BRITISH PETROLEUM "BP" a name that has been synonymous with the petrol industry for as long as people can remember. Surprisingly BRITISH PETROLEUM was only officially adopted as the
Burmah Oil Company sign dating to around 1901. Was it a co-incidence that the 'Petrel' logo was a play on the word 'Petrol' which Carless, Capel & Leonard had so vigorously fought to protect as a trade name for their product
trading name of the company in 1954 although the brand "BP" was first used some 45 odd years earlier. The earliest beginnings of the company go back to
1901 when an Englishman, William Knox D'Arcy, negotiated a 60 year oil exploration agreement with the Shah of Persia. Money soon started to run out and D'Arcy sold out the majority of his oil rights to a Glasgow based consortium called "the Burmah Oil Company". This new company formed a subsidiary in 1909 which traded as "the Anglo-Persian Oil Company" (APOC).
Winston Churchill, on behalf of the British government, later entered into negotiations with APOC to secure oil supplies for the new oil burning engines of the Royal Navy and by 1913 the British government had not only secured those supplies but had also taken a controlling interest of 51% in APOC. This then was very nearly the start of a British Petroleum Company under full British control but another crucial element had to be put into place first so that the British Petroleum name could rightfully rest where it belonged.
In 1917 a company called "the British Petroleum Co Ltd ", which had been controlled by overseas interests - Germany in particular,
Unmistakably British - a very direct way of connecting with the British consumer.
was purchased from trustees after the British government had seized its assets in 1914 at the outbreak of the Great War. British controlled BP became a marketing subsidiary of the APOC. To all intents and purposes BP had arrived - again but this time it was British through and through. This German (Prussian) company, which had been formed in 1906 had entered into an agreement with Shell in 1907 for the marketing and distribution of Shell petrol in the UK. Shell took over the responsibility of marketing their own brands of petrol from 1917 once the agency agreement with the British Petroleum Company had expired. Prior to the first world war the three main brands of motor spirit in the UK were; Pratts, Shell, and BP.
After the great war marketing of Motor Spirit by BP got under way with new logos and advertising campaigns. The BP Motor Spirit Union Flag sign was introduced and
A.R.Saunders of BP marketing designed the first BP shield in 1920, this was also the first time that "BP" lettering had pointed extremities.
A.R.Saunders of BP marketing designed the first BP shield in 1920. This was also the first time that "BP" lettering
had pointed extremities as illustrated on this 1920's enamel advertising sign.
BP's market share, compared to Shell and the Anglo-American Oil Co, was small and they had a lot of convincing to do to drive their share up. The marketing department responded to the challenge by producing some of the best advertising for a petrol company and this can be seen in all forms of their advertising media.
1931 saw BP link up with Shell again in a new joint marketing operation, this time the new company was called Shell-Mex
A range of products from the Shell-Mex & BP Ltd marketing arrangement. Note the small motor oil tin which was produced as a dummy for a child's pedal car. The headquarters of the new company was Shell-Mex House which had just been built in the art deco style
and B.P. Ltd after Shell had earlier entered into a joint partnership with Mexican Eagle. This new joint marketing operation was to prove very profitable particularly in the difficult trading conditions of the 1930's. During this period three brands of petrol were retailed by the partnership - BP, Shell and Shell-Mex. In 1934 Shell-Mex and B.P. Ltd acquired "The Dominion Motor Spirit Company", and in 1957 the National Benzole Company Ltd joined the organisation. At all times both BP and Shell-Mex kept their separate corporate identities as they both had extensive worldwide business interests. The partnership with Shell was to last some 45 years when in 1976 the companies de merged their marketing operations in the UK and Shell-Mex and B.P. Ltd was no more.
By 1935 APOC had become AIOC - the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, this was due to Persia changing its name to Iran, and in 1954 the name was changed again and the company became officially known as "British Petroleum Ltd ".
Other acquisitions took place when in 1967 the company took over
the chemical interests of the Distillers Company and then in 1998 British Petroleum merged with the US giant, Amoco. By 2000 the global name of the company had become BP with a new trade mark - the Helios.
Other companies owned by APOC were Scottish Oils Ltd
BP's new trade mark/logo introduced in some controversy in 2000
who were in the Shale Oil business, there were oil interests in Turkey, and in later years British Petroleum took over Price's Oils and Castrol Ltd.
Petrol pumps which had started to be installed around 1920 by BP were originally painted red but following changes to the colour schemes of the company's overseas operations, petrol pumps were then painted green. In 1921 BP had a total of 69 pumps in the UK with petrol still being sold in shops and chemists in 2 gallon cans but by 1925 the number of company controlled petrol pumps had risen to approximately 6,000. Evolvement of the petrol pump continued and in 1959 BP petrol stations were upgraded with "Supermix" petrol pumps which delivered various blends of petrol from the one pump. The associated advertising media of petrol pump globes vary in design and shape and this can be seen from those that are illustrated on this site. The advertisement examples below illustrate some of the better work by graphic artists of the 1920's and 30's.
