The world’s petroleum geologists will gather in Muscat, the capital of Oman, at the end of September for AAPG’s 2024 International Conference and Exhibition, with the usual luxuries of modern life. Little might the attendees realize how different the conditions were in the 1950s.
Oman, including its western governorate of Dhofar, covers an area of 120,000 square miles (almost half the size of Texas), stretching along the Arabian Peninsula south of the Empty Quarter (Rhub al Khali desert). Petroleum exploration was late in developing there because of the country’s isolation and extensive tribal conflicts.
D’Arcy Exploration Company, an affiliate of British Petroleum, conducted a geological survey in Oman in 1925 but no positive recommendation followed. Sultan Said bin Taimur granted a 75-year concession to Petroleum Development (Oman and Dhofar) Ltd, the old Iraq Petroleum Company conglomerate created secretly in 1916 to exploit the oil riches of the Ottoman Empire. However, the geographical isolation and lack of modern facilities contributed to a delay of petroleum exploration until after World War II.
In the 1950s the concession holder’s geological teams conducted surface studies, but their work was delayed by tribal warfare. Consequently, the company relinquished its exploration rights to the Dhofar province in 1951 and restructured as Petroleum Development (Oman) Ltd.
It was not until the port of Duqm was upgraded in 1954 that exploration could be sustained inland. The first encouragement was obtained in April 1962 with the discovery of Yibal Field followed by Natih Field in 1963. Commercial development ensued with the first exports in July 1967 consisting of 543,800 barrels of crude valued at $1.42 per barrel.
Archeological Expedition in Southern Arabia
Meanwhile, thanks to expanding travel and improved communications, Wendell Phillips, a highly regarded anthropologist and active promoter of his science, organized an expedition under the auspices of the American Foundation for Arabian Expeditions. He had solid financial backing from scientific organizations, major U.S. corporations and wealthy individuals.
In February 1950, Phillips landed an archaeological party in Mukalla, equipped with impressive state-of-the-art motorized equipment and desert survival facilities. They scouted the spice routes of antiquity in the Hadhramaut and conducted historical digs in the old towns of the kingdoms of Qataban and Sheba, reaching the ancient city of Marib in Yemen. Unfortunately, they incurred the hostility of the governor of Marib and subsequently that of King Ahmad bin Yahya, the ruler of Yemen.
The expedition’s foreigners had to escape abruptly, abandoning all the historical trophies they had gathered. They relocated to Dhofar in February 1952, where the ruler of Oman, Sultan Said bin Taimur, who resided in Salalah, graciously allowed them to continue their archaeological research. That May, he granted Phillips an oil concession covering the entire province of Dhofar, which had been relinquished by PDO.
Dhofar: Cities Service Arrives on the Scene
Phillips, as an astute businessman, quickly learned the ins and outs of the oil patch. Lacking oil exploration and production expertise, he approached Cities Service, a U.S. independent oil company based in Bartlesville, Okla., and the Richfield Oil Corporation based in Los Angeles. They formed Dhofar Cities Service Petroleum Corporation, owned 50-percent by Cities Service as operator and 50-percent by Richfield.
After lengthy negotiations, Phillips assigned the Dhofar concession in early 1953 to Dhofar Cities Service Petroleum Corp., retaining a 2.5-percent overriding royalty interest. This was in the style of Calouste Gulbenkian, whose 5-percent share of Iraqi Petroleum’s oil made him one of the world’s richest men. Exploration started in the fall of 1953, and shipment of operational equipment and an aerial survey started the next year.
Cities Service management approached exploration in a military fashion, with the massive organization and logistics of World War II operations. A base was established just west of Salalah in the port city of Raysut. In view of suspected rebel activity, a self-sustaining compound replete with power, water, fuel and other supplies was built with offices and expatriate quarters. It was equipped with air conditioning and surrounded by a high concrete wall with .50-caliber machine gun positions on all four corners.
A base of operations in the desert was established at Midway (now Thumrait) at the crossing of north-south and east-west frankincense trade routes. A 50-mile road between Salalah and Midway across the coastal mountain range was improved and partly resurfaced. Similar arrangements to Raysut’s were built, including extensive storage facilities for water, fuel, spare parts and food, and even an ice cream machine. This involved storage for drilling rigs with tubulars and associated supplies, Schlumberger equipment, accommodation for seismic contractors and an airstrip with multi-aircraft maintenance capacity.
Typical of overseas operations at the time, Western expatriates occupied the managerial, scientific and technical branches, including senior mechanics. The administrative, accounting and catering functions were entrusted to Indians and members of other Asian nationalities, while laborers on the seismic crews and the rigs were Somalis.
Because of Sharia Law and fear by the Sultan of the exposure of local personnel to Christianity, Omanis could only be used with his permission. Gangs (some men possibly at hard labor for punishment) were supervised by the Sultan’s armed wardens, for which the Sultan was compensated. In fear of rebel activities, all personnel operated under the watchful eye and the protection of locally hired mercenaries called “askari” and a detachment of Omani Scouts trained by the British. At the height of the operations, the combined Aden, Raysut and Midway personnel numbered close to 1,000.
