Major Oil Companies in the Gulf Region
Compiled by Eric V. Thompson
Prepared with support from
The Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences
Bahrain:
State Companies:
The Bahrain National Oil Company (BANOCO), wholly
owned by the Bahrain Government, and is the holding company for the
Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO)
Joint Ventures:
Bahrain National Gas Co. (Banagas) is owned 75%
by the government of Bahrain, 12.5% by Caltex, and 12.5% by the Arab
Petroleum Investment Corp.
Bahrain Aviation Fueling Co. (Bafco) is the aviation
refueling service at Bahrain International Airport. It is owned by
Banoco, 60%; Caltex 27%; BP, 13%
Original Concession Holders:
Bahrain Petroleum Co. Ltd., an equal partnership
of Texas Oil Co. and Socal, also offshore concession granted to Continental
Oil Co.
Continental Oil Co. of Bahrain, Continental
Oil Co., Pure Oil Middle East Inc. (Union Oil of California)
Major Foreign Oil Company Involvement:
Harken Oil, of Grand Prairie, Texas, who is backed
in part by Bass Enterprise Production Company of Fort Worth, Texas
Harvard University, a major shareholder in Harken through an affiliate,
and George W. Bush
Iran:
State companies:
National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) - oil and gas
exploration and production, refining and oil transportation; National
Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) – manages gathering, treatment, processing,
transmission, distribution, and exports of gas and gas liquids; National
Petrochemical Company (NPC) - handles petrochemical production, distribution,
and exports.
Original Concession Holders:
Anglo Persian Oil Company, replaced in 1954
by Iranian Oil Participants Limited, a joint venture of British
Petroleum, Jersey, Socony, Texaco and Socal, Gulf, Royal Dutch/Shell
Group, Iricon Agency Ltd., Richfield Oil Corp., Signal Oil and Gas,
Aminoil, Sohio, Getty, Atlantic Oil, Tidewater Oil, San Jacinto Petroleum
Corp., and CFP
Iran Pan American Oil Co., American International
Oil Co. (Standard Oil of Indiana)
Iranian Offshore Petroleum Co., Tidewater
Oil, Superior Oil, Sunray DX, Cities Service, Kerr-McGee, Atlantic
Richfield, Skelly Oil
Lavan Petroleum Co., Atlantic Richfield,
Murphy Oil, Sun Oil Co., Union Oil of California
Major Foreign Oil Company Involvement:
Gazprom
Petronas
Shell
Total
Recent Developments:
(Concluded at least negotiations with):
Elf Aquitaine
Japex, the state-owned Japanese Exploration and
Production Co.,
PetroCanada
Ultramar (Canada)
The U.S. Treasury has allowed two American companies
(Chevron, Coastal) to import Iranian crude
Iraq:
State companies:
The Oil Ministry oversees the nationalized oil industry
through the Iraq National Oil Company (INOC). Autonomous companies
under INOC include: State Company for Oil Projects (SCOP) - design
and engineering of upstream and downstream projects; Oil Exploration
Company (OEC) - exploration; Northern Oil Company (NOC) and Southern
Oil Company (SOC) - upstream activities in northern/central and southern
Iraq, respectively; State Organization for Oil Marketing (SOMO) -
crude oil sales and OPEC relations; Iraqi Oil Tankers Company (IOTC)
Original Concession Holders:
Iraq Petroleum Company (Mosul Oil Company and
Basrah Oil Company), Royal Dutch/Shell, Anglo-Persian, CFP, Exxon,
Mobil, Atlantic Richfield, Gulf Oil Corporation, Standard Oil of Indiana
[Amoco], and Participations and Explorations Corp., under auspices
of the Near East Development Company.
Recent Developments:
U.S. previously operating in Iraq include Haliburton,
Howe-Baker Engineering Inc., Mobil Oil, and Pullman-Kellogg.
Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO),
-- pending U.N. approval --is in discussions with: U.S. companies
Coastal Corp., Phoenix, Chevron Corp. and Mobil Corp.
Iraq has current contracts with Coastal, Russian
Sidanco and France's Total S.A.
The Oil Daily reports that Shell, BP, Chevron,
and Coastal are among the companies interested in buying Iraqi crude
Kuwait:
State Companies:
Subsidiaries of Kuwait Petroleum Corp. include:
Kuwait Oil Co. (KOC), Kuwait National Petroleum Co., Petrochemical
Industries Co. (PIC), Kuwait Oil Tanker Co., Kuwait Foreign Petroleum
Exploration Co. (Kufpec), and Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI,
London)
Original Concession Holders:
Kuwait Oil Co. Ltd., subsidiary of BO (Kuwait)
Ltd., and Gulf Kuwait Co., Kuwait Shell Development Co. Ltd., owned
by Royal Dutch/Shell Group
For Kuwaiti portion of Neutral Zone:
Offshore: Arabian Oil Company Limited, Japan
Petroleum Trading Co. Ltd.
Onshore: American Independent Oil Co., joint
venture of Phillips Petroleum, Signal Oil and Gas, Ashland, J.S. Abercrombie,
Sunray Mid-Continent Oil Co., Globe Oil and Refining Co., and Pauley
Petroleum Inc.
Major Foreign Oil Company Involvement:
British Petroleum Co. Plc
Chevron
Getty Oil Co.
Gulf Oil
Japan's Arabian Oil Co. (AOC)
Mobil Corp.
Royal Dutch/Shell,
Shell International Petroleum Co. Ltd.
