Kuwait Oil Co.

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The Kuwait Oil Company is one of the largest oil companies in the world. Kuwait's economy is heavily dependent on this particular state-run organization and it is the backbone of Kuwait’s economy. The company is involved in many activities relating to oil and its subproducts such as gasoline and petrochemicals.

The Kuwait Oil Company was formed in 1934 as a joint venture between the British Petroleum Company (BP) and the Gulf Oil Corporation (GOC). The two partners had equal shares in KOC. In 1938 KOC found oil at Burgan in quantities that allowed commercial producion. The first commercial exports of oil from Kuwait were made in 1946. There were other very large new finds in the 1950s and 60s which allowed Kuwait to become a major exporter of oil and gas.

BP and Gulf were able to obtain the Kuwaiti oil at very favourable terms for sale via their downstream networks in Europe and adjoining areas. During this time, Gulf would claim that it had a "special relationship" with Kuwait. However, all this came to an end in 1975 when the Kuwaitis took over the ownership of KOC.