Word: gulf
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1950-1959
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Persian Gulf Strikes it Rich ON a lonely stretch of sandy, salt-encrusted coastline ranging from Oman to Iran, in lands so parched that clear drinking water is a luxury, the greatest treasure hunt of modern times goes on. Bordering the Persian Gulf, sometimes thousands of feet below the surface, lies the greatest pool of oil in the world. So far, 50 billion barrels of oil reserves, worth at least $100 billion, have been found-and this is only the beginning...
This is no gold rush for amateurs. Already the West has invested $2 billion in the Persian Gulf area; it is the biggest overseas venture of U.S. big business. The leases are the subject of high-level intrigue; ordinarily friendly powers such as the U.S. and Britain compete feverishly, if covertly, for a sheik's favor: each Cadillac presented by a friendly U.S. company seems to be met by a Rolls-Royce coming from London...
...Persian Gulf's capacity to pump up oil strains belief. Within less than a year after Mossadegh's fanatics shut down the world's largest refinery at Abadan, other Middle East fields have not only made up the deficit but increased the total by more than 100,000 barrels...
...Iran proved) if the company doesn't prod, the internal discontent can become so explosive as to endanger its position. Damned if they do, and damned if they don't, the companies move circumspectly, and in most cases with surprising skill. To bring the Persian Gulf from the era of Mohammed to the age of Stratocruisers is in many respects as difficult a task as Lenin set himself to. It must be done by precept and persuasion, with no secret police to compel obedience. As a piece of social engineering, this job, being attempted by capitalists who abhor...
...frantically began bidding for leases. Overnight, leases shot up from $2.50 a year per acre to as high as $50. On the New York Stock Exchange, St. Regis Paper Co., which owns some nearby land, became the heaviest-traded stock, gained more than two points. Gulf and Standard of Indiana, which own leases near by, got ready to sink wells of their own. "The well blew its top," said Alabama's state geologist, Dr. Walter B. Jones, "and all the oil people blew their tops...