[1] [2] By the late 1930s the Oil Board's preparatory work for war was focused on potential sources of supply particularly from the Middle East, and Central and South America, together with practical issues of tankage and storage.
The membership comprised the Chairmen or Chief Executives of most of the petroleum and oil companies operating in the UK.
The aim of the board was to oversee the import, processing, storage, distribution and delivery of all petroleum products in the UK with the exception of oil for the Royal Navy.
[1] The success was claimed to be largely due to the Board's Chairman, Sir Andrew Agnew, who had extensive knowledge of the oil industry and commanded respect within it.
[7] The original agreement, made when the Petroleum Board was established, provided for its dissolution no more than two years after the state of emergency ended.
The oil companies also wished to return to individual marketing and claimed that the continuation of pooling was frustrating the development of distribution.
In Parliament the Minister of Fuel and Power acknowledged the ‘government’s appreciation of the great wartime services ... by the Petroleum Board ... and to thank all members and staff ... for the valuable work they have done’.