Petroleum Limited (PSX: PPL) has been a frontline player in the energy sector since the mid-1950s. As a major supplier of natural gas, the company contributed to over 20 percent of the country's total natural gas supplies besides producing crude oil, natural gas liquid and liquefied petroleum gas.
It all began in June 1950, with major shareholding by Burmah Oil Company (BOC) of the United Kingdom for exploration, prospecting, development and production of oil and natural gas resources. In 1997, BOC disinvested from the Exploration and Production (E&P) sector world-wide and sold its equity in PPL to the Government of Pakistan.
Later, the government reduced its holding through IPO in June 2004, which was further decreased with the initiation of the Benazir Employees Stock Option Scheme in 2009. Furthermore, the government further disinvested its five percent shares in PPL through Secondary Public Offering in 2014. Currently, the PPL's shareholding is divided between the government (68 percent), PPL Employees Empowerment Trust (around 7 percent) and private investors (25 percent).