First frontier
It is sometimes difficult to prise apart truth and romance when it comes to history, but in BP’s case what is clear is that the journey to first oil in 1908 and the incorporation of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company a year later pushed the frontiers of technology, knowledge, patience and human spirit. But it was an endeavour that would yield riches far beyond financial gain
BP
BP
Bold and insightful. Just two adjectives used to describe one businessman’s move to secure an exclusive oil concession in Persia (now Iran) at the turn of the 20th century. William Knox D’Arcy’s speculative gamble almost bankrupted him, but it would unlock the country’s riches and from these risky beginnings emerged a new oil company.
Knox D’Arcy was a capitalist, through and through, investing his wealth, first in gold and later oil. He was not particularly interested in the projects themselves, only in the return on investment he might make. But the Englishman was forced to be patient for that return. Years passed and no pay-off came, forcing him to enter into business in 1905 with Burmah Oil, forming the Concessions Syndicate Ltd.
A further three fruitless years passed, and the drilling of two holes near Masjid-i-Suleiman was viewed as the syndicate’s last chance. Over the years, Knox D’Arcy’s man on the ground – engineer George Reynolds – faced a string of interruptions to exploration: bad weather, sickness and breakages, not to mention variable relations with the local indigenous communities. This bad luck did not change with the final two wells – torrential rains washed away four months’ work on a link road and a drill bit fell off the first well, losing the operation a precious 10 days in recovery.
Finally, in the early hours of 26th May, 1908, Reynolds and his team struck oil, discovering an enormous field of around 1.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Its significance could not be over-estimated for a country, a region and an industry.
Source: BP