Chapter 6, The Seduction Summary and Analysis

The first Middle East oil well was drilled in Iran in May 1908. In 1927, drilling the Kirkuk oil fields of northern Iraq began. Oil production began in Bahrain in 1932 and in Saudi Arabia in 1938. The Saudi fields were leased to Standard Oil of California, who later becomes a principal in Aramco. Saudi is the largest oil depository in the world. The engineer who drilled the first well, Tom Barger, eventually becomes CEO of Aramco.

The kingdom had only been united for five years when the first well was drilled. Ibn Sa'ud conquered Riyadh on January 15, 1902. He took Mecca in 1924 and Medina in 1925. His descendants become the royal family. They went from carrying the royal treasury around in a tin trunk in 1930 to become among the wealthiest people in the world. What began their fantastic wealth was giving SOCAL...