Report on BP

by rhysharries (student)

Rhys Harries

Report on BP

BP is a TNC, this simply means it is a transnational corporation, a transnational corporation means that it operates in more than one country. BP is a global oil and gas company and bases it’s headquarters in London, it is the third largest energy company and the fourth largest company in the world. It specialises in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration, production, refining, distribution and marketing. It also work with renewable energy and other sources of energy other than gas and oil these include biofuels, hydrogen, solar and wind power.

BP doesn't just focus on oil production but other energy sources as well. BP has many different other brands that are controlled by BP these include; arco, ampm, aral, castrol and wild bean cafe.

ARCO joined BP in 2000, and it's name can be found on all BP owned petrol stations in Western America, ARCO is the leading marketer selling more than any other company in the region. Approximately 800,000 people stop by an ARCO station every day to fill up their vehicles.

Since the 1980s ARCO has also been known as a source of cleaner fuels, or blends of gasoline which give off less pollution by keeping the car and truck engines they pass through cleaner.

AMPM was a pioneer in fuel stations, it was one of the first types of petrol station that offers a food service as well. The very first AMPM opened in Southern California as a value add on to ARCo fuel stations. After thirty plus years AMPM has grown to over 1,100 different locations which include California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Ohio, Georgia and Florida.

ARAL is one of the most trusted brands in Germany, the company has been associated with quality automotive fuels since the 1920s. Today people associate ARAL with good food and excellent service on the go. Every day more than 2.5 million customers visit an ARAL station to fill up on fuel or use the car wash. At ARAL fuel stations you can also find fast food retailers for example McDonalds and Burger King.

Castrol acquired the BP brand in 2002, Castrol motor oils for auto mobiles and motorbikes are particularly well known. Castrol is one of the world’s leading supplier of motor lubricants and is very well known within the motor sport industry for producing excellent products. Castrol and BP are linked and you can buy any castrol product from any of BP’s shops and brands. Castrol products are sold in over 150 countries which make it a world wide business.

Wild bean cafes offer good quality food and good quality coffee, you can find many wild bean cafe’s tucked into BP’s connect stations these on the go cafes offer inventive sandwiches, fresh baked goods and delicious fresh ground coffee. You can find wild bean cafe’s in Europe, Australia and South Africa, there are even new branches opening in China and Russia.

Facts and Figures

Sales and other operating revenues $297,107 million (year 2010)

Replacement cost profit ($4,519) million (year2010)

Number of employees 79,700 (at 31 December 2010)

Proved reserves 18,071 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Retail sites 22,100

Refineries (wholly or partly owned) 16

Refinery output 2,426 thousand barrels per day.

BP Values What they stand for

Safety-Safety is a good business. Everything BP does relies upon the safety of the work force and the communities around. BP cares about the safe management of the environment. They are committed to delivering energy to the world safely.

Respect-BP respects the world in which they operate, this begins with the compliance with laws and regulations. BP holds themselves to the highest ethical standards and behave in ways which earn the trust of others. They care about the consequences of their decisions, large or ...

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Refinery output 2,426 thousand barrels per day.

BP Values What they stand for

Excellence-BP work in a hazardous business and are committed to excellence through the systematic and disciplined management of their operations. BP commits to providing quality outcomes and have a thirst to learn and improve. If something isn’t right BP correct it.

Courage-BP strive to achieve the best outcomes this often requires the courage to face difficulty, speak up and stand by what they believe. BP always strives to do the best they possibly can. BP explores new ways of thinking and are unafraid to ask for help.

One team-BP work as a team this way they are more likely to accomplish more and more.

BP Oil Disaster

Recently BP has been receiving a lot of bad press, this is due to the Gulf of Mexico oil leak.This oil leak was caused when a fire broke out on the oil rig known as the deep water horizon. The fire burnt for 36 hours before the rig finally sank, hydrocarbons leaked into the Gulf of Mexico for 87 days before the well was closed and sealed, this caused a huge amount of damage.

The drilling rig was owned by Transocean Ltd on behalf of BP, which is the majority owner of the Macondo oil field. At the time there were 126 crew on board, seven of which were employees of BP and the rest were transocean and other companies like Anadarko, Halliburton and M-I Swaco.

The accident involved a loss of control over the pressure in the well’s blowout preventer, the blowout preventer is a specialist valve designed to maintain consistent conditions. After the first few initial explosions the blowout’s emergency functions failed to seal the well allowing hundreds of gallons of oil to leak out. The majority of the oil that reached the shoreline from the Deepwater horizon rig impacted Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.

