 Logo used since 2023 | |
| Formerly |
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|---|---|
| Company type |
|
| Industry | Petroleum |
| Founded | 9 March 1899; 126 years ago (1899-03-09) |
| Founder | Charles Wakefield[1] |
| Fate | Acquired byBurmah Oil in 1966, Burmah-Castrol merged to BP in 2000, Castrol remained as a brand |
| Headquarters | Castrol Technology Centre, Pangbourne, Berkshire, UK BP Lubricants, Wayne, New Jersey Castrol Industrial North America, Naperville, IL |
Key people | Michelle Jou (CEO) |
| Products | Lubricants |
| Parent |
|
| Website | castrol.com |
Castrol Limited is a Britishoil company that markets industrial andautomotivelubricants, offering a wide range of oil,greases and similar products for mostlubrication applications. The company was originally namedCC Wakefield; the nameCastrol was originally just the brand name for CC Wakefield's motor oils, but the company eventually changed its name toCastrol when the product name became better-known than the original company name.[1]
Since 2000, Castrol Limited has been asubsidiary ofBP, which acquired the company for $4.73 billion.[2]
The "Wakefield Oil Company" was founded byCharles Wakefield inCheapside,London in 1899. Wakefield had previously left a job atVacuum Oil to start a new business selling lubricants for trains and heavy machinery. Eight Vacuum Oil employees joined Wakefield, and the company launched its firstlubricant in 1906.
In early 20th century, Wakefield Co. developed lubricants especially suited for automobiles and aeroplanes.[3] The brand "Castrol" originated after researchers added measured amounts ofcastor oil (a vegetable oil derived from castor beans) to their lubricant formulations.[1]By 1960, the name of the motor oil had eclipsed the company's name itself so "CC Wakefield & Company" became "Castrol Limited".[4] In 1966, Castrol was acquired by companyBurmah Oil, which was renamed "Burmah-Castrol". Burmah-Castrol was purchased by London-based multinationalBP (then, "BP Amoco plc") in 2000.[5]
At the time of purchase, Burmah-Castrol had a turnover of nearly £3 billion with operating profits of £284 million. The company also had 18,000 employees worldwide, with operations in 55 countries. Respectively, BP Amoco had 80,400 employees worldwide and revenues of more than £63 billion.[6]
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While Burmah's operations folded into the group, Castrol has remained as a subsidiary of BP.
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Castrol is a leading manufacturer of lubricants and offers a broad range of products for various applications. The exact names of the product groups and types are :
Passenger car engine oils:
Commercial vehicle engine oils:
Automatic transmission fluids, differential and axle fluids, manual transmission fluids:
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Somesteam locomotives were fitted with one or more Wakefield mechanicallubricators. These were normally mounted on the locomotive footplate alongside the boiler, in a position where a mechanical linkage could be made with some point on the locomotive's valve gear or another moving part. The reciprocation of this caused a lever on the lubricator to oscillate, and this was converted to a small rotary movement by aratchet. The gradual rotation caused a small amount of lubricating oil to be fed into pipes leading to the cylinders, valves and other parts. The amount of oil fed was in proportion to the distance travelled by the locomotive in either direction.[8]
Wakefield Canada is a Canadian-owned company that serves as the exclusive manufacturer, marketer, and steward of the Castrol brand in Canada. Founded in 2005 by Bob MacDonald and Dave Fifield following BP’s acquisition and global restructuring of Castrol, Wakefield assumed full responsibility for the brand’s operations within the Canadian market. Headquartered in Toronto, Wakefield blends, packages, and distributes Castrol lubricants and operates a nationwide logistics network with facilities in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, and Moncton. The company is credited with developing what BP later termed “The Wakefield Model,” a localized ownership and management framework subsequently adopted in other international markets. In addition to producing Castrol-branded lubricants, Wakefield also manufactures its own Wakefield-branded products and distributes complementary lines such as Super Clean. As of 2025, Wakefield Canada employs over 220 people and continues to invest in domestic manufacturing and innovation tailored to Canada’s automotive, commercial, and industrial sectors.[9]
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The brand has been involved inFormula One for many years, supplying to a number of teams, includingMcLaren (1979–1980 and 2017),Williams (1997–2005),Team Lotus (1992–1993),Brabham (1983–1984),Sauber (1994-early 1995),Jaguar (2002–2004),Renault/Alpine (2017–2025),Audi (2026 onwards) andWalter Wolf Racing.[10]
Castrol has sponsored theFord World Rally Team andM-Sport in theWorld Rally Championship since 2003, and theChip Ganassi RacingFord GT factory team from 2016, to 2019. It has also sponsoredVolkswagen Motorsport activities in theDakar Rally and later the World Rally Championship since 2005.Audi Sport's activities in rallying and touring car racing have been sponsored by Castrol, as well as itsLe Mans Prototypes program since 2011.[11]BMW Motorsport was sponsored by Castrol from 1999 to 2014.
