General Antoine Kitabgi Khan was a Persian General of Georgian descent and the Director-General of Persian Customs. British Petroleum

BP

BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...

 (formerly Anglo-Persian Oil Company) was born out of cooperation between Kitabgi and William Knox D'Arcy

William Knox D'Arcy

William Knox D'Arcy was one of the principal founders of the oil and petrochemical industry in Persia .-Early life:...

.

After retiring as Director General of the Persian Customs, General Kitabgi moved to Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, where he led a lavish and playboy lifestyle. In 1900, Kitabgi Khan, as a firm believer in future of Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

ian Oil

Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...

, met up with Sir Henry Drummond Wolff

Henry Drummond Wolff

Sir Henry Drummond-Wolff GCB, GCMG, PC was an English diplomat and Conservative Party politician, who started as a clerk in the Foreign Office.-Background:Wolff was the son of Georgiana Mary and Joseph Wolff...

, former British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Ambassador

Ambassador

An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....

 in Tehran

Tehran

Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...

 and Reuter's private secretary, Monsieur Cotte, who had a report published by a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 geologist

Geology

Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...

 called De Morgan entitled Note sur les Gites de Naphte de Kand-I-Shirin which claimed Persia was capable of having vast oil reserves

Oil reserves

The total estimated amount of oil in an oil reservoir, including both producible and non-producible oil, is called oil in place. However, because of reservoir characteristics and limitations in petroleum extraction technologies, only a fraction of this oil can be brought to the surface, and it is...

. These three gentlemen discussed future prospects of Persian oil, and involved de Morgan and Cotte's brother-in-law in search of realising oil project in Persia .

General Kitabgi successfully persuaded Wolff's friend William Knox D'Arcy

William Knox D'Arcy

William Knox D'Arcy was one of the principal founders of the oil and petrochemical industry in Persia .-Early life:...

, a British entrepreneur

Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...

