Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. set up as Bharat Refineries on 24 Jan 1976 from Burma Shell Co.

Oil Companies are Govt. Of India Enterprises and Function under the directive of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MOP&NG).

Till 2003 BPCL focused only on downstream (Marketing) and not upstream (Exploration & Production) Upstream sector for India was mainly looked after by ONGC Videsh Ltd. During the NDA rule it was decided to diversify Oil Marketing Companies (OMC) to upstream sector. This initiated a new path of Internationalization of BPCL. The brief History of the same is explained as below:

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2003:

Bharat Petroleum which was a downstream company, added its portfolio of going to upstream Sector in 2003 with mainly two aims:

1. Securing Crude Supply
2. Hedging of Price Fluctuations
3. Become a vertically integrated company
4. Strengthening the Profitability

2006

As a wholly owned subsidiary of BPCL, Bharat Petro resource Limited was incorporated in October 2006 with a profile of carrying out Exploration and Production and looking into future investment opportunities globally. Its mission was as below:

1. Developing core competence in Exploration & Production of Oil & Gas with a Focus on Production
2. To maximize investor wealth and stake holder expectation
3. To Create a Pool of Knowledgeable and inspired employees

Company set an investment plan of Rs 3000 Crore over 5 years. Investment focus was on early exploration stage than more expensive end stage development. This kept open option of exit and sell off if need be.

2007

NELP VI (5 blocks) (2007): Got 5 Blocks under New Exploration and Licensing Policy of Govt of India.

2008

Brazil & Mozambique Acquisition

BPRL spent Rs. 330 Crore to buy 10% stake in Oil-Block in Mozambique. It created a subsidiary venture called Mozambique BV and bought stake from US Based Anadarko Petroleum Corporation in accordance with regulatory approvals from Mozambique.

Mozambique is a small country with 12million population without civil unrest etc.

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2009

Indonesia Entry

When Anadarko wished to farm out some of the participating interest in Indonesia - Nunukan BPRL again grabbed the opportunity to have 12.5% participating interest.