Oil Fields of Persia

Petroleum is found in almost every province in Persia. On the northernfrontier, along the southern shore of the Caspian Sea, it is found near Enzelliand Shakhtesar and gas at Khoremabad. Oil is also found at Gumish Tepe, northwest of Astrabad, on the southeastern shore of the Caspian Sea. Furtherinland, to the south of Astrabad, oil is found at Dchahkuh-i-balae, also on themargin of the Khorasan desert at Semnan, 115 mi. (35 m.) east of Teheran. Along the western frontier, from northwest to southeast, oil is encounteredat Ouschachi, north of Lake Urumieh; in the province of Azerbaijan, at Zohab, Khanikin, and other places in. the district of Kormanshah in the province ofArdelan. Further south, in the province of Luristan, oil is found east ofMendeli and in the Pusht-i-kuh districts. Considerable quantities of oil arealso obtained from Schuster, Maidani-Naphtun, Ram-Hormuz, Beheban, which arealmost on a straight line, running northwest and southeast along the foothil1sof the Bakhtiari Mountains. At Ahwaz, in the province of Arabistan, oil hasbeen found along another range of hills whose axis also lies in anorthwest-southeast direction. In the Fars province, boring for oil has taken place at Daliki, andindications of oil are found at Kheri, Fasa, Darab, and other places. A gasshow is also recorded at Kuhi-Sung-Atush in this province, 30 mi. (48 km.) eastof Darab. In the south of Persia, oil is encountered on Qishm Island, also atAhmedi and other places north of Bunder Abbas. On the southeastern frontier, oil is found on the Sarhad range of hills. Thus, oil indications have beennoted over a distance of approximately 1100 mi. along the western and 700 mi.along the northern frontiers of Persia. History The first working of oil in Persia of which there is any record took placeat Kir-ab-us, Susiana, now known as Kirab, about 57 mi. northwest of Schuster.Herodotus (about B. C. 450) reported a well near Ardericca that produced threedifferent substances; namely, asphalt, salt, and oil. The oil, which was blackand had a strong smell, was called Rhadamance by the Persians. AIME 065–06