KEYFACT Energy
Contacts
Partex Oil and Gas Group
Rua Ivone Silva, 6 – 1º
1050 – 124 Lisboa
Portugal
Tel: (00351) 21 791 29 00
Partex Oil and Gas
Description
The Partex Oil and Gas Group has played an instrumental role in the development of the international oil and gas industry through its presence in the historical oil concessions of the Middle East. Its founder, Calouste Gulbenkian, a descendant of an illustrious Armenian family, was a pioneer in the exploration and development of the oil fields in the Middle East.
In 1928, the signature of the Red Line Agreement and the confirmation of the shareholding participations of the Turkish Petroleum Company (TPC) marked the consolidation of Calouste Gulbenkian’s firm involvement in the oil industry in the region. TPC then changed its name to Iraq Petroleum Company.
A decade later, in June 1938, Calouste Gulbenkian decided to incorporate his oil business assets in a Company he created in Panama: Participations and Explorations Corporation. The name of the Group – PARTEX – originates from the name of this Company.
With Calouste Gulbenkian’s death in 1955, the Middle East oil industry and as a consequence, the Group’s holdings changed significantly. This particularly affected the concessions held by the Iraq Petroleum Company, which were nationalized in 1973.
As a result of the strategic decisions and business requirements of Partex, new companies have been created over the years. In March 1998, almost 60 years after the creation of the first company, a holding company was incorporated in Cayman Island – Partex Oil and Gas (Holdings) Corporation – owned entirely by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. It became the holder of the Gulbenkian participations in the oil and gas business and the only shareholder of all the Group Companies.
Nowadays, the Group combines its traditional involvement in Abu Dhabi and Oman with a successful diversification of operations to other countries such as Algeria, Angola, Brazil, Kazakhstan, and Portugal.