oil was first discovered in middle east at saudi arabia.
where was oil first discovered in middle east?
saudi arabia
perhaps one of the most significant moments in american economic involvement in the middle east came in 1933 with ibn saud, founder and king of the new saudi arabian kingdom awarded concessions to the american company, standard oil of california. while the british had been the main western power involved in the middle east up until this point, this momentous decision signified the main turning point in american relations with saudi arabia and later with more middle eastern nations. standard oil of california ended up becoming the arabian-american oil company (aramco) after it merged with texaco and socony. thus, the interests of the united states were intertwined with the interests of the saudi arabian monarchy. saudi arabia needed the technology and expertise of the americans and the americans needed oil in order to maintain their state of power in the world as well as compete with the ussr during the cold war. aramco, unlike its british predecessor, offered the saudi arabians 50% of profits from oil, keeping both parties satisfied. building off of this mutually beneficial economic relationship, a political and military association began to form. this is reflected with the building of an american airbase in dhahran in eastern saudi arabia and by the continuing alliance between the u.s. and saudi arabia.
history of united states–middle east economic relations
in comparison to european powers such as britain and france which had managed to colonize almost all of the middle east region after defeating the ottoman empire in 1918, the united states was "popular and respected throughout the middle east". indeed, "americans were seen as good people, untainted by the selfishness and duplicity associated with the europeans." american missionaries had brought modern medicine and set up educational institutions all over the middle east. moreover, the united states had provided the middle east with highly skilled petroleum engineers. thus, there were some connections made between the united states and the middle east before the second world war. other examples of cooperations between the u.s. and the middle east are the red line agreement signed in 1928 and the anglo-american petroleum agreement signed in 1944. both of these agreements were legally binding and reflected an american interest in control of middle eastern energy resources, namely oil, and moreover reflected an american "security imperative to prevent the (re)emergence of a powerful regional rival". the red line agreement had been "part of a network of agreements made in the 1920s to restrict supply of petroleum and ensure that the major [mostly american] companies ... could control oil prices on world markets". the red line agreement governed the development of middle east oil for the next two decades. the anglo-american petroleum agreement of 1944 was based on negotiations between the united states and britain over the control of middle eastern oil. below is shown what the american president franklin d. roosevelt had in mind for to a british ambassador in 1944:
united states foreign policy in the middle east