The Rush for Oil – Several Attempts to Control the Oil Wealth (2)

Red Line Agreement – Turkish Petroleum was established in 1912 to seek concession in the Middle East. Claim for ownership became a political struggle and had commercial interest. After the First World War, Britain and France had upper hand and after several years of negotiations, America was joined in the syndicate in 1928 and the countries of ‘oil interest’ in the Middle East was delineated with the so-called ‘Red Line’. Major companies signed the Red Line Agreement, with the support and connivance of their countries.



Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian (23 March 1869 – 20 July 1955) was an Armenian-British businessman and philanthropist. He played a major role in making the petroleum reserves of the Middle East available to Western development. By the end of his life he had become one of the world's wealthiest individuals and his art acquisitions considered one of the greatest private collections. Culled from Wikipedia