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BP

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Corporation

The Resume

    (April 14, 1909- )
    Headquartered in London
    Multinational oil and gas company
    Founded as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company
    Name changed to Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (1935), British Petroleum (1954), BP Amoco (1998) and BP (2001)
    Merged with Amoco (1998)
    Acquired Standard Oil of Ohio (1978) and Arco (2000)
    85,700 employees (2012)
    Revenues of $388.3 billion (2012)
    5th largest company in the world by revenues (2012)

Why BP might be annoying:

    It positioned itself as a 'green' company with the slogan 'Beyond Petroleum' (2001), but its investment in alternative energy peaked at 4% of its exploratory budget. (And it sold off its solar and wind energy plants to raise money after the Deepwater Horizon disaster.)
    It paid fines and penalties of $22 million for illegally dumping hazardous wastes on the Alaska North Slope (1999).
    It was fined a record $50 million for violations of the Clean Air Act (2007).
    Its Texas City refinery exploded, killing 15 and injuring 180, following cuts in maintenance and safety to reduce costs (March 23, 2005).
    It was fined a record $87 million by OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) for failing to correct hazards documented in the 2005 explosion (2009).
    It was responsible for 97% of 'egregious, willful' safety violations cited by OSHA in the oil refining industry (2007-10).
    Its Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded, killing 11 people and producing the largest accidental marine oil spill in history at 4.9 million barrels (April 20, 2010).

Why BP might not be annoying:

    It employed future prime minister Winston Churchill as a lobbyist (1923).
    It was the first company to strike oil in the North Sea (1965).
    Its assets in Iran were nationalized without compensation by the Khomeni regime (1979).
    Its 'Beyond Petroleum' campaign was honored by the American Marketing Association.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 187 Votes: 69.52% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 198 Votes: 55.05% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 6 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 6 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 8 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 12 Votes: 58.33% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 38 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 46 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 75 Votes: 57.33% Annoying