Chapter 2 Summary and Analysis

The Middle East becomes associated with oil production in the 1930s, mostly due to reserve discoveries in Iran, Iraq and Bahrain. The first significant oil reserves in the Middle East are discovered in Iran in 1908. Oil exploration in Saudi Arabia begins in the 1920s, although no significant amounts of oil are discovered until the late 1930s. Standard Oil Company of California (SOCAL) secures prospecting rights from Abdul Aziz in 1933, and on March 3, 1938, Damman 7, one of several wells drilled, begins pumping a significant amount of oil. Thus the Saudi Arabian oil era is born. In the midst of the Great Depression and with World War II looming, SOCAL brings in several partners. They are Texaco, Standard Oil Company of New Jersey (later Exxon) and Socony-Vaccum (later Mobil.) These help fund drilling and production in Saudi Arabia. The partnership is called Aramco.

During...