Petrocarbon Limited was established in 1945 by Manchester Oil Refinery Limited (MOR) as a design and development company, and to raise money to allow Petrochemicals Limited to undertake the construction of the Carrington Refinery.

In 1948 the group of companies was restructured and Petrocarbon became a subsidiary of Petrochemicals. This situation continued until 1953 when Petrochemicals separated itself from Manchester Oil Refinery Limited and also disposed of Petrocarbon, which remained a subsidiary of MOR. At this time the company also changed its name to Petrocarbon Development Limited.

In 1957 the company was involved in the development of a polystyrene plant in Poland as well as constructing a plant of MOR and work with the Atomic Energy Research Establishment.

By 1963 Petrocarbon Development Limited, along with its parent Manchester Oil Refinery Limited were part of the Burmah group.