Britoil plc was a privatised British oil company producing oil in the North Sea. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It was formed from privatisation of the upstream assets of the British National Oil Corporation (BNOC), a state-owned company, in 1982. It was acquired by BP in 1988, becoming a brand of it.[1]
History
The British National Oil Corporation (BNOC), a state-owned body, was originally formed in 1975 under the provisions of the Petroleum & Submarine Pipe-lines Act 1975.[2] Its objective was to maintain adequate oil supply levels.[3]
Britoil's interest in UK oil and gas fields in 1982 was as follows.[4]
As a result of the Oil and Gas (Enterprise) Act 1982, BNOC was split to enable the trading sector of the company BNOC to remain nationalised whilst the oil exploration and production sector, Britoil, was a limited liability company.[5]
In November 1982, 51% of Governmental shares in Britoil were sold off, but this was substantially under-subscribed. The resultant losses were carried by underwriters. The remaining Government minority shareholding in Britoil was sold in November 1985 for £434 million, ensuring it kept a "Golden Share" in order to veto any outsourcing attempts.[5] The collapse in world oil prices globally, combined with the possession of Britoil's majority share by BP meant that the golden share was sold to British Petroleum [6] in 1988.[7]
Britoil's Production entitlement and financial summary was as follows:[4][8]
In the same year, the company had been subject of an attempted £23 million fraud by one of its own cashiers.[9]
Key people
Chairman and Chief Executive: Baron Kearton (Christopher Frank Kearton) (1975–79), Ronald Utiger (1979–1980), Sir Philip Shelbourne (July 1980 – 1988),[10] Sir Robin Duthie (1988–90).
After the splitting off of Britoil Lord Croham,[10] the deputy chairman of BNOC, became chairman of BNOC's trading activities (1982–85).
See also
External links
- Worksmart info on Britoil plc
- Catalogue of Clive Jenkins' papers re Britoil, held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick
References
- Britain Drops a Barrier To B.P. Bid for Britoil on The New York Times, 5 Feb 1988^
- World National Oil Company Statutes barrowscompany.net^
- BNOC fades out 15 April 1985 cnn.com^
- Britoil plc offer for sale The Times, 12 November 1982^
- House of Commons Privatisation Research Paper 2014^
- David Parker. The Impact of Privatisation: Ownership and Corporate Performance in the UK Psychology Press, 1997^
- British Government to Yield Its 'Golden Share' of Britoil The New York Times, 1988-02-24, retrieved 2026-03-16^
- Britoil plc offer for sale The Times, 1 August 1985^
- Cashier admits £23m fraud bid at Britoil The Herald, 31 August 1989, retrieved 2020-04-01^
- Britoil chairman named The Times, 29 June 1982^