A big oil company wants you to know a little bit more about its giant trading arm

BP has started advertising the activities of its marketing and trading team.

Many oil and gas giants house a trading arm that buys and sells oil, gas, and financial derivatives - though companies rarely reveal their trading profits and generally keep these teams under wraps.

BP however took the decision to highlight the work of its trading team in an advertisement in the Washington Post.

It boasts that BP's marketing and trading business has computer servers that process more than 157 trillion independent calculations per second, and that it was the first energy company to register as a "swap-dealer" under Dodd Frank regulation.

"BP's marketing and trading team works closely with its customers and other BP businesses across the company... The team keeps BP's production flowing, moving oil and liquids from reservoir to consumer, and gas from basin to burner tip. This integrated approach allows BP to optimize the value of energy resources for the company and its customers," the advertisement stated.

It is the latest example of branded content from the British oil giant, which has previously marketed itself as an involved and responsible corporate entity in the United States.

BP's trading team has helped offset weaker company performance due to the falling oil price. The oil and gas company's profits slipped in the third quarter, down to $46 million. That compares to a profit of $1.3 billion in the third quarter of 2014. The lower profits were in part offset by "strong gas marketing and trading results."

A BP spokesmantold Business Insider: "We often highlight our core business units in our advertising, and this is no different."