Regular heavy supplies arrived by sea via tank landing crafts, while urgently needed provisions or smaller parts arrived at Midway by aircraft. Operational resources, food and personnel rotation to and from Aden was by DC-3 aircraft. Permanent communications took place via single sideband radio between Aden, Raysut, Midway and the Royal Air Force base in Salalah, while Midway field units communicated via high frequency radios.
One of the key elements in the efficiency of the operations was the twice-weekly DC-3 flight which originated in Asmara in Eritrea where it loaded up with vegetables, Halal meat, camels’ milk and the indispensable fresh “khat” leaves which allowed the outside laborers to work under the hot sun. The DC-3 stopped in Aden to pick up passengers, Western food supplies and spare parts, and it landed after a two-hour flight in either the RAF base airfield in Salalah or Midway, depending on the British air controllers.
Dhofar Cities Service proceeded expeditiously with operations, fielding six seismic crews and three drilling rigs with 10,000-foot capacity. The logistics of seismic and drilling were very costly since prospects were mapped at various locations, some as far as 200 miles distance from each other. Six wildcats were drilled, with a discovery at Marmul on Aug. 2, 1957. The well was considered noncommercial due to the low viscosity of the oil.
The second well was also marginal and the third hit water. Disappointed, DCS reduced its efforts to one drilling rig and one seismic crew and curtailed its efforts. By 1961, DCS had spent more than $40 million on exploration costs (more than $400 million today) and decided to abandon its efforts.
John W. Mecom, Jr. and Pure Oil
In 1962, DCS assigned its rights to John W. Mecom, Jr. (50 percent) and Pure Oil (50 percent). Phillips retained his ORRI. Pure was a large independent based in Palatine, Ill.. Mecom, one of the top five Texas independent producers, was the operator. He did business as an individual, not a corporation, and had extensive production in south Texas, southern Louisiana and overseas concessions in Colombia, Yemen, Jordan and three of the emirates (Sharjah, Ajman, and Umm Al Quwain). Mecom held the world record for drilling the deepest producing oil well at 25,000 feet in Louisiana.
He also owned extensive real estate, large manufacturing concerns, boat companies and construction firms. Mecom was the owner of the New Orleans Saints, the youngest owner of a National Football League franchise. He formed his own automobile racing team, with famed driver Graham Hill racing Mecom’s car to victory in the 1966 Indianapolis 500.
Besides his oil activities, Mecom developed two additional interests when getting involved in the Dhofar concession, which integrated perfectly with his oil interests: airplanes and Arabian horses. As part of his Dhofar concession he had an ideal site for the storage of the “Mecom Air Force,” which consisted of a Curtiss Commando, a Douglas DC-3, a Fairchild C-82 Packet and his own personal taxi, a Lockheed Lodestar. Besides assigning the C-82 to moving heavy equipment loads, he also used it for transporting and trading Arabian horses. He entered his own horses in equestrian shows and competitions organized in the Emirates by wealthy Emiratis and, in the process, made good headway in personal and business relations.
By early 1965, Mecom/Pure had drilled five wells in Dhofar ranging from 3,000 to 11,600 feet with oil shows in three of the wells but no commercial production established. They looked for additional participation to spread the risk. In mid-1965 Continental Oil Company joined with Pure and Mecom as equal 33.3-percent partners, with Mecom as the operator. To earn its share, Continental agreed to pay for a seismic program that it would operate and for the cost of one deep well.
Continental Oil Company of Dhofar
As often was the case for independents, John Mecom had his own management style based on quick and efficient decisions being made by the owner of the company. The Dhofar Manager, F.B. Chessher, was based in the Yemeni port of Aden, then a British Crown colony. He had the assistance of an Italian administrative manager to address the use of the aircrafts. Jim Ferguson, a tough World War II veteran and experienced driller, ran the Midway operations and the relations with the sultan. As the chief geophysicist and client representative, I was based in Aden but would shuttle frequently to Midway and the desert operations.
Aden was under a state of emergency due to a revolt. Elements of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, a British light infantry company, were attempting to keep the peace under difficult conditions, with frequent skirmishes and loss of life. Movement of civilians was restricted and the offices of Mecom and the seismic contractor were located in a compound protected by barbed wire, with communications via the rooftops.
Traveling overland through Khormaksar, the Western Colony part of Aden, was restricted through chicanes, with windows closed to avoid hand grenades or Molotov cocktails. Travel was in extreme heat without air conditioning.
However, commercial travel via British Airways on the Comet between Aden and Beirut was unrestricted. To respect local customs, traveling Omanis were allowed to carry with them onboard their personal rifle and khanjar – the famous hook-shaped Omani dagger.
This situation suited Phillips perfectly, with his sense of adventure. He had secured permission from the British authorities to wear his usual gun belt and his Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolvers with ivory handles in the style of General George S. Patton.
