In 1900, at the Paris Exposition, Kitabchi Khan, Iran's representative at the Exposition, was introduced to Mr Knox D'Arcy, a native of Devonshire who had made a fortune investing in a gold mine in Australia and was then living luxuriously in London and on the lookout for new commercial ventures.
In March 1901, D'Arcy sent his agent Alfred L. Marriott, together with Kitabchi Khan, to Tehran to negotiate for a concession from Iranian government. The timing was just right: the Iranian King Muzaffar al-Din Shah Qajar badly needed money to finance his expensive trip to Europe.
The king was just about the most ignorant king of our history, He took much better care of his penis than the country.
Sir Arthur Harding, then the British Minister in Tehran, helped D'Arcy's team to meet with Iranian government officials to secure a concession by spending 10,000 pounds.
On May 28, 1901, the Shah granted D'Arcy the concession to explore, drill, produce, and export petroleum in Iran (with the exception of five Northern provinces close to Russia) for a period of 60 years. The Iranian government was to receive 20,000 in cash, 20,000 in shares from the company, and 16% of profits made by the first or any other company formed by this concessionaire. Kitabchi Khan was rewarded too; he continued to be on D'Arcy's payroll (1,000 a year).
William Knox D'Arcy (1849-1917), was granted the most one sided concession to explore for oil in southern Iran. D'Arcy never visited Iran or any part of the Middle East. He became the first director of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company in 1909.
Drilling at Masjed Suleiman
The drilling of Well No. 1 at Masjed Suleiman began on 23 January 1908.
On May 26, the well hit oil - the gusher shot more than 20m above the rig. By the end of 1908, two more producing wells had been drilled at Masjed Suleiman.
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
2
2
1
