Britoil

Britoil was originally a privatised British oil company operating in the North Sea. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

Britoil plc
PLC
IndustryOil
Founded1975
Defunct1988
HeadquartersGlasgow, Scotland, UK
Key people
Sir Philip Shelbourne, (former chairman)
David Walker (former CEO)

History

The company was originally formed in 1975 as the British National Oil Corporation (BNOC), a nationalised body, under the Petroleum & Submarine Pipe-lines Act 1975.[1] Its objective was to maintain adequate oil supply levels.[2] As a result of the Oil and Gas Act 1982, BNOC was split to ensure the trading sector of the company BNOC, remained nationalised whilst the oil exploration and production sector, Britoil, was a limited liability company.[3]

In November 1981, 51% of Governmental shares in Britoil were sold off, however was substantially under-subscribed. The resultant losses were carried by underwriters. The remaining Government minority shareholding in Britoil was sold in July 1985 for £434 million, ensuring it kept a ‘Golden Share’ in order to veto any outsourcing attempts.[3] 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 [4] in 1988.[5]

In the same year, the company had been subject of an attempted £23 million fraud by one of its own cashiers.[6]

See also

References
  1. World National Oil Company Statutes
  2. BNOC fades out
  3. "House of Commons Privatisation Research Paper" (PDF). 2014.
  4. Parker, David (1997). The Impact of Privatisation: Ownership and Corporate Performance in the UK. Psychology Press. ISBN 0415142334.
  5. British Government to Yield Its 'Golden Share' of Britoil
  6. "Cashier admits £23m fraud bid at Britoil". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 1 April 2020.


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