Texaco
Total
Oman:
State companies:
Petroleum Development Oman Ltd. (PDO) controls all
oil resources. Oman Oil Company (OOC) is the overseas investment arm
of the Ministry of Petroleum, until recently headquartered in Houston
and headed by John Deuss
Joint Ventures:
Petroleum Development Oman Ltd. (PDO) controls all
oil resources. PDO is a partnership between the Omani government (60%),
Shell Petroleum Co. Ltd. (34%), Total-CFP (4%), and Partex (Oman)
Corp. (2%)
CXO Ltd. Is a joint venture of Oman Oil Co. Ltd.
and Caltex
Original Concession Holders:
Petroleum Development (Oman) Ltd., Shell
Group, CFP, Participations and Explorations Corp., and John W. Mecom
Mecom-Pure-Conoco, John W. Mecom, Pure Oil,
Continental Oil
Major Foreign Oil Company Involvement:
There are two American concessionaires: Occidental/Gulf
and Amoco. Ashland Oil manages Oman's sole refinery, and U.S. firms
lift Oman's crude.
Qatar:
State Companies:
The Qatar General Petroleum Corporation (QGPC)
Joint Ventures:
QGPC owns 65% of Qatar Liquefied Gas Co. (QatarGas)
the rest of the interest is divided among France's Total SA. (10%),
Mobil Qatar Gas Inc. (10%), Mitsui & Co. Ltd. (7.5%), and Marubeni
Corp. (7.5%)
QatarGas Upstream, partners are Total, 20%, Mobil
10%, and Mitsui and Marubeni, 2.5 each
QGPC holds 66.5% of Ras Laffan LNG Co. (RasGas);
Mobil 26.5 ; the Japanese companies Itochu Corp. and Nissho Iwai,
respectively, 4% and 3%
Qatar Vinyl Co. (25.5% QGPC, 31.9% Qapco, 29.7%
Norsk Hydro, and 12.9% Elf Atochem)
Qatar Fuel Additives Co. (50% QGPC, 20% Chinese
Petroleum Corp., 15% Lee Chang Yung Chemical Industry Corp., and 15%
International Octane Ltd.)
Original Concession Holders:
Continental Oil Co. of Qatar, Continental
Oil Co., Pure Oil Middle East Inc. (Union Oil of California)
Anglo Saxon Petroleum Company, Shell
Major Foreign Oil Company Involvement:
ARCO Qatar Inc., (as operator for a consortium of
Germany's Wintershall A.G. and Preussag A.G., British Gas Co., and
Gulfstream Resources Canada Ltd. of Calgary)
Chevron Over-seas Petroleum (Qatar) Ltd. and its
partner Magyar Olaj Gazi (MOL), the Hungarian Oil & Gas Co. Ltd.
Elf Petroleum Qatar.
Enron
Maersk Oil Qatar Co.
Marubeni
Methanex Corp. (Vancouver)
Mitsui
Mobil Oil Qatar
Mobil, MOL
Occidental Petroleum of Qatar Ltd..
Pennzoil Qatar Oil Co.
Phillips Petroleum Co.
Royal Dutch Shell
Wintershall
Saudi Arabia:
State Companies:
Saudi Aramco
Samarec
Petromin
Petromin Lubricating Oil Refining Co. (Luberef),
[Mobil Oil Corp. holds a minority interest in this company]
Petromin Lubricating Oil Co.,
Saudi Arabian Basic Industries (Sabic)
Original Concession Holders:
Arabian American Oil Company, Socal, Texas
Oil, Jersey, Socony-Vacuum
For Saudi portion of Neutral Zone: Getty Oil Co.,
Japan Petroleum Trading Co.
Joint Ventures:
Star Enterprise (U.S.) Saudi Refining Inc.
(50%), Texaco (50%);
Ssangyong Oil Refining Co. (S. Korea) Saudi
Aramco (35%), Ssangyong (65%); Luberef - Mobil (30%) and Petrolube
- Mobil (29%)
Samref, an export fuels company- Mobil is a 50%
shareholder
Subsidiaries: Aramco Services Co. (Houston), Aramco
Overseas Co. (Netherlands), Saudi Petroleum International Inc. (New
York), Saudi Petroleum Overseas Ltd. (London/Tokyo)
Major Foreign Oil Company Involvement:
Mobil
Shell
UAE:
State Companies:
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has controlling interest in
21 domestic oil and natural gas companies.
Joint Ventures:
Abu Dhabi Co. for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO) is held by ADNOC
(60%) and a consortium comprising British Petroleum (BP) (9.5%), Shell
(9.5%), Total (9.5%), Exxon (4.75%), Mobil (4.75%), and Partex (2%).
Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company (ADMAOPCO) is held by ADNOC
(60%) and a consortium comprising BP (14.7%), Total (13.3%), and Japan's
Jodco (12%).
Zakum Development Company (ZADCO) is operated by ADNOC (88%) and
a consortium (12%) comprising BP, Jodco, and Total
Original Concession Holders:
Union Oil Co., venture of Union Oil Co. and Southern Natural
Gas Co.
Abu Dhabi Marine Areas Ltd., BP, CFP, Continental
Dubai Marine Areas Ltd., Continental Oil, BP, CFP, Deutche
Erdol AG, Sun Oil Co.
Phillips-AGIP-Aminoil, joint venture of Phillips, AGIP, and
Aminoil
Major Foreign Oil Company Involvement:
BP
Caltex Petroleum Corp.,
Miutsui & Co. Ltd.
Parrex
Pennzoil
Shell Gas BV
Total
Sources: University
of Virginia |