Non-AI description from original publication note (Robert Frew, 2025) [0]:
> "Original large colour-printed map of the Middle East (95 x 126 cm), laid down onto board and in original frame, unglazed. Includes detailed inset maps of Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, the Persian Gulf, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, and Turkey (2x), and Kamaran (Yemen). Also included is a detailed table entitled ‘Owners of Concessions, Leases, Permits, & Contracts’, 4x statistical tables on the production and consumption of oil, and a detailed key. Extremely rare, genuinely imposing and highly attractive map that showcases the petroleum industry across the Middle East and adjacent regions.
> It is the seventh edition of a sequence of maps on the subject produced in Fort Worth, Texas, by Brian Orchard Lisle, a flamboyant and well-known oil trade insider, founder of industry-leading magazine The Oil Forum. This map offers an unrivaled visual record of the state of play in the oil industry at a critical stage in its development, when the oil assets of Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait were still controlled by British concerns, although being challenged by nationalist movements.
> It covers an area from the Aegean and Libya in the west, to the frontiers of India in the east, while the Gulf, epicentre of the petroleum world, occupies pride of place. The greatest concentrations of oilfields are located in south-eastern Iran, Kuwait, northern Iraq, the Gulf Coast of Saudi Arabia, and in Bahrain and Qatar, while the Baku oilfields in Soviet Azerbaijan are shown in the far upper area.
> Of the numerous marginal inset maps the most important illustrate the ultra-productive Dhahran-Damman area of Saudi Arabia, with the great Ghawar Field, and the nearby petroleum operations in Qatar and Bahrain.
> The creator of the map, Brian Orchard Lisle (1915–2004), is an enigmatic figure, described in A History of the Twentieth Century in 100 Maps as “an English-born Second World War pilot and later kayaking champion”. In fact, he was born in New York to English parents, his father being “an internationally known journalist in the petroleum and marine industry” and publisher of International Oilman (obituary in The Monitor, 2 December 1959). Brian Lisle joined the staff of World Petroleum in 1934, becoming assistant editor in 1936. In the war he served in the USAAF, rising to the rank of first lieutenant. He is buried in Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery. His enduring legacy is the series of impressive oil maps issued under the aegis of Oil Forum: the Caribbean (1952), Northern and Middle Africa (1961), Australasia (1962), and the Far East (1963)."
Heavy lines traverse the map, notably from Iraq (Kirkuk) to the Mediterranean (Tripoli, Haifa) ...
I can see the pipeline from Kirkuk to Tripoli on the map, but the pipeline from Kirkuk to Haifa is hallucinated and not on the map. Or perhaps the description is stolen from elsewhere rather than based on the map itself.
Hard to believe Churchill was one of the early developers of that field. Fascinating history.
"In 1913, shortly before World War I, APOC managers negotiated with a new customer, Winston Churchill, who was then First Lord of the Admiralty. Churchill, as a part of a three-year expansion program, sought to modernise Britain's Royal Navy by abandoning the use of coal-fired steamships and adopting oil as fuel..."
"Persian popular opposition to the D'Arcy oil concession and royalty terms whereby Persia only received 16% of net profits was widespread."
"By the end of April 1933, a new agreement was finally forged. The concession area was reduced by three-quarters. Persia was guaranteed a fixed royalty of four shillings per ton, which protected it against fluctuations in oil prices. At the same time, it would receive 20 percent of the company's worldwide profits that were actually distributed to shareholders above a certain minimum sum. In addition, a minimum annual payment of £750,000, irrespective of other developments, was guaranteed."
"Truman and US ambassador to Iran Henry F. Grady opposed intervention in Iran but needed Britain's support for the Korean War."
"BP was incorporated in London in 1954 as a holding company called Iranian Oil Participants Ltd (IOP).[41][42] The founding members of IOP included British Petroleum (40%), Gulf Oil (8%), Royal Dutch Shell (14%), and Compagnie Française des Pétroles (now TotalEnergies SE, 6%). The four Aramco partners — Standard Oil of California (SoCal, later Chevron), Standard Oil of New Jersey (later Exxon), Standard Oil Co. of New York (later Mobil), and Texaco – each held an 8% stake in the holding company.[41][43] In addition, these companies paid Anglo-Iranian about $90 million for their 60 percent share in the consortium, and a further $500 million, paid out of a ten cent per barrel royalty. The Shah signed the agreement on 29 October 1954, and oil flowed from Abadan the next day. Within a few months each of the American companies contributed 1 percent to Iricon, a consortium made up of nine independent American companies, which included Phillips, Richfield, Standard of Ohio, and Ashland."
One of the interesting features prominent on this map is the TAPline, the Trans-Arabian Pipeline, constructed in 1950 and operated, with some interruptions, until 1976.
My understanding is that the TAPLine was amongst the reasons for Lebanon's significance in the 1950s and 1960s, as this was the transshippment point for Arabian oil headed to Europe (shipped by amongst others Aristotle Onasis's oil tankers). The 1967 Six Days War say a portion of the pipeline running through the Golan Heights fall into Israeli control, though Israel permitted the line to continue operating. The pipeline was damaged by Palestinian activists in 1969, and eventually ceased operating in 1976 with advances in supertankers, political conflicts between states over which the line passed, transit fee disagreements, and breakdowns.
Along with control over the Suez Canal, the TAPline is an instructive lesson in the values and risks of fixed-route transports (physical, data, logical) especially under volatile political and military climates.
