OPINION: The long shadow of Burmah Oil

In the realm of human endeavour, one often speaks of “history” in sweeping terms — the rise and fall of empires, the movement of peoples, the shifting of ideas and institutions across decades and centuries. Corporate history, by contrast, is more contained but no less profound. It is the chronicle of an enterprise’s journey — its founding, growth, triumphs, and tribulations — shaped by human decisions, market forces, and the tides of technology.

Where national history may chart rivers of change which reshape societies, corporate history traces the tributaries of those changes within the life of a company: the strategic choices of boards, the foresight (or folly) of managements, and the silent revolutions that occur in boardrooms, refineries, and rigs.

Having spent over twenty-five years in the corporate function of Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), I came to this realisation rather late — after my retirement in 2009 — when I read T. A. B. Corley’s monumental two-volume work, A History of the Burmah Oil Company. For those unfamiliar, Burmah was our parent company until it divested its shareholding in PPL in 1997. Reading Corley’s history was for me a rediscovery of my own professional lineage — a journey backward into the ancestry of the organisation where I had spent the prime of my working life. It was, quite simply, a revelation.

I often regret having read those volumes only after retirement. Had I read them earlier, I might have understood far better the historical undercurrents that shape the corporate decisions we make in the present. Corley’s research unfolds not as a sterile account of dates and mergers, but as a living narrative of people, places, and policies — how Burmah Oil moved from exploration in the jungles of Burma to the corridors of Westminster and the oilfields of the Subcontinent. One begins to see how corporate choices are seldom made in isolation: they are conditioned by geopolitics, national aspirations, and the unpredictable rhythms of commodity markets.

The lesson is humbling. Corporate history is not a luxury to be indulged in after retirement; it is a managerial instrument that sharpens foresight. When viewed through the perspective of time, one realises that every company — even the most prosperous one— stands at the intersection of opportunity and risk. Burmah’s journey, chronicled so diligently by Corley, demonstrates how swiftly fortunes can turn when strategy lags behind change. The company that once dominated the Eastern petroleum trade later found itself struggling against nationalisations, technological shifts, and the emergence of new energy paradigms. Yet even in decline, there were lessons of resilience, adaptability, and innovation that remain relevant for today’s executives.

In South Asia’s oil and gas exploration and production sector, corporate memory is often perilously short. We tend to reinvent the wheel every decade, forgetting the institutional wisdom painstakingly built by our predecessors. That is why corporate history matters. It anchors us in perspective — reminding us that today’s “new” challenges have often been faced, in another guise, before. For instance, the tussle between regulation and autonomy, or between exploration investment and profit sustainability, is not a modern dilemma but a recurring pattern in the century-long history of petroleum enterprise.

Reading A History of the Burmah Oil Company also reveals how deeply intertwined our region’s industrial story is with the larger currents of empire and independence. Burmah’s engineers and managers once walked the same ground that later became Pakistan’s petroleum frontier. Burmah’s footprint in Pakistan dates back to well before the Partition of 1947. It had, therefore, laid the foundations of a tradition that later evolved into Pakistan Petroleum Limited. We are, in that sense, heirs to a corporate legacy that transcends national borders — and understanding that legacy can inspire a sense of continuity and purpose among today’s corporate leaders. The Burmah Oil Company — later Burmah Castrol plc — remained the parent of PPL until it divested its shareholding in 1997 to the Government of Pakistan, and thus a golden chapter came to an end.

Corporate history teaches humility. It reminds us that the present is never self-sufficient. The decisions we make in a boardroom today will be the case studies of tomorrow — examined by others for what they reveal about vision, prudence, or error. To study the past of one’s own enterprise, therefore, is not antiquarianism; it is an act of professional self-awareness.

For younger managers in the energy sector, I would urge that reading such histories should not wait until retirement. They provide a mental map of how institutions grow, falter, and renew themselves. And in a region like ours, where history and business have always been intertwined, such awareness can make the difference between a company that merely survives and one that endures.

I finished Corley’s two volumes with a sense of gratitude — and a touch of regret. Gratitude, for the clarity they gave to my retrospective understanding of corporate evolution; regret, for not having read them at a time when I could have felt corporate history at the core of its substance. In their pages, I found not just the story of a great company, but the anatomy of corporate destiny itself.

As one who has witnessed the rise and maturity of Pakistan Petroleum Limited over decades, I feel compelled to remind my erstwhile company and its current management that the hydrocarbon era is fast approaching its twilight. Across the developed world, oil, gas, and coal are being steadily displaced by cleaner and cheaper alternatives, and Pakistan cannot afford to lag behind.

PPL must therefore reimagine its business model, moving decisively into minerals — a sector it has so far treated as peripheral. The 3.33 percent stake in the Reko Diq gold and copper project, held jointly with other partners including the leading Canadian company Barrick Gold, is a promising start; yet far too modest for the transformation required. Pakistan’s mineral wealth is vast — from copper and gold to rare earths — and PPL should seize this opportunity to become a national leader in resource diversification. The future belongs to those who anticipate change, not those who resist it.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025