In 1999 a bedroom start-up partnership was created by the Group’s founders, who were then in their twenties, with the intention to trade in the petroleum sector. In 2000, State Oil was founded as a trader, wholesaler and retailer of petroleum products. The growth of the business necessitated separation of the trading function from its retail and wholesale operation. This requirement led to the formation of Prax in 2002 as a wholly owned subsidiary of State Oil to focus solely on physical trading of petroleum products. In view of the unusually high working capital demands of this business and in order to benefit from established expertise, the Group formed strategic alliances with industry operators.