Iran and the International Relations of Oil

The discovery of oil at Masjed-e Soleiman in Iran 100 years ago effectively marked the entry of Middle Eastern oil into the global economy. Five years later, Britain converted its navy to oil from coal as its motive power, and the first trans-national oil company, Anglo-Persian (APOC) was launched.  Anglo-Iranian relations remained a dominant theme until the nationalisation crisis of 1951-1953, when the American presence became central. The discovery of oil throughout the Persian Gulf over the next several decades, led to the foundation of OPEC, and the further internationalisation of oil relations. The centenary of that first momentous strike offers an opportunity to consider the ways in which the consequences flowing from it have marked not only Iran, but global issues of energy and geo-politics ever since.

 

These and associated themes are the subject of a day-long conference at the University of Cambridge which seeks to bring together papers from various disciplines on the effect of the oil strike in Iran, and its impact on the Middle East, OPEC, the future of oil and other energy sources as we go into this next century.