Padma Oil Company Limited

Padma Oil Company Limited is not only the biggest but also the oldest with its antecedents stretching well back to the colonial period of British-India. Its ancestral enterprise ‘Rangoon Oil Company’ established petroleum business in this part of the world by the middle of nineteenth century. Following is a Synopsis of Padma Oil Company’s historical background.

In 1874 ‘Rangoon Oil Company’ was registered as a Joint stock company in Scotland having its main business activities in Burma (Known to the British until the later years of the 19th century as BURMAH, which was a province of the then British India)

In 1885, Rangoon Oil Company was reconstituted and reformed as Burmah Oil company. Business of this Company was then spread over other provinces of British-India including Assam and Bengal. The Company’s Head office was at 191 West George Street, Glasgow, U.K.

Burmah Oil Company for the first time introduced drilling equipments for exploration of Oil in Burma in the year 1888. Previously oil was being collected in Burma by hand dug well.

Burmah Oil Company established their ‘Moheshkhal Oil Installation’ at Chittagong in the year 1903. In 1908, Burmah Oil Company conducted a geological survey in Chittagong. In 1914, Burmah Oil Company drilled a well at sitakunda, Chittagong. In the year 1920, M/s Bullock Brothers, a major distributor of Burmah Oil Company established their trading office at Sadarghat, Chittagong. In the year 1929, Burmah Oil Company took over the office of Bullock Brothers at Sadarghat, Chittagong including 4.1 acres of land and established their own office in it.

Prior to the partition of the sub-continent in 1947, mainly two oil marketing companies namely Burmah Oil Company (BOC) and Burmah shell Oil Storage and Distribution Company (BSOC) were operating Petroleum business in the area what now comprise Bangladesh. Burmah Shell established Aviation Depot at Tejgaon Airport in the year 1948.

Considering the Oil Marketing situation in erstwhile East Pakistan, Burmah Shell transferred their share to BOC and in the year 1965 a new company called ‘Burmah Eastern Limited’ was formed with 49% share of BOC. The rest portion of the share was issued to public & private individuals of Pakistan.
In 1977, Burmah Eastern Limited became a subsidiary of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation.

In the year 1985, BOC transferred its entire property in Bangldesh (including share of Burmah Eastern Limited) in favour of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC).
As per terms of the transfer of BOC’s entire share to BPC, Burmah Eastern Limited was required to change its name and as such subsequently the company’s name was changed as ‘PADMA OIL COMPANY LIMITED’ in the year 1988.