The leak started on the 20th of April and was eventually capped three months later in July. The leak was stopped by capping the gushing well head, but this was after it had released over 4.9 million barrels of oil into the sea. It was believed that there were 53 million barrels of crude oil being released a day, the slick was so enormous that there are images of it from space.

The spill caused extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats, the Gulf’s fishing and tourism industries were also affected, BP used skimmer ships, floating containment booms, anchored sea barriers, sand filled barricades along shore lines and dispersants were used in order to protect hundreds of miles of beaches, wetlands and estuaries from the spreading oil. Scientists also reported immense underwater plumes of dissolved oil that was not visible at the surface of the ocean.

In January 2011 the white house oil spill commission released its final report on the causes of the oil spill, the report blamed BP and its partners for taking short cuts and not meeting the necessary requirement for safety. They also concluded that the spill was not an isolated incident caused by ‘rogue industry or government officials’ but that the “root causes are systematic and, absent significant reform in both industry practices and government policies might well recur” After it’s own internal probe, BP admitted that it made mistakes which led to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Scientists gained one advantage from the oil spill they discovered a new species of bacteria which was able to digest the oil without depleting oxygen levels. In mid September scientists did underwater test to test the oil concentration levels in the ocean they found that the concentration level had dropped dramatically, they then conducted research this research then showed that the microbes mainly digested natural gas spewing from the well head- propane, ethane and butane, rather than oil.

Eleven people lost their lives due to the accident and many more were injured. BP states that they deeply regret the loss of life. BP have taken full responsibility of the oil leak and the damage it caused to the environment, BP has acted to take responsibility for the clean up and to compensate the people that were affected by the impact of the accident As of 31 December 2010 BP spent $17.7 billion on the clean up as well as the compensation money.

Where BP Operates

I have chosen to focus on 6 different specific areas where BP operates these are : Africa (South Africa)

Asia and Middle East (Saudi Arabia)

Australasia (Australia)

Europe (UK)

North America (Canada)

South America (Brazil)

South Africa-

BP has been based in South Africa since the early 1920s, BP has it’s African headquarters in Cape Town, but has since moved to Johannesburg in 2008.

BP produces crude oil in at a refinery called Sapref which is only 16 km south of the city Durban. Sapref refinery is co-owned with another oil company called shell.

BP Southern Africa employs more than one thousand people who come from many different cultural backgrounds there are 11 different languages spoken. The main centers of employment in South Africa are Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.

BP doesn’t just focus on the oil aspect in South Africa and other African countries it invests alot of money into other projects like helping to prevent HIV and aids, but education is seen as the most important BP helps pay for the building of schools.

Saudi Arabia-

Since 1983 BP’s main business in Saudi Arabia is the supply and trading of Petroleum products such as lubricants and aviation fuel to whole sale and retail customers.

The BP’s integrated supply and trading team purchase and supply a wide range of crude oil and refined products, destined for BP’s vast refining and marketing networks, as well as other international petroleum markets.

BP also does a lot of work in the community with 14-16 year olds, the program has taken thousands of teenagers on weekends of learning and adventure to help develop their self awareness, develop their leadership, and help make them more safety conscious and environmentally aware.

Australia

BP has worked in Australia since 1919. Today BP is involved in activities such as exploring natural gas and crude oil resources. BP also refine and market petroleum products, produce lubricants, and help generate a significant amount of solar energy.

Castrol lubricants are also made in Australia. There are 1,400 BP service stations through out Australia this figure includes a number of 24 hour truck stops on the country’s major high ways.

4,700 people work for BP in Australia and 36% are women. BP spent approximately $4 million million on sponsorship and donations in Australia in 2010.

United Kingdom

Bp operates in locations along the entire length of the UK, from Sullon Voe in the Shetlands to Hamble on the South coast of England. BP’s UK exploration and production business is based in Aberdeen and accounts for approximately 10% of the company’s global production. Assets include 45 producing fields, 33 platforms and 10 pipeline systems.

At more than 300 company-owned and franchise sites you can findBP Connect stores, alongside BP’s award winning Wild Bean Cafes, which provide hot and cold snacks and fresh coffee for motorists. You can also find Marks and Spencer Simply Food outlets at more than 100 BP service stations in Scotland and England.

Canada

BP is headquartered in Calgary and Alberta.BP is active in three provinces and the Northwest Territories, while its marketing and trading activities span the nation and expand into the U.S.

