Who owns BP oil company?

BP is mostly British AND American - 40% shareholders are British and 39% are US. Thus 21% are owned by shareholders in a number of other countries. Hence, it is, arguably, not a British or American company in the true sense but a multinational one.

Note also, while the CEO is British, the Chairman is Swedish.

While the parent company of the Group, BP plc, is registered in Britain, different parts of the BP Group are registered companies in different countries, including the USA, Britain and Russia, to name just three.

Plus, BP is more correctly known as BP, and NOT British Petroleum. It has not been legally known as British Petroleum since 2001, when BP merged with the US company AMOCO.

The company within the group that is actually closest associated with the Gulf oil spill is actually BP USA Inc.It is, therefore, argued that BP USA Inc that should be burdened with the cost of the oil spill cleanup, and not the whole of the BP international group.