BP is one of the world's largest petroleum and petrochemical companies. Our main activities are exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas; oil refining, marketing, supply and transportation; and the production and marketing of petrochemicals. We have a growing activity in gas, power and renewables and in solar power generation.

The company's market capitalisation is around $160 billion. In the year 2002 earnings totalled $8.7 billion on a turnover of $179 billion. Currently we employ about 115,000 people and are represented in over 100 countries. Our corporate headquarters are in London.

An international company with global reach, BP has well-established operations in Europe, North and South America, Asia, Australasia and Africa. Each day the company generates about two million barrels of crude oil and 8.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas. We rank in the top three non state-owned companies in terms of reserves in the global oil and gas industry. In the United States we are the largest producer of oil and gas based on major major assets in the Gulf of Mexico, Texas and Alaska. In the UK, we account for about 20% of oil production and 15% of natural gas production based on major assets in the North Sea and West of Shetland.

Downstream, we transport, refine and market our products to customers in more than 100 countries. At present BP owns, or partly- owns, 25 refineries in the US, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and China. Each day we sell and trade more than six million barrels of refined products including gasoline, aviation fuels, middle distillates and fuel oil for commercial and industrial uses. We own or operate 25,000 miles of pipeline, much of it in the US and also control an international tanker fleet of 26 vessels. Our retail operations are built on 29,200 service stations around the world, many of which sell convenience goods.

In petrochemicals, BP makes a wide range of products and rates as the world's third largest petrochemical company with strong positions in North America , Europe and Asia. Major manufacturing plants are located in the US, UK, Belgium, France and Germany and are reinforced by joint-venture projects in seven Asian countries including China, Indonesia and Malaysia. The company holds leading positions in a number of core products including acetic acid, purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and polypropylene.

Technology is vital to BP's business strategy and is driven forward in partnership with others and at major complexes in London, Chicago and Houston. The development of new sources of energy is a priority for the company. We hold a leading share in the global market for solar panels and operate nine manufacturing plants in Australia, India, Spain and the United States.

As a company, BP aspires to be a positive influence in the world. This means contributing to the growth and development of communities in which we operate through focused social investment. It means respect for the rule of law, respect for the rights of the individual where we do business, and a commitment to conduct our business with integrity. It also means being accountable for our actions and the actions of those working on our behalf.

Our policy goals can be simply stated - outstanding business performance; ethical conduct; benefit to the wider community; no accidents in our operations, no harm to people and no damage to the environment. To achieve these objectives we set measurable targets, submit the results to external verification and publish reports detailing our progress.

Editor: Wing