Oil Burner Control

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 natural gas exploration.

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. ]]. Large oil fields, such as the Burgan field were discovered prior to WW2 but the development of the oil industry began after the war, and triggered a large influx of foreign investments into Kuwait.

The initial development of the oil industry co-incided with the end of the British Raj in India and many British expatriate administrators and engineers transferred from there to Kuwait. They set up the oil town of Ahmadi which had the appearance of a typical British garrison town with thousands of trees lining streets of pleasant bungalows in which lived a remarkable group of dedicated engineers and administrators who built up the oil industry while at the same time training Kuwaitis to take over eventual control.

When the Royal Navy converted their warships to oil burners instead of coal the British Government depended on a secure supply of Middle Eastern oil and figures such as Dame Violet Dickson who lived among the Kuwaitis for 40 years were influential in fostering an excellent relationship between the Kuwaitis and the British during the period when they and American expatriates developed the oil industry.

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.