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BP in the United States

Sun shining through pipes at Texas City, USA
With a proud heritage in the United States, BP is leading the way toward a more secure US energy future, while earning back the trust of policymakers, customers and the American people
BP’s roots in the United States go deep, starting in 1866 with the founding of the Atlantic Petroleum Storage Company in the Pennsylvania oilfields. Since then, our heritage has come to embody some of the most famous names in American energy: Amoco, ARCO, and Standard Oil.

BP’s portfolio of US business functions is extremely broad, encompassing virtually all aspects of the company’s global business: onshore and offshore exploration and production of oil and gas, refining, marketing, retailing, alternative energy and more.

From the Gulf of Mexico to the North Slope of Alaska and everywhere in between, we are working to further ensure that safety and risk management are at the heart of our business, while restoring trust and enhancing shareholder value.

By investing in a diverse range of energy sources – from traditional oil and natural gas production to alternative energy including wind and biofuels – BP is helping meet America’s energy needs today while ensuring a more secure energy future.

Leading investor

Since 2007, BP has invested more than $52 billion in US energy development, almost $20 billion more than our nearest competitor, and more than BP invests in any other country.

Approximately 23,000 people work for BP directly in the US, nearly 30 percent of our global work force and the most in any country where we operate. Counting our US supply chain, we estimate nearly a quarter of a million US jobs depend on BP. Nearly 40 percent of BP’s shareholders are based in the US.

That investment helps BP produce over 770,000 barrels of oil equivalent every day in the US, accounting for more than 20 percent of our global daily production. We are the largest producer of oil and gas in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, as well as its largest leaseholder. In late 2011, BP returned to exploration in the deepwater Gulf, having received our first drilling permit since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon accident.

Onshore, we operate 15 fields on Alaska’s North Slope, which together account for around two-thirds of Alaska’s oil production.

Our North America Gas business is the seventh largest producer of natural gas in the US, with assets in seven states, covering approximately 50,000 square miles and over 12,000 wells.

In the downstream, our five modern refineries can process up to 1.5 million barrels of crude daily. Our Whiting modernization project, slated for completion in 2013, is the largest economic investment in the history of Indiana. We market over 17 billion gallons of gasoline annually from coast-to-coast through more than 11,000 BP-branded service stations (BP, ARCO). BP also owns and operates Castrol, one of the world’s most recognized lubricant brands.
BP Pipelines North America is the nation’s second-largest liquids pipeline company, transporting more than 1.6 million barrels per day of oil and refined products, natural gas liquids, carbon dioxide and chemicals. We operate chemical plants in Decatur, AL, Cooper River, SC, and Texas City, TX.

In the realm of alternative energy, BP in 2005 committed itself to spending $8 billion over ten years. By the end of 2011, we had already invested about $7 billion, with $4 billion of that being spent in the United States. BP is focusing its efforts on those segments where the business can grow profitably, leading to a concentration on wind and biofuels in the US.

To promote shareholder value, we are actively managing our portfolio of assets, divesting those that are likely of more value to others than to BP. These include our refineries at Texas City, TX and Carson, CA, which were announced for sale in 2011, our interest in the Pompano and Mica fields in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as various onshore gas assets. We also made the difficult decision to exit the solar energy business.

Committed to the US

The US is vital to BP, and we approach our role with a great sense of responsibility.

We are working to restore the economy and environment of the Gulf Coast region. Significant progress is being made, and we are determined to see it through.

We are working to further ensure that safety is at the heart of everything we do by reinforcing our risk management processes and structures. We have established a new safety and operational risk organization, which includes people with decades of process safety experience in industries other than energy, such as aviation, chemicals, and nuclear power. We have deployed hundreds of specialist personnel across our operating businesses to guide, advise and if necessary, intervene.

Looking to the future

Keeping pace with America’s growing economy requires increasing the nation’s production of all forms of energy, traditional as well as renewable. We are building our portfolio with that goal in mind.

The people of BP are committed to the energy security of the United States, delivering the cutting edge fuels the country needs, all while operating safely, compliantly and sustainably into the future.
Gulf of Mexico restoration

Gulf of Mexico

The accident, the response and our ongoing commitment to the region
GoM restoration

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