Shell-Mex and BP Ltd was a British joint venture between petroleum companies Royal Dutch Shell (Shell) and BP. It was formed in 1932 when both companies decided to merge their United Kingdom marketing operations, partly in response to the difficult economic conditions of the times. The parent organisations demerged their United Kingdom marketing operations in 1976. The announcement of this action was as follows: The National Benzole Company will continue to trade under the National brand and will form part of the BP marketing organisation.