THERE'S OIL IN IRAN!

New Zealand Listener, Volume 5, Issue 116, 12 September 1941, Page 14

THERE'S OIL IN IRAN!

How British Developed Rich Field

THE general purpose of the Anglo-Russian occupation of Iran was to forestall an occupation by Germany. One of the particular purposes was to prevent Germany from seizing the Persian oil-fields. Here is the story of the Anglo-Iranian Oil

Company, told by

ROBERT H.

NEIL

late Captain Royal Scots ©

Fusiliers. Captain Neil had service with the Intelligence Corps in the Middle East, and speaks Persian

HE Anglo-Iranian Oil Company’s concession in Iran was obtained in 1901, by William Knox D’Arcy, an Australian. It gives the company an exclusive right to search for and exploit petroleum throughout the whole of Iran with the exception of the five Caspian provinces, Azerbaijan, Mazanderan, Gilan, Astrabad and Khorassan, which were regarded as being in the Russian sphere of influence. From the earliest days, use has been made of the oil seepages in Iran and Mesopotamia; we know that bitumen was used in cementing the bricks of Ur and in mummifying the royal dead in Egypt. There is reason to suppose that the Lorastrians, those early Iranians for whom fire was the symbol of the purity of the all-powerful spirit whom they worshipped, built their temples ‘round a spot where the inflammable gases from the oil beneath the ground were ignited by lightning or other natural agency. There are various stories regarding the manner in which D’Arcy’s attention was first directed to Iran as a possible field of riches, but there is no doubt that anyone who has travelled at all in Khuzistan or in the region of Naft Khaneh field could have told him of the numerous seepages. D’Arcy started drilling in 1903 at Kasri Shirin, near the present rich field

of Naft Khaneh, but owing to the expenses of operation, he was soon hard pressed for money. At this stage, he was approached by a German group with a proposal to relieve him of the concession. D’Arcy refused the offer, forgoing the opportunity of turning his losses into profit. It was, indeed, a fortunate decision for Britain. Even so early in 1904, the problem of converting the Royal Navy to oil fuel had been exercising the minds of those at the Admiralty. A committee was formed which came to the assistance of D’Arcy. This was the first occasion upon which the British Government extended a helping hand to the A.I.0.C. The first step taken by this committee was the search for a new and more prolific area. The scene of operation was at Marmatain, not far from Ahwaz, on the Karun River. Here drilling was recommenced and hopes ran high, since the

locality was easily accessible from the Gulf and presented no difficulties. The results, however, were unsatisfactory, and a further search became necessary. The attention of the syndicate was next directed to an area in the ~Bakhtiari Hills, about 145 miles from the head of the Iranian Gulf. The Plain of Oil The story goes that D’Arcy’s attention was first drawn to this locality by Monsieur De Morgan, a French archeeologist, who had been engaged for many years on excavations in the neighbourhood of Shushtar. This spot was a desolate valley called Maidan-i-Naftun, which means the Plain of Oil. Here the earliest wells were drilled. As the limits of the field were extended, the name of Masjid-i-Sulaiman was taken to cover the whole area. The name means " Temple of Solomon," and refers to the ancient Toroastrian ruin, which is a central feature of the district. t

Long before the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company came on the scene, the Iranian tribesmen had collected the oil by skimming it from the surface by roughly damming the streams. The oil so collected was used for burning purposes or for application to wounds both in man and beast. I might mention that these oil springs are common enough throughout all the mountain ranges. extending from the Caucasus, on the north-west of Iran, to the Indian Frontier on the southeast. Drilling proceeded slowly, money vanished rapidly, and in May, 1908, the fresh capital provided by the Concession Syndicate was nearly exhausted. Then on May 26, 1908, oil was struck, and D’Arcy’s hopes were realised and his claims vindicated, since the strength of the gusher which wrecked the derrick and nearly killed the drillers when it came in, left little doubt as to the richness of the store that had been tapped. A year later, in 1909, the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company was formed. Churchill Saw The Possibilities It was in 1912 that the liquid fuel problem became even more pressing at the Admiralty. Winston Churchill was then First Lord and he set up a Royal Commission on Oil Supply. It is unnecessary to trace the steps by which this committee reached its decision, as Mr. Churchill himself has told the story in his own vigorous fashion in the first volume of The World Crisis. But it is necessary to emphasise that the famous (Continued on next page)

THERES OIL IN IRAN! (Continued from previous page) and much discussed. Anglo-Iranian Oil Agreement was the outcome of Mr. Churchill’s action, and now the British Government are the owners of the controlling share in oil properties and interests. In 1913 developments were extended and at Maidan-i-Naftak, a further abundant yield was obtained. Once assured of the supply, the problem was the work of transport and treatment. A site for a large refinery was selected on the Island of Abadan, launches, barges and draught vessels were placed on the Karun River, a short railway was laid to overcome the rapids at Ahioaz, and an up-river terminus was constructed at Dar-i-Khazinch, which means the " Door of the Treasure House." A motor road was constructed from there over the remaining 30 miles to the oilfields. To lay a pipe line across the plain was simple enough. The total

length of the present main pipe line represents altogether a length of over 50 miles. The importance of the oilfields to the British Navy has already been stressed. Their importance to the British Empire in this war is vital. Petrol, which has become a human necessity, is used in such vastly growing quantities that all the ingenuity of our chemists has been turned to the problem of increasing the percentage of petrol obtainable from crude oil. In South Iran the company has three main centres, i.e., the refinery at Abadan, the pipe line headquarters at Ahwaz and the fields themselves. The refinery at Abadan is on the Shattel-Arab, a confluent of the Tigris and Euphrates, some 50 miles above the point where it debouches into the Gulf. To the jetties of this oil port come a continuous stream of tankers to load and carry their cargo to India, Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain,