Business Review

the bp magazine is an international magazine of the bp  (british petroleum) group, which is based in the united kingdom.  it reports from its home country.  it is a quarterly publication.

to trace out the history of the bp group, it was a merger between bp with amoco and arco (both of which were giants in the u.s. energy industry), and also with sohio.  all under the one or same banner, started or began their journey as part of john d. rockefeller’s standard oil trust in the late 19th century.  today, 40% of the present bp’s staff, business, profits and achievements are from the u.s.

i deem it relevant to furnish the full contact address of the group:  bp p.l.c., chertsey road, sunbury – on – thames, middlesex, tw 16 7 ln, u.k.  their web address is : www.bp.com/bpmagazine.  while the managing editor is barbara peen whose mail id is : peenb@bp.com, the editor is lisa davison whose mail id, being lisa.davison@uk.bp.com. 

it deserves mention that the bp magazine was printed using vegetable based printing inks and low alcohol damping on press.  the paper was manufactured using 50% de-inked post consumer waste fibre and 50% virgin fibre pulp sourced from well managed forests at a mill accredited for emas, iso14001 and fsc.

for more than 50 years, amoco and arco were stalwarts of the u.s. and global (too) oil and gas arena/field.  now they became part of bp and their talent for refining, technical innovation and retailing has helped create a global energy giant, which is rich in experience.

the bp has five major refineries in the u.s. – one in carson, california, second in cherry point, washington, third in texas city, texas, fourth in toledo, ohio and the last and fifth in whiting, indiana.  al the five play a vital role in supplying local markets.

in 1968, arco made the first discovery at the massive pradhoe bay, the larges oilfield in alaska, u.s.  bp tapped its share of the reservoir and in the eight years before oil flowed, the two companies worked together to assure the u.s. government that environmental risks had been addressed.  in fact, arco tanker was named after prudhoe bay, i.e., arco prudhoe bay.

peter sutherland has chaired the bp’s board for the past 12 years including the company’s centennial year. 

it is a rare phenomenon that the magazine’s latest/current and third (3rd) issue contains the image of the original london bridge, captured by photographer marc morrison.  built in 1831, the bridge was put up for sale by the british government in 1962, as it could no longer handle the flow of traffic across the river thames.  purchased by robert mc culloch – founder of lake havana city in arizona, u.s. – for usd 2.4 million ($ 2.4 million), the bridge was subsequently dismantled and each stone was numbered.  they were then trucked to lake havana city, where reconstruction began in september, 1968.

bp’s flat ridge wind farm in barber county, kansas, u.s., is one of several major investments the company is making in wind energy in the u.s.  as all of us know, wind mill concept falls under the category of non-conventional energy sources, which is quite opposite to the conventional method or form adopted by the famous enron corporation, to generate power/electricity .

as far as the top management of bp is concerned, carl-henric svanberg, who is currently chief executive officer of the swedish telecommunications company, ericsson, is elected to replace peter sutherland,  as bp’s chairman.  svanberg is scheduled to join the bp board as chairman-designated and a non-executive director on 1st september, 2009.

even though we can access bp magazine through net and soft copy (if requested), the print version or hard copy also may be obtained by us, if we prefer.

to say about the contributors to the magazine, first joshua drake began photographing for bp at the texas city refinery in 2006.  he now does freelance editorial and documentary work from his home in charleston, south carolina.  second, allison conte writes for bp in between engagements as a leadership and organisational change consultant.  she lives and works in cleveland, ohio, and boulder, cororado, u.s.

third, ian whadcock has worked for over twenty (20) years as an illustrator and educator in the field of graphic art and illustration.  he is a recipient of three gold and two silver awards from the association of illustrators.

as solar energy is gaining momentum, bp group is partnering with the department of energy  (u.s.) and arizona state university, u.s., to lower costs and improve solar performance.

further since energy efficiency is a hidden resource, the bp group created the bp energy lab to help each of us reduce energy usage and carbon emissions. 

hence we all may go through the bp magazine either on the web or as a hard copy and try to participate in the group’s activities, in any way, which is possible for us.  if we say that the economy of the u.s. is determined and driven by the bp group, it will not be an exaggeration.  let us take a cue from them and follow their footprints and milestones.  their path and success story must be emulated by all of us.  we are here to grow, achieve and perform.  let us prove ourselves by our calibre, capacity, ability, efficiency, values and steps in the right direction.