The Galp Energia Group is a Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 corporation

Corporation

A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...

 which consists of more than 100 companies engaged in activities such as natural gas

Natural gas

Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...

 supply, regasification, transport, storage, and distribution; petroleum

Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...

 products exploration, production, refining, trading, logistics and retailing; co-generation and renewable energy

Renewable energy

Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...

. Its stock

Stock

The capital stock of a business entity represents the original capital paid into or invested in the business by its founders. It serves as a security for the creditors of a business since it cannot be withdrawn to the detriment of the creditors...

 was partially listed on the Euronext Lisbon

Euronext Lisbon

Euronext Lisbon is a stock exchange in Lisbon, Portugal. It belongs to the NYSE Euronext group, the first global stock exchange.Euronext Lisbon trades equities, public and private bonds, participation bonds, warrants, corporate warrants, investment trust units, and exchange traded funds...

 stock exchange

Stock exchange

A stock exchange is an entity that provides services for stock brokers and traders to trade stocks, bonds, and other securities. Stock exchanges also provide facilities for issue and redemption of securities and other financial instruments, and capital events including the payment of income and...

 in the second half of 2006.

History

SACOR, CIDLA, SONAP, PETROSUL, and PETROGAL were the main Portuguese companies from where current-day GALP was born.

SACOR was one of the first Portuguese oil companies. In 1954, SACOR's activities extended to Portugal's overseas territories

Portuguese Empire

The Portuguese Empire , also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire or the Portuguese Colonial Empire , was the first global empire in history...

; 80% of the gasoline

Gasoline

Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...

, kerosene

Kerosene

Kerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage, also known as paraffin or paraffin oil in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Ireland and South Africa, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek keros...

, and gasoil transported into the Portuguese overseas province of Angola had to be refined on continental Portugal

Continental Portugal

Continental Portugal or Mainland Portugal is the designation of the mainland Portuguese territory, located on Europe's Iberian Peninsula....

's territory.

The Portuguese discovered oil in their overseas province of Angola in the 1950s. Portuguese-run Sociedade de Lubrificantes e Combustiveis (ANGOL

Angol

Angol is a commune and capital city of the Malleco Province in the Araucanía Region of southern Chile. It is located at the foot of the Nahuelbuta Range and next to the Vergara River, that permitted communications by small boats to the Bío-Bío River and Concepción. This strategic position explains...

) was set up in 1953 in Portuguese Angola. By the 1960s, it was also participating in the exploration for hydrocarbons. In 1957, SACOR participated in the establishment of another oil company, MOÇACOR, in the Portuguese overseas province of Mozambique.

After the Carnation Revolution

Carnation Revolution

The Carnation Revolution , also referred to as the 25 de Abril , was a military coup started on 25 April 1974, in Lisbon, Portugal, coupled with an unanticipated and extensive campaign of civil resistance...

 military coup in 1974, Portugal handed over power to its overseas provinces. In Portugal, PETROGAL was formed in April 1976 from four Portuguese companies —SACOR, CIDLA, SONAP, and PETROSUL — that were nationalized following the revolution of April 1974. Galp Energia's initial public offering

Initial public offering

An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...

on the Lisbon Stock Exchange took place in 2006.