Attock Oil Company Limited

Attock Oil Company Limited (AOC) was incorporated in England on 1 December 1913 by Francis J. Mitchell, and extended into Pakistan as a branch office of a foreign company for the principal business of exploration, drilling and production of petroleum products. AOC met its first oil discovery in 1915 at Khaur, Attock District. Thereafter, AOC made significant contributions in promoting oil and gas exploration in the country by opening up the Potohar Basin as a new oil province. The Potohar Basin remained the only oil producing basin in Pakistan till the early 1970s. Although the company was established by British entrepreneurs, control was purchased by Saudi investor Ghaith Pharaon in the 1970s. Pharaon's family still own the company.