Feb 1943
Thirteen firms met in London to form the Council of British Manufacturers of Petroleum Equipment (CBMPE), as we were known then, to look at how companies could benefit when the post-war reconstruction of the oil industry began.
Jun 1943
The CBMPE formed its first committee: Advisory Engineering.
Oct 1943
Engineering Liaison Committee formed to garner oil companies’ problems and needs of members.
Jan 1944
First meeting for members held. Our first ever speaker, Dr. A. E. Dunstan, was present.
Feb 1944
Membership grows to 100 companies, when the EIC had a full-time staff of two.
Finance Committee formed.
First monthly summary of weekly news sent to members.
Nov 1944
First edition of Classified List, a publication with all members and their offerings.
Apr 1945
Publications Committee formed.
Sep 1945
Economic Committee formed.
1946
First overseas trade mission to the Caribbean is carried out. It took three months and the trip was done by ship.
1946
Representatives from the CBMPE were part of the Petroleum Equipment Industry Committee of the British Standards Institution (BSI).
1947
The British Petroleum Equipment News is launched. It’s still in print and is now called Inside Energy. We had over 200 members then.
1947
Following the mission to the Caribbean in 1946, S. T. Robson, a director at Head Wrightson and chairman of the CBMPE, toured the Middle East in late 1947 “with a view to investigating the possibilities of the sale of United Kingdom equipment in this area”. Robson’s itinerary was carried out by trains, planes and ship. He was welcomed in Bahrain by Russel Brown, General Manager of the Bahrain Petroleum Co. (BAPCO).
May 1947
Overseas Representation Organising Committee formed.
Dec 1949
The CBMPE completed its first mission to the United States.
Apr 1950
Mission to the Netherlands.
Mar 1951
The CBMPE was registered on 30 March 1951. Its HQ was located at 79 Buckingham Palace Road .
May 1953
Information Service, what we would know today as our Market Intelligence services, is developed.
Dec 1953
The CBMPE had a staff of 13 employees.
Jun 1954
First time that the CBMPE engaged with representatives from other energy sources after an approach from the UK Atomic Energy Commission.
Jul 1957
First mission to Canada, which later originated our first Country Report.
Jun 1958
Council’s first Inaugural Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Exhibition (CPEE), jointly arranged by the CBMPE and BCPMA.
Sep 1958
The CBMPE was behind the creation of the British Refinery Constructors (BREFCON) consortium, which in September 1958 was awarded a contract by Petrobras worth £4m (£65m today) for the supply of equipment to the new Duque de Caxias Refinery in Rio de Janeiro.
1959
The British Oil Equipment Credits (BOEC), a wholly owned subsidiary of the CBMPE, is created. According to CBMPE’s own words, BOEC was “formed to promote schemes for the sale on deferred terms to overseas purchasers of capital plant and equipment made in the United Kingdom for the petroleum industry".
Jun 1959
First stand took to an exhibition at the 5th World Petroleum Congress, New York.
Mar 1960
Our fourth mission was to Argentina and Chile.
1961
Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) was a BOEC client, with £7 million in orders.
Jul 1962
Our address at the time was 2, Princes Row, Buckingham Palace Road.
1963
The CBMPE has its first ‘composite stand’, the pre-cursor to the successful UK Pavilion model we have today, at Inter-Oil.
Mar 1964
A fifth mission was carried out, again in South America (Chile, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela).
May 1966
A mission to the Middle East took place, covering Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait.
May 1967
Kuwait was visited again by a CBMPE mission. Saudi Arabia was also part of the route.
Apr 1968
Mexico received the Council’s 8th mission.
Jun 1968
First time that the CBMPE and the Board of Trade ran a joint venture exhibition, in Rotterdam at OPEX 1968. Eleven member companies were on the stand, helped by the National Economic Development Council.
1971
The CBMPE led another trade delegation to Kuwait starting between late 1970 and April 1971
Jul 1971
First Council move into North Sea Operations: three members decided to "take the plunge" into the field of servicing and supplying equipment for North Sea Operations. Shell and BP talked to members about the “enormous” opportunities for British manufacturers.
Oct 1971
The CBMPE was involved in the International Exhibition of Machinery and Equipment for the Chemicals, Foodstuffs and Food and Drink Industries in Utrech. Our HQ in 1971 was located at 118 Southwark Street.
Nov 1971
Formation of the Joint and Contractors Committees.
Feb 1972
North Sea Action Committee formed.
Mar 1977
The CBMPE sponsored two one-day petrochemical exhibitions in the Netherlands.
Apr 1978
We partnered with the British Overseas Trade Board to take UK companies to South America’s first energy exhibition. Energy ‘78 was held in São Paulo, Brazil, on 10-16 April 1978. The CBMPE HQ was located at 178-202 Great Portland Street in London.
1981
Broadening its member base and activities, the CBMPE changes its name to the Energy Industries Council (EIC) and opens its new London office in Notting Hill Gate.
