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First modern oil well is drilled in Asia
A Russian engineer, F.N. Semyonov, is the first to use a drill to make an oil well in Asia. He drills in on the Aspheron Peninsula in east Azerbaijan. Although he was not the first to make an oil well, he was the first to use a drill to make one. -
William D'Arcy sends men to Persia for oil
This was the first British expedition into Persia to find oil. For the first few years this venture was unsuccessful. George Reynolds led this expedition. In 1904 the Burmah Oil Co. gave the expedition funding to keep searching but still no oil was found for years. -
George Reynolds strikes oil
Reynolds discovers oil in the last well he is permitted or has the money to drill. The well was near Masjed Soleyman in western Persia. This was the first major oil discovery in Persia and launched many other expeditions in the region that also found massive oil fields. -
Oil is found in Egypt
An expedition led by a Belgian specialist M. de Bay resulted in the discovery of the oil field in Ras Gemsah in eastern Egypt. However this field did not become a major source of oil until 1911 when the Hurghada oil field was discovered on the Red Sea. Now having both of these fields, Egypt built a refinery and started exporting oil. -
Oil in Iraq
After the Turkish Petroleum Company was granted a concession to drill in Iraq, on the condition that they receive money based on the amount of oil extracted, a well north of Kirkuk was drilled by J.M. Muir and struck oil. The well soon proved to be on a vast oil reserve. -
Oil in Bahrain
Oil was struck in Bahrain by Standard Oil of California. This discovery reinvigorated the search for oil in Arabia. Later these oil fields were discovery to cover about 80% of the island. -
Oil in Kuwait
Most of Kuwait's oil lies under the Burgan field in the southern part of he country. The first well ever drilled back in February 1938, Burgan No. 1, still produces oil today. Kuwait made its first oil shipment in June of 1946. -
Saudi Arabian Oil
Standard Oil of California first found Saudi Arabian oil near Dammam on the Persian Gulf. Saudi Arabia was also found to have the largest oil field ever found in the Middle East. Oil revenue became the main source of wealth for Saudi Arabia. -
United Arab Emirates Oil
Demand for United Arab Emirates pearls were cooling down so leaders were looking towards other forms of revenue. The U.A.E. granted a concession to Petroleum Development in 1939. However it wasn't until 1958 that oil was found and 1969 when it started to be exported. -
Libyan Oil
Libya did not want to grant concessions to companies who already had stakes elsewhere in the Middle East. The government wanted the Libyan fields to be the only focus of the oil companies they were granted to. Standard Oil of New Jersey won one of the concessions and struck a huge field of high quality oil south of the Mediterranean coast. -
Resources
https://www.ektinteractive.com/history-of-oil/ by EKT Interactive https://www.wired.com/2008/05/dayintech-0526/ by Randy Alfred http://wiki.openoil.net/History_of_Egyptian_oil_and_gas_industry by The Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_industry_in_Iraq by Thomas W. Donovan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_oil_industry_in_Saudi_Arabia by Michael Quentin Morton -
More Resources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_Arab_Emirates#The_beginning_of_the_oil_era by Tore Kjeilen https://www.kockw.com/sites/EN/Pages/Profile/History/KOC-History.aspx by Kuwait Oil Company https://www.kpc.com.kw/InformationCenter/Pages/Kuwait-Oil-History.aspx by Kuwait Petroleum Company https://coldwarstudies.com/2011/03/24/cold-war-libyaall-about-oil/ by Lisa Reynolds Wolfe https://www.geoexpro.com/articles/2012/12/bahrain-80-years-and-still-producing by Sinead Archer
