bp

bp plc traces its origins to the founding of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company on April 14, 1909, formed to exploit the first commercially significant oil discovery in the Middle East — oil struck at Masjid-i-Suleiman, Persia, in 1908 by geologist George Reynolds under a concession secured by English investor William Knox D'Arcy. The British government acquired a 51% stake in 1914, making bp strategically intertwined with British national interests from the beginning. The company expanded through the 20th century under successive names — Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (1935), British Petroleum (1954) — before the landmark 1998 merger with Amoco valued at $48 billion created one of the world's largest integrated oil and gas companies. bp then acquired Atlantic Richfield (ARCO) and Burmah Castrol in 2000, cementing its position among the global supermajors.

bp is headquartered in London and publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BP; LSE: BP). The company reported approximately $189 billion in total revenues in 2024 and operates in over 70 countries across the full oil and gas value chain: exploration, production, refining, retail fueling, and trading. It employs approximately 87,000 people globally and is one of the five largest investor-owned oil and gas companies in the world by revenue.

In the context of the clean energy transition, bp has pursued a dual strategy of sustaining its core oil and gas production while investing in lower-carbon businesses including offshore wind, solar, EV charging infrastructure, hydrogen, and carbon capture. Within this tracker, bp appears as a developer with exposure to advanced nuclear energy through its investment in Aalo Atomics (formerly Aalo) — a nuclear microreactor startup — via its bp Ventures arm. bp has also partnered with Equinor on offshore wind projects including a significant contract with New York State for offshore wind supply. The company committed to a net-zero by 2050 ambition but has subsequently recalibrated some renewable targets in response to shareholder pressure on returns.

Publicly traded (NYSE: BP; LSE: BP). One of the world's largest oil and gas supermajors by revenue (~$189B in 2024). Historically majority state-owned by the UK government, fully privatized between 1979–1987. No major external VC or PE investors; funded through public equity and debt markets.