Toyota Motorsport had Castrol sponsorship in theWorld Rally Championship from 1993 to 1999, andHyundai Motorsport did so from 2000 to 2002. Also, the Honda factory team at theWorld Touring Car Championship had Castrol sponsorship from 2012 to 2020.[12]
In theAll-Japan Grand Touring Championship(JGTC), the1997 championship-winningTOM'SToyota Supra[13] (famous from theGran Turismo series byPolyphony Digital) and later theMugenHonda NSX had Castrol sponsorships.
In North America, Castrol has been an active sponsor ofNHRA drag racing. Castrol sponsoredJohn Force Racing under the GTX brand from 1987 until the end of the 2014 season. Also, theAll American Racers had Castrol sponsorship in theCART World Series from 1996 to 1999. In 2014, Castrol sponsored former Indy 500-winning IndyCar teamBryan Herta Autosport, with English rookieJack Hawksworth behind the wheel.
Castrol is the name sponsor ofCastrol Raceway, a multi-track oval, drag, and motocross racing facility inEdmonton, Alberta, Canada.[14] Castrol is the sponsor ofD. J. Kennington in theNASCAR Canada Series andNASCAR Cup Series.[15]
In Australia, Castrol has a long history with theSupercars category, and between1993 and2005, Castrol was the title sponsor ofPerkins Engineering. It also sponsoredLonghurst Racing between1995 and1999,Ford Performance Racing between2007 and2009, andPaul Morris Motorsport in2010.[16] In conjunction with a multi-year series sponsorship, between 2014 - 2016 several race events acquired Castrol naming rights including theCastrol Edge Townsville 500 and theCastrol Gold Coast 600.[17] Castrol was the title sponsor of Team Bray, owned by Australian drag car legend,Victor Bray for 17 years.
Castrol was the main sponsor of theCastrol International Rally inCanberra for 11 years between 1976 and 1986. The same was true for an International Rally held in South Africa, ending annually in neighbouringSwaziland. It was the most prestigious event on the South African rally calendar at the time, until Castrol ended its sponsorship of this event. Later only some competitors' cars were carrying the bright green and red colours of Castrol sponsorship in national rally events, notably the S.A.Toyota dealer team.
In 2019, Castrol extended their sponsorship activities by re-forming a partnership withJaguar, this time supporting them inFormula E[18] and alsoNASCAR Cup Series giantsRFK Racing-Ford since 2020 season due to Ford's commercial relationship withBP plc.
Castrol also briefly made an appearance in1993 with Nissan in theBritish Touring Car Championship,[19][20] whereKeith O'Dor managed to win the 9th round of the season atSilverstone with his teammateWin Percy taking 2nd.[21]
Castrol advertising has been a part of telecasts of theNational Football League for years. In 2011, Castrol's Edge brand became the official motor oil sponsor for the league, renewed until the 2017 season.[22]
The Castrol Cricket Index is a dynamic indicator of the overall performance of acricket team. It is calculated by taking into consideration the batting momentum, the bowling efficiency, the performance of the teams in the quick start overs and the extreme performance overs and many other factors. Castrol Cricket also ranks cricketers based on their overall performance.[23] India centric initiatives being undertaken like Castrol World Cup ka Hero was created during the2011 Cricket World Cup.[24][25]
Castrol is also sponsoringMumbai Indians inIPL since 2024.
In 2011, Castrol signed a four-year sponsorship deal for theAustralian national rugby union team and as the naming rights sponsor ofThe Rugby Championship.[26][27]
From 1995 until 1997, Castrol were also the shirt sponsors of English Football League sideSwindon Town.
Castrol products are still marketed under the red, white and green colour scheme that dates from the launch of Castrol motor oil in 1909. Advertisements for Castrol oil historically featured the slogan "Castrol – liquid engineering". This was more recently refreshed and reintroduced as "It's more than just oil. It's liquid engineering."[28][29]
For many years, the opening notes of the secondNachtmusik movement ofMahler'sSeventh Symphony were used as the signature theme of Castrol TV commercials.[30]
Wakefield vehicles advertised the company and Castrol on their sides; models of them were made byDinky Toys, and in later times became sought-after collector's items.[31] One example from 1934 to 1935, in very good to excellent condition, was estimated to fetch £1,000-£1,500 at auction in 2016.[32]
Early in the new century, Wakefield took a personal interest in two sporty new motorised contraptions – the automobile and the aeroplane. The company started developing lubricants especially for these new engines, which needed oils that were runny enough to work from cold at start-up and thick enough to keep working at very high temperatures. [...] Wakefield researchers found that adding a measure of castor oil, a vegetable oil made from castor beans, did the trick nicely. They called the new product 'Castrol.'
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