To meet its obligations, Conoco sent a member of its Houston interpretive team, Dick Wissing, to start the seismic operations with a rotation time of three months. A Robert Ray “Thumper” crew was selected and transported to Aden by ship with the C-82 making several trips to Midway. The “Thumper” was a truck carrying a heavy steel block to be dropped from a height of approximately 10 feet onto the ground to produce seismic waves.
Just before the end of Wissing’s tour, the Mecom accountant Sylvester D’ Souza was killed by rebels while traveling from Midway to Salalah. After the sultan gave permission to repatriate D’Souza’s body to India, I was tasked upon my arrival in Dhofar to bolster the seismic crew’s morale and continue its operations. In early 1966, the crew completed a 2.5-month survey, and a gravity survey was also conducted during that period.
Upon the conclusion of the surveys, and the processing and interpretation of the data, the team recommended a well. Mecom and Pure Oil approved the location, and the Montasar 1A well was drilled to a depth of 7,436 feet in the northeast corner of Dhofar, south of the Rhub al Khali, from July to October 1966, resulting in a dry hole.
Seismic operations continued through 1967 with four party-months of reflection seismic (the Thumper). Given the disappointing results of the exploration program, high associated costs and other priorities, Continental and Pure assigned their interest to Mecom in September 1967. Mecom suspended operations, invoking the force majeure clause of the contract in view of increased activities of the rebel Dhofar Liberation Front, which was receiving arms and supplies from some Marxist-Leninist countries.
I was reassigned to the Houston interpretive team and shortly thereafter transferred to the Conoco London office to support Conoco’s successful exploration efforts in the North Sea. This ended that saga of petroleum exploration in Dhofar after 13 years of efforts and expenditures of more than $500 million in present-day dollars by four big companies and one large independent.
The Rise of the Phoenix
Under most concession agreements, the host government is entitled to a copy of the field documents which, when a concession is relinquished, can be made available for study by potential investors. In the late 1980s Shell, the operating company for PDO, reprocessed some of the seismic and geologic data acquired by Conoco, supplemented by its own 3-D seismic and came up with new exploration targets.
Consequently, the Dhofar concession was reacquired in 1989 by PDO and integrated into the company’s operations. The new exploration concepts which were developed by the Omani geologists within the Shell exploration team had led to the discovery of new oil and gas fields which added to the existing oil and gas reserves of Oman.
As often is the case in the phases of worldwide petroleum exploration, the Shell success attracted smaller exploration companies who concentrated on the new exploration scheme. They made smaller discoveries which still could be profitable by using the gathering and transportation systems established by PDO. Exploration had come full circle, as in other producing areas around the world including France, Colombia, Ecuador, the North Sea and the United States.
Modern Oman
Early in his life, Sultan Said bin Taimur consolidated his authority over the various provinces of Oman and Muscat and organized their finances to attain independence from the British. He maintained excellent relations with the Western powers and visited Britain and the United States. However, he did not feel comfortable in the oppressive Muscat weather and preferred the more welcoming climate and atmosphere of the Dhofar coast, relocating to Salalah.
Once there, he became more reclusive, and his policies incurred the wrath of many tribal leaders. Unrest spread as a popular protest movement which deteriorated into the Dhofar War from 1963 to 1976. The tribes received military support from communist countries, and an attempt was made on his life in 1966. Throughout the conflict, oil companies continued their activities with the protection of the askari guards and the Omani Scouts furnished by the sultan. The RAF was entrusted with air reconnaissance and support. But the circumstances were far from safe. Despite the precautions, some supporting ground personnel were killed accidentally.
In view of the deteriorating situation, Sultan Said bin Taimur was deposed in 1970 by his son Qaboos bin Said. The British provided additional ground and air assistance while engaging in a campaign to win “the hearts and minds” of the population to counter the communist rebels and begin the process of modernizing the country. The campaign was successful and by 1976, the rebels were defeated, paving the way for a modern economy.
Today, Oman has all the facilities of contemporary life in desert climates. It features an extensive road network, living and lodging facilities with modern housing, supermarkets, various forms of sports and entertainment and excellent medical and hospital facilities.
Tourism has grown considerably and is an economic focus of the government. Luxurious hotels are available in all the main cities, with large international event facilities in Muscat where the 2024 ICE will be held. Oman has some of the most diverse environments in the Middle East, and its desert resorts are among the greatest on the Arabian Peninsula. Today, tourists and geoscientists alike can be assured of easy travel, security and comfort, which are all a long way from the days of geologists hunting for oil in Dhofar in the 1950s.
Acknowledgements: I am grateful for the publications of professional articles by explorers of the “second wave” of exploration (post-1990) from the Shell companies, PDO, Phillips Petroleum, BP Exploration, Maersk Oil Company, Occidental of Oman, the London Geological Society, the University of Leeds, the Royal Holloway University of London, the many other explorers in Oman throughout the years and the Ministry of Oil and Gas of the Sultanate of Oman.