The National offers a comprehensive range of passenger motor oils to meet the demands of all types of European, Japanese and American engines, tested in the most severe conditions around the world. The National Oil Corporation of Kenya Limited was incorporated in 1981 under the Companies Act (Cap 486). The company's main objective then was to coordinate oil exploration (upstream) activities. In 1988 the company was mandated on behalf of the government to supply 30% of the country's crude oil requirements that would in turn be sold to oil marketing companies for refining and onward sale to consumers. However after de-regulation of the oil industry in 1994 the company lost that mandate, and had to formulate new survival strategies that saw it’s entry into downstream operations.