BP’s goal is to have a positive influence in the areas where they operate and are dedicated to playing an active role in the communities, BP has created a community investment program which revolves around education, environment and community.

In addition to being a major purchaser of crude oil for BP’s refineries in the United States, BP Canada Energy Company ranks among Canada’s top marketers and traders of natural gas, crude oil, natural gas liquids and financial products.

Brazil

BP has been active in the Brazilian energy sector for around half a century, since Castrol built a lubricants plant in Rio de Janeiro in 1957. During the 1970s and 1980s, BP conducted exploration activities in the country, acquiring seismic data in the Santos, Amazonas and Paraná basins and drilling four wells in Santos Basin. Between 1999 and 2005, BP operated two deepwater blocks in Foz do Amazonas Basin, drilling three wells around 500 km to the north of Belem, Pará.

In 2008, BP became the first oil company to invest in the Brazilian sugarcane ethanol industry when it invested in a 50% stake in Tropical BioEnergia S.A. In 2011, BP has agreed to pay approximately US$680 million to acquire 83 per cent of the shares of the Brazilian ethanol producer Companhia Nacional de Açúcar e Álcool. BP will become the operator of two ethanol mills, located in Goiás and Minas Gerais states.

BP is working to maximize the use of local resources in its businesses in all parts of the world where it operates. The company develops partnerships with universities and technical schools.

Transportation

Shipping

Some oil and gas fields are many thousand kilometers from the places where the oil and gas is needed. The distances are so huge that it often means transport by sea is the only option.

The giant oil fields in the Middle East, for example are far away from the main centers of consumption in North America, Europe and Asia. Much of this oil is transported on large crude carriers, these ships are capable of carrying 300,000 tonnes or more of crude oil.

BP transports it’s products across oceans, around coast lines and along waterways using both BP vessels or other chartered vessels. The shipping division of BP provides the logistics to move BP’s oil and cargo’s to market as well as marine assurance on every thing that floats in the BP group.

The BP shipping fleet includes tankers, specifically designed to transport crude oil, refined products or liquid natural gas. It was formed in 1915 to carry products for the anglo-persian oil company, the fore runner of BP. BP shipping operates an international fleet of crude oil tankers and LNG carriers, transporting these energy products all over the world.

Pipelines

Most of the worlds well known oil and natural gas supplies are a long way from the places where demand is highest. Land based production facilities are usually only kilometers from the refinery or closest distribution facility. One way of getting oil and gas to the people who need it is via pipeline, the pipes are made of steel or plastic, a pipeline can be as long as the distance from refinery to the nearest storage tank or even as long as several thousand kilometers.

Pipelines can be built above land, under land or underwater. When a pipeline runs through an environmentally sensitive area or close to city or town, burying it is one way to minimize the damage it could do if there as a leak. The oil or gas pipeline is kept in motion by a system of pump stations built along it. Worker walk along pipelines inspecting the pipes for sign of leaks or damage this is to prevent another disastrous oil spill.

Renewable Energy

Solar

Bp has been in the solar business for over 37 years and supports a number of projects aimed at increasing innovation and advancing solar technology.

BP’s solar project arm has delivered more than 115 mega watts of installed solar projects around the world including the US, Germany, Spain, Italy and Australia.

Bio-Fuel

Since 2006, BP has already committed more than 1.5 billion dollars to build existing research and development into bio-fuels. BP is planning to construct a bio-fuel refinery in Southeastern, US and has also acquired Verenium cellulosic bio-fuels business for $98 million. In Brazil, BP holds a 50% stake in Tropical BioEnergia and plans to operate two ethanol refineries

Wind Farms

BP wind energy is a principal owner and operator of wind power facilities. BP has interests in eight operating wind farms, providing a gross generating capacity of more than 1,200 mega watts. This is enough electricity to power Washington DC. Currently BP has two other wind farm under construction and these will provide an extra 375 mega watt of electricity.

Hydrogen Power

Hydrogen Power is the new and exciting concept in energy at the moment, one of the energy’s that could revolutionise the world of low carbon electricity generation. This new generation of power stations will use a fossil fuel feed stock such as coal, petroleum coke or natural gas, taking out 90% of the carbon in the fuel, storing it deep underground as carbon dioxide and using the hydrogen to generate low carbon power for the grid.

One such project BP is currently pioneering is with Masdar in Abu Dhabi where the early stage of engineering design work is underway. Here, a 400 mega watt natural gas based hydrogen power plant could produce low carbon electricity and capture up to 1.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.