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William D’arcy Gets his License
In 1901, an Englishman by the name William D’arcy obtained his license to explore Persia for oil. He sent explorer George Reynolds to search the vast land. For seven years, his expeditions remained futile. -
Discovery of Oil in the Middle East
Masjid-i-Suleiman was given one more chance to find oil. The morning he was drilling the air smelled like sulfur. When the drill reached 1,180 feet, he hit oil. Than a gusher rose 75 feet into the air. After this discovery, many other wells hit oil soon after. -
Anglo-Persian Oil co. was Founded
In order to organize their discovery of oil in the Middle East, D’Archy and Burmah Oil Co. established the the Anglo-Persian Oil Co. The first round of public stock shares were sold out in 30 minutes! Today the company is named BP. -
Mossadeq Nationalizes the Oil Industry
In March of 1951, Prime Minister Mohammad nationalizes the oil industry. He does this in hopes of preventing foreign interests from controlling the Iranian economy. There was much resistance from the British after this movement. -
Oil is Discovered in Libya
After oil was found in Libya, their economy was boosted. The oil boom gave this country new financial independence and allowed the population to grow. Employment grew and living conditions became much better. -
Abu Dhabi Begins to Export Petroleum
In 1962, Abu Dhabi began to export petroleum which resulted in mass amounts of money. Because of the small population occupying the capital of the UAE, they needed help from others to carry out their needs. Hundreds of thousands of foreign workers were hired. -
Saudi Arabia negotiates for control of 25 percent of the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco)
Aramco was owned by California Arabian Standard Oil Company, Texaco, Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, and Socony-Vacuum until Saudi Arabia expressed interest in purchasing some of the company. After negotiations it was agreed that they would purchase twenty five percent of the company. Over the next sixteen years, Saudi Arabia becomes the sole owner. -
Iraq becomes the first Arab country to nationalize a Western oil corporation
Soviet petroleum experts helped Iraq develop its oil industry. By doing so, Baghdad ended its reliance of western companies. Iraq’s oil output increased tremendously, making it the second largest exporter of oil by 1979. -
Saudi Arabia leads an oil boycott against the U.S. and other Western countries
Due to the U.S. supporting Israel Saudi Arabia begins this boycott to get back at the U.S. The boycott causes oil prices to quadruple! This causes Saudi Arabia’s wealth to grow immensely which increased their political influence. -
The U.S. imposes oil and trade sanctions against Iran
The U.S. accused Iran of sponsoring terrorism, seeking to acquire nuclear arms, and promoting hostility to Israeli- Palestinian peace process. All of these claims Iran denied. Even so, the U.S. imposed oil and trade sanctions on the country.
