BP

The trading name British Petroleum was originally devised by a German firm to market its products in the U.K. The Anglo-Persian Oil Company, from which modern-day BP descends, bought the name after the British government seized it in the First World War. The energy major survived Iran’s oil nationalization in the 1950s, later merging with several large U.S. businesses including oil firm Amoco and gas station chain ARCO. Surviving costly setbacks from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the loss of its 20% stake in Russia’s Rosneft after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, BP is now navigating the energy transition. The London-headquartered firm has been relatively aggressive at pivoting away from oil production to lower carbon activities, predominantly retail sales, oil refinery and trading, natural gas and lubricants (under the brand Castrol), although it also has a growing renewables portfolio.