The Burmah Oil Company was a leading British oil company which was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. In 1966, Castrol was acquired by Burmah, which was renamed Burmah-Castrol. BP Amoco purchased the company in 2000.
History
The company was founded in Glasgow in 1886 by David Sime Cargill, an East India merchant, to succeed his Rangoon Oil Company Ltd, also of Glasgow, to further expand and develop oil fields in the Indian subcontinent.[1] On his death in 1904, the ownership and chairmanship passed to his son John Cargill.[2]
In the 1900s, the Admiralty was planning a changeover from coal to fuel oil for powering the engines of its warships. In 1905, Burmah signed a contract with the Admiralty to supply naval fuel oil from Rangoon.[1]