanced ceramic engineered materials.

The new BP

The new BP has a long and exciting history that goes back more than a

century. The company is made up of four companies, each with its own

proud history: BP, Amoco, ARCO and Castrol. These histories are so

often intertwined, that coming together as one company makes a great

deal of sense. It's the power of one.

Bp

BP's origins date back to May 1901, when a wealthy Englishman, William

Knox D'Arcy, obtained a concession from the Shah of Persia to explore

for and develop the oil resources of that country. As exploration

continued, costs mounted, stretching D'Arcy's resources to the point

where he sought outside financial assistance. This came in 1905 from

the Burmah Oil Company, which provided new funds for D'Arcy's venture.

In May 1908, he struck oil at Masjid-i-Suleiman in...

... middle of paper ...

... According to Porter's model, the structure of competition in an

industry can be described in terms of five major "forces", including:

* The intensity of rivalry among existing firms (Amoco, Castrol and

Arco)

* The threat of entry

* The threat of substitutes

* The power of buyers

* The power of suppliers

Each of these forces is in turn determined and influenced by a number

of different factors, which require separate analysis. The interaction

of the five forces taken together gives an impression of how

attractive the industry is to the firms within it.

BP Logo

References:

www.bp.co.uk

www.yahoo.co.uk

Links- BP company weaknesses

Bibliography

International Directory of Company Histories,

Volume IV- Page 378,379,412,578

Volume II- Page 478, 332