3. BP (United Kingdom)
Sales: 361.14 Profits: 21.16 Assets: 228.24 Market value: 119.70
The British company has maybe the most interesting history on the list. The initial incarnation of BP was granted a concession by the Shah of Iran in 1901 to search for oil. Seven years later the company made the first significant discovery in the Middle East.
The 70 years that the company remained in Iran were full of political intrigue and included bogus claims of communism, military coups and the eventual renationalising of BP’s assets (with no compensation being paid to the company) by Ayatollah Khomeini.
The company is now just your boring, average, everyday energy giant. Okay, maybe it’s a little bit above average.
Fact: During the company’s privatisation in the 1980s, the Kuwaiti government tried to buy a controlling stake in the company. The move was blocked after major opposition in the UK’s parliament.
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