Oil and the Mideast

pictures --->

Wm. D'Arcy's Burmah Oil Co. 1901 concession that led to the great 1908 gusher at Masjid-i-Sulaiman and formation of 1909 Anglo-Persian Oil Co.
Mideast oil important to the British navy in WWI; BP an instrument of imperial policy.
Seven Sisters (the "majors"): Exxon (was Rockefeller's Standard Oil Co.), Shell, BP (privatized since 1979), Mobil (was Socony), Chevron (was Doheny's Socal), Gulf (was owned by Mellons until sold to Chevron), Texaco.
Sykes-Picot 1916 and San Remo 1920 kept Mideast oil for Britain.
Iran became republic in 1925 under Reza Pahlevi, but BP dominated with Anglo-Persian Co. and built the first Mideast pipeline to refinery at Abadan.
1925 - The British-controlled Turkish Petroleum Company in Mosul was reorganized as the Iraq Petroleum Company
1927 - British discover large oil deposits at Kirkuk in Iraq

Abd Al-Aziz ibn Saudcaptured Riyadh Jan. 15, 1902, from the Rashids and Turks and unified S.A. by 1927, collecting fees from pilgrims to Mecca and Medina
Chevron strike in Bahrain 1931
1933 concession = all-American, not Allies

Harold Ickes was U. S. Oil Coordinator
FDR: "I hereby find that the defense of Saudi Arabia is vital to the defense of the U.S." (letter to Stettinius Feb. 18, 1943)
loans, advisors sent to S.A.
Ickes wants Petroleum Reserves Corp. pipeline across S.A. by 1944
Connolly stops Anglo-American proposal August 1944 to support S.A. and ARAMCO - policy would be left up to private companies
private Trans-Arabia pipeline built 1945-50