NAPIA was founded in the summer of 1974. The organization grew out of earlier meetings with investor relations executives of oil industry companies, held informally in 1967 - 1969, then more formally under the auspices of the Division of Finance and Accounting of the American Petroleum Institute (API), in 1970 - 1973. The earlier meetings had limited attendance, primarily from the better known analysts based in New York City. There was concern that such meetings with company representatives, that were not open to all who might like to attend, could be construed as preferential access to information. NAPIA was set up to offer a forum for all interested analysts and company representatives to come together in an open environment to share contact and information. Today NAPIA encompasses both buy and sell side analysts, covering both equity and debt analysis, as well as portfolio managers, consultants, investment bankers, investor relations executives, educators, and others interested in petroleum investment. 

The focus on membership was national. There already existed strong local petroleum analyst organizations in New York City and Boston, but there was no organized way for those outside these two cities to link to a professional analyst organization specialized in the petroleum industry. While most analysts were still concentrated in New York and Boston, there was a growing universe of petroleum analysts outside these cities that could benefit from the broader activities a national organization could bring to their profession. The founding Board of Directors of NAPIA included Directors from New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. Membership quickly grew to nearly 450 analysts from firms throughout the country. While the universe of oil analysts has declined in recent years, NAPIA today has over 250 members from the USA, Canada, England, Scotland, Europe and the Far East. 

NAPIA encouraged the establishment of a counterpart organization from the oil and oil service industry and the Petroleum Investor Relations Association (PIRA) was set up not long after the founding of NAPIA. The two organizations enjoyed a close beneficial relationship since the mid-1970s. Together with PIRA and PIRA companies, NAPIA held conferences throughout most of the world, and conducted field trips to many of the oil operating areas of the world. PIRA became part of NIRI (National Investor Relations Institute) in 2007.

For those interested in more on the history of NAPIA and the oil analyst profession, NAPIA has published a history of oil analysts and NAPIA, entitled, Oil Analysts . . A Historical Perspective, with the first edition covering the years to 1989, and a second edition, published in 1999, adding coverage for the years 1989-1999.