Petrol was first imported from the US and marketed in Britain at the turn of the century.
It was sold in sealed two-gallon (nine-litre) cans. After the first world war, private motoring and commercial road transport developed quickly and as a consequence, the number of petrol retailers increased.
Shell and Esso initially controlled the market, but between the wars other suppliers established themselves.
And, according to sources CBRE and Experian Catalist, there was a rapid growth in demand in the market and the establishment of refineries in the UK quickly followed.