Membership grows to 250 companies.
Jul 1981
Formation of Energy Advisory Committee to widen scope of Council activities.
1984
Looking to re-establish links after the revolution, a mission to Iran is planned.
Nov 1985
Public Relations Committee reformed.
Apr 1987
First EIC seminar on the environment, Energy and the Environment, covering atmospheric emissions, water pollution, government attitudes, onshore exploitation of energy resources, nuclear energy, and alternative energy. The Department of Energy considered it to be “Terrific. It’s about time an organisation such as the EIC discussed this subject”.
Feb 1989
Formation of the Power Committee.
Jan 1994
EIC stands taken at both OTC and ONS.
1995
The EIC opens its first office outside the UK in Houston, United States.
1999
An EIC office opens in Aberdeen.
2000
The EIC launches The Projects Database, a forerunner of what would become EICDataStream. The Singapore and Rio offices are opened.
Oct 2000
During Rio Oil & Gas, a local paper hailed the “largest trade mission ever brought to Rio de Janeiro”, with approximately 100 companies. The delegation was led by Stephen Byers, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, alongside the EIC, NOF and SDI.
2002
The first ever EIC Connect event takes place in Manchester. The Connect concept was invented by Alan Lewendon, then our Marketing Director, who also pitched the idea of the Projects Database to then CEO Dai Somerville-Jones. EIC Global Energy magazine is launched, later to be renamed and rebranded as Energy Focus.
2004
The Dubai office is opened.
2005
The EIC registers its 500th member.
Sep 2005
Boris Johnson, then MP for Henley, joined the EIC Annual Dinner.
2007
The Teesside office is opened.
2008
EICDataStream is launched, a complete rewrite of the Projects Database, continuing its journey to become one of the world’s leading CAPEX project-tracking databases. An EIC Training department is formed.
2009
The EIC’s Head Office moves to a new location on the South Bank of the River Thames in Vauxhall. Prince Andrew was part of the opening ceremony.
2011
The EIC opens an office in Beijing.
Jul 2014
The EIC’s Asia Pacific (APAC) office, previously in Singapore, moves to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Beijing office closes.
Sep 2014
EIC APAC Opening Ceremony officiated by Grant Shapps, then Chairman of the Conservative Party, and Wee Yiaw Hin, EVP Petronas. In attendance were former EIC CEO Claire Miller, CFO Ian Molloy, Head of EIC APAC Azman Nasir and more than 100 guests and members.
2015
The third major version of EICDataStream is launched, adding new capabilities, greater depth to project data and a new, simpler user interface.
2017
EICAssetMap is launched, the only operations and maintenance database to map all major UK facilities across all energy sectors.
2017
Non-UK legal entity companies now welcomed into EIC membership – the first of them being Al-Yaseah, now a Board member, in the UAE.
2017
EIC Connect events held in Indonesia and the US for the first time.
2018
The EIC celebrates its 75th birthday and surpasses the 600-member mark.
2018
EICDataStream tracks over 21,000 projects worth a cumulative US$10tn. First Market Intelligence hub set up in Kuala Lumpur.
2018
The EIC Connect event model is taken to Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia for the first time.
2018
The first edition of the Brazil Energy Future Summit was organised in Rio, with an evening reception at the MAR museum.
2019
The EIC Connect event model is taken to Mexico and South Korea for the first time.
2019
EICSupplyMap launched, the only UK database of all 3,500 British energy supply chain businesses and their detailed capabilities (defined as companies with revenues surpassing £1m).
2019
A second Brazil Energy Future Summit was held in Rio by the EIC. In São Paulo, in partnership with the Brazilian Machinery Association (ABIMAQ), we arranged the Internationalisation in the Oil and Gas Sector event. In Brazil, the EIC also led the annual UK & Brazil: Partners in Energy trade mission.
2020
In reaction to the pandemic, change to homeworking and flexible working in the UK – Teesside and Aberdeen offices closed, London office halved in size.
Sep 2020
In celebration and recognition of the 25th anniversary of the Houston office, the City of Houston, Mayor Sylvester Turner and Governor Greg Abbott officially proclaimed 28 August 2020 as Energy Industries Council Day.
2021
EIC Consult and External Affairs function launched. A second Market Intelligence hub is set up in Rio.
2021
100 members milestone reached in Malaysia.
2021
UK Energy Supply Chain (UKESC) ministerial taskforce set up co-chaired by EIC CEO Stuart Broadley and UK Energy and Export ministers.
Nov 2021
EIC wins National Pavilion Award at ADIPEC.
2022
Two EIC ‘firsts’ reached: 800 members (year average) and 100 employees around the world.
2022
EICDataStream tracks over 12,000 projects worth a cumulative US$13tn.
2022
EICTV and Event Solutions function launched.
2022
ExxonMobil joins the EIC Board, our first international energy company member and non-executive director.