Kuwait Oil Company - History

History

The Kuwait Oil Company was founded in 1934 by Anglo-Persian Oil Company and Gulf Oil as an equally-owned partnership. The oil concession rights were awarded to the company on 23 December 1934 and the company started drilling operations in 1936. First oil was discovered in 1938 in Burgan field, followed by discoveries in Magwa in 1951, Ahmadi in 1952, Raudhatain in 1955, Sabriya in 1957, and Minagish in 1959.

The initial development of the oil industry coincided with the end of the British Raj in India and many British expatriate administrators and engineers transferred from there to Kuwait. They set up the oil town of Ahmadi which had the appearance of a typical British garrison town, with thousands of trees lining streets of pleasant bungalows in which lived a remarkable group of dedicated engineers and administrators who built up the oil industry while at the same time training Kuwaitis to take over eventual control.

When the Royal Navy converted their warships to oil burners instead of coal, the British Government depended on a secure supply of Middle Eastern oil. Figures such as Dame Violet Dickson who lived among the Kuwaitis for 40 years were influential in fostering an excellent relationship between the Kuwaitis and the British during the period when they and American expatriates developed the oil industry.

BP and Gulf were able to obtain the Kuwaiti oil at very favourable terms for sale via their downstream networks in Europe and adjoining areas. During this time, Gulf would claim that it had a "special relationship" with Kuwait. However, all this came to an end in 1975 when the Kuwaitis took over the ownership of KOC.