Enterprise Oil was a major UK independent exploration and production company based in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

, with core areas of activity in the United Kingdom and Ireland, mainland Europe,

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United S ...

. The Company was once a constituent of the

FTSE 100 Index The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is a share index of the 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange with (in principle) the highest mar ...

but was acquired by

Royal Dutch Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New ...

History

Enterprise Oil was formed in 1983 to exploit the

North Sea oil North Sea oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons, comprising liquid petroleum and natural gas, produced from petroleum reservoirs beneath the North Sea. In the petroleum industry, the term "North Sea" often includes areas such as the Norwegian Sea an ...

production assets of the then state-owned

British Gas plc British Gas plc was an energy and home services provider in the United Kingdom. It was formed when the British Gas Corporation was privatised as a result of the Gas Act 1986, instigated by the government of Margaret Thatcher M ...

: it was privatised and its shares first listed on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pa ...

in February 1984. In 1994 the Company was involved in a high-profile but unsuccessful bid to acquire

Lasmo Lasmo plc was a British oil and gas exploration and production business. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History The Company was founded in 1971 as London and Scottish Marine Oil (LASMO) to ...

. The

Corrib gas field The Corrib gas project ( ga, Tionscanamh Ghás Aiceanta na Coiribe) is a developed natural gas deposit located in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately off the northwest coast of County Mayo, Ireland. The project includes a natural gas pipeline and ...

was discovered off the coast of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

by Enterprise Oil in 1996, and has proved especially troublesome for Shell (see

Corrib gas controversy The Corrib gas controversy was a social protest campaign against the Corrib gas project in north-western County Mayo, Ireland. The project involves the processing of gas onshore through Broadhaven and Sruth Fada Conn Bays in Kilcommon. Origi ...

). In the last few years of the Company's existence it was also investing significant sums in its

ian oil interests. The Most Reverend Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury and former

Bishop of Durham The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler has been the Bishop of Durha ...

, served as Group Treasurer from 1984 to 1987. The Company was purchased by

for £3.5bn in 2002.

Operations

The Company had interests in some 41 fields, mainly in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

; it had also made at least one major discovery in the

. It was initially based in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

but whilst keeping its head office there, in 1998 it moved its UK operations to its office in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), ...

.Enterprise Oil job fears
/ref>

References

Defunct oil and gas companies of the United Kingdom Oil and gas companies of Scotland Companies based in Aberdeen Former Shell plc subsidiaries British companies established in 1983 Energy companies established in 1983 Non-renewable resource companies established in 1983 Non-renewable resource companies disestablished in 2002 1983 establishments in Scotland 2002 disestablishments in Scotland Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange 2002 mergers and acquisitions {{Scotland-hist-stub