Middle East Oil

Abstract

THE name of that distinguished American geologist and statistician, Dr. Everette de Golyer, has been proverbial in international oil technology for many years past. He has an almost uncanny flair for predicting correctly the trend of events in the petroleum world, and his forecasts on developments in those countries comprising the Middle East are no exception. So long ago as 1925 the writer remembers de Golyer saying that "he expected from Persia a continued increase in production, as handling and marketing facilities are increased, so long as the fields may last". Nearly twenty years later, when leader of the United States Petroleum Commission to the Middle East, he stated that "the centre of gravity of world oil production is shifting from the Gulf - Caribbean area to the Middle East and is likely to continue to shift until it is firmly established in that area". That this has actually happened is probably not generally appreciated: the economic, technical and political implications of the fact have yet to be assimilated by the public, quite apart from the industry itself. To this end an up-to-date, straightforward survey of the position is essential to its understanding, and the Petroleum Times has rendered signal service by publication of its "Review of Middle East Oil" (London, June 1948, 7s. 6d.).