I’m sure dedicated shareholders of BP (LSE: BP) (NYSE: BP.US) will know all about the oil group’s financials, prospects and valuation.
But large, established companies such as BP often come with many interesting stories from years gone by. I’ve trawled the internet and discovered these fun facts you probably never knew about the FTSE 100 member:
BP is the only corporation to have an Oscar
The company won the award for the 1960 documentary film Giuseppina, which it sponsored and distributed. The trophy currently sits proudly in the reception of BP’s Sunbury office.
BP is the largest investor in bio-fuels in Brazil
For the last six years, BP has been snapping up extensive land holdings in Brazil, where it hopes to eventually produce billions of gallons of ethanol from sugar cane.
BP has also spent approximately £4.5bn on its biodiesel business in the Americas, and as result holds a market share of around 10%.
BP owns the largest movable man-made object on earth…
… which apparently is the PGS Ramform Sterling vessel, which is being used for seismic imaging off the coast of Australia. The ship is part of the firm’s ongoing efforts to stay at the forefront of seismic surveying.
As part of its marine studies, BP is currently building a new High-Performance Computing centre in Houston, Texas. Here, it will process and manage vast amounts of seismic data that will enable scientists to produce clear images of underground rock structures. These studies should help reduce the risks and costs of drilling during future exploration programmes.
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> Chris does not own any share mentioned in this article.
