On June 30th, 1946, His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, turned a silver wheel to commence the flow of the first Kuwait oil exports. This heralded the start of a new era for Kuwait, providing the basis for its development into one of the world's most modern nation states.

In 1938 oil was first discovered in Kuwait by Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), a London-based joint venture of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (now BP) and Gulf Oil (now Chevron Corporation), under a concession granted by the then Amir of Kuwait, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. KOC had been formed in 1934 following more than a decade of concession negotiations. However, development of this bounteous natural resource was delayed by World War II starting the transformation of Kuwait from a largely impoverished desert sheikdom into the modern nation-state it is today.

Over the next three decades, extensive developments occurred both in the upstream and downstream elements of the industry: Kuwait Oil Company started refining operations with the Mina Al-Ahmadi Refinery in 1949; The once state owned Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC) became a private-sector company in 1957; Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) was formed in 1960 as a joint venture between the government and private sector and started operations at the Shuaiba Refinery in 1968; Petrochemicals Industries Company (PIC) was formed in 1963, also as a government-private enterprise, and started operations the following year in fertilizers manufacturing.

In the meantime, development had also taken place in the Neutral Zone, which Kuwait shares with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Mina Abdulla Refinery was built as a result of this partnership.

The year 1974 marked a key turning point for Kuwait's oil industry. During that year Kuwait implemented the democratic will of its people and acquired 60% of KOC from BP and Gulf Oil. In addition, the Supreme Petroleum Council was formed to oversee the country's oil interests. The following year, the Ministry of Oil was established in its own right, separate from the Ministry of Finance. The private sector's 40% of KNPC was acquired, followed by the remaining 40% of KOC. In 1976, the government acquired all of PIC and 49% of KOTC. In 1977, the Mina Abdullah refinery was acquired from AMINOIL. With the acquisition in 1979 of the remaining 51% of KOTC, the four major operating companies - KOC, KNPC, KOTC and PIC - were fully under State control. For the first time in history, the major elements of Kuwait's oil industry were in the hands of its people.
On January 27th, 1980, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation was formed , which brought together all elements of the industry under one holding company, thus enabling greater and more effective control.

Throughout the 1980's, expansion and integration occurred continued.

· Domestic Operations: All exploration and production operations fell under the command of KOC . In addition, KNPC assumed responsibility of Kuwait's three largest refineries. This allowed each company to specialise in its own field.

· Foreign Upstream Operations: In 1981, foreign upstream exploration interests held by KPC and the Ministry of Oil were consolidated into one entity, the Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC). In addition, KPC acquired Santa Fe, a US -based drilling contractor.

· Foreign Downstream Operations: Between 1983 and 1987, KPC acquired most of Gulf Oil's refining and marketing operations in Western Europe, in addition to BP's Danish operations. Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI) was established in London to manage these interests. In 1986, the renowned Q8 brand was launched. Other major expansions occurred in early 1990 such as the purchase of Mobil's network in Italy.

With a focus on international expansion, KPI began operations in Spain in 1992 and two years later acquired BP's Luxembourg assets. KPI penetrated the Italian market as well, with a refining joint venture with AGIP at Milazzo, and invested further in Italy's retail stations. Additional investment was made in Belgium and a further joint venture with OKF resulted in the birth of OKQ8; the biggest fuel retail market player in Sweden. In 2004, KPI decided to leave the UK market as the profitability was not sustained. The Company, however, expanded its market shares in the Netherlands by acquiring a part of BP network as well as an Automat network (TANGO). In Belgium, KPI become the second biggest market player due to the acquisition of BP and Aral networks.

Airport refuelling operations throughout Western Europe and Hong Kong were also expanded. Today, KPI markets approximately 301,000 barrels of products per day in Western Europe with an additional 90,000 barrels per day sold directly from its two refineries through more than 4,000 retail stations, and operates its own refinery in the Europoort and Milazzo. The company is also looking into further international expansion in the near and Far East.

Today, KPC is one of the world's most respected, trusted and reliable suppliers of energy. It has a long and proud history.