NEW ZEALANDER WHO WAS DISCOVERER OF OIL
Received Wednesday, 7 p.m. LONDON, Feb. 5. A correspondent, in a letter to thef Times says the New Zealander, Major Frank Holmes, who died last week, was uniquely responsible for discovering Arabia's vast petroleum resources. He was an outstanding personality in the Middle East, especially among Arab sheikhs of the western shore of the Persian Gulf, who called him ' 'the Father of Oil. ' ' Major Holmes, who was a mining engineer; staked his own opinion against experts in petroleum geology (who pronounced Arabia oil dry) and obtained an oil concession for Behrein Island in 1923. Major Holmes, after trying five years, obtained backing to exploit the concession and a major oilfield was discovered at Behrein in 1930, followed by still greater discoveries in Sudi Arabia and Kuwait where Major Holmes was concerned in obtaining a concession from a sheikh friend, and elsewhere.
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Chronicle (Levin), 6 February 1947, Page 5
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148NEW ZEALANDER WHO WAS DISCOVERER OF OIL Chronicle (Levin), 6 February 1947, Page 5
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