Britoil plc was originally a privatised British oil company operating in the North Sea.

[1] The company was originally formed in 1975 as the British National Oil Corporation (BNOC), a nationalised body, under the provisions of the Petroleum & Submarine Pipe-lines Act 1975.

[4] As a result of the Oil and Gas (Enterprise) Act 1982, BNOC was split to enable the trading sector of the company BNOC to remain nationalised whilst the oil exploration and production sector, Britoil, was a limited liability company.

The remaining Government minority shareholding in Britoil was sold in November 1985 for £434 million, ensuring it kept a 'Golden Share' in order to veto any outsourcing attempts.

[7] Britoil's Production entitlement and financial summary was as follows:[4][8] In the same year, the company had been subject of an attempted £23 million fraud by one of its own cashiers.