Note Abu Musa, Greater & Lesser Tunb islands are attributed to the Emirates. These were occupied by Iran at the formation of the UAE and remain contested.
51 comments
[ 2.4 ms ] story [ 92.0 ms ] threadhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrocurrency
> "Original large colour-printed map of the Middle East (95 x 126 cm), laid down onto board and in original frame, unglazed. Includes detailed inset maps of Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, the Persian Gulf, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, and Turkey (2x), and Kamaran (Yemen). Also included is a detailed table entitled ‘Owners of Concessions, Leases, Permits, & Contracts’, 4x statistical tables on the production and consumption of oil, and a detailed key. Extremely rare, genuinely imposing and highly attractive map that showcases the petroleum industry across the Middle East and adjacent regions.
> It is the seventh edition of a sequence of maps on the subject produced in Fort Worth, Texas, by Brian Orchard Lisle, a flamboyant and well-known oil trade insider, founder of industry-leading magazine The Oil Forum. This map offers an unrivaled visual record of the state of play in the oil industry at a critical stage in its development, when the oil assets of Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait were still controlled by British concerns, although being challenged by nationalist movements.
> It covers an area from the Aegean and Libya in the west, to the frontiers of India in the east, while the Gulf, epicentre of the petroleum world, occupies pride of place. The greatest concentrations of oilfields are located in south-eastern Iran, Kuwait, northern Iraq, the Gulf Coast of Saudi Arabia, and in Bahrain and Qatar, while the Baku oilfields in Soviet Azerbaijan are shown in the far upper area.
> Of the numerous marginal inset maps the most important illustrate the ultra-productive Dhahran-Damman area of Saudi Arabia, with the great Ghawar Field, and the nearby petroleum operations in Qatar and Bahrain.
> The creator of the map, Brian Orchard Lisle (1915–2004), is an enigmatic figure, described in A History of the Twentieth Century in 100 Maps as “an English-born Second World War pilot and later kayaking champion”. In fact, he was born in New York to English parents, his father being “an internationally known journalist in the petroleum and marine industry” and publisher of International Oilman (obituary in The Monitor, 2 December 1959). Brian Lisle joined the staff of World Petroleum in 1934, becoming assistant editor in 1936. In the war he served in the USAAF, rising to the rank of first lieutenant. He is buried in Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery. His enduring legacy is the series of impressive oil maps issued under the aegis of Oil Forum: the Caribbean (1952), Northern and Middle Africa (1961), Australasia (1962), and the Far East (1963)."
0: https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~3...
Heavy lines traverse the map, notably from Iraq (Kirkuk) to the Mediterranean (Tripoli, Haifa) ...
I can see the pipeline from Kirkuk to Tripoli on the map, but the pipeline from Kirkuk to Haifa is hallucinated and not on the map. Or perhaps the description is stolen from elsewhere rather than based on the map itself.
"In 1913, shortly before World War I, APOC managers negotiated with a new customer, Winston Churchill, who was then First Lord of the Admiralty. Churchill, as a part of a three-year expansion program, sought to modernise Britain's Royal Navy by abandoning the use of coal-fired steamships and adopting oil as fuel..."
"Persian popular opposition to the D'Arcy oil concession and royalty terms whereby Persia only received 16% of net profits was widespread."
"By the end of April 1933, a new agreement was finally forged. The concession area was reduced by three-quarters. Persia was guaranteed a fixed royalty of four shillings per ton, which protected it against fluctuations in oil prices. At the same time, it would receive 20 percent of the company's worldwide profits that were actually distributed to shareholders above a certain minimum sum. In addition, a minimum annual payment of £750,000, irrespective of other developments, was guaranteed."
"Truman and US ambassador to Iran Henry F. Grady opposed intervention in Iran but needed Britain's support for the Korean War."
"BP was incorporated in London in 1954 as a holding company called Iranian Oil Participants Ltd (IOP).[41][42] The founding members of IOP included British Petroleum (40%), Gulf Oil (8%), Royal Dutch Shell (14%), and Compagnie Française des Pétroles (now TotalEnergies SE, 6%). The four Aramco partners — Standard Oil of California (SoCal, later Chevron), Standard Oil of New Jersey (later Exxon), Standard Oil Co. of New York (later Mobil), and Texaco – each held an 8% stake in the holding company.[41][43] In addition, these companies paid Anglo-Iranian about $90 million for their 60 percent share in the consortium, and a further $500 million, paid out of a ten cent per barrel royalty. The Shah signed the agreement on 29 October 1954, and oil flowed from Abadan the next day. Within a few months each of the American companies contributed 1 percent to Iricon, a consortium made up of nine independent American companies, which included Phillips, Richfield, Standard of Ohio, and Ashland."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Persian_Oil_Company
[1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/169354
My understanding is that the TAPLine was amongst the reasons for Lebanon's significance in the 1950s and 1960s, as this was the transshippment point for Arabian oil headed to Europe (shipped by amongst others Aristotle Onasis's oil tankers). The 1967 Six Days War say a portion of the pipeline running through the Golan Heights fall into Israeli control, though Israel permitted the line to continue operating. The pipeline was damaged by Palestinian activists in 1969, and eventually ceased operating in 1976 with advances in supertankers, political conflicts between states over which the line passed, transit fee disagreements, and breakdowns.
Along with control over the Suez Canal, the TAPline is an instructive lesson in the values and risks of fixed-route transports (physical, data, logical) especially under volatile political and military climates.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Arabian_Pipeline>
This is bound to shape the geopolitics of the region.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seizure_of_Abu_Musa_and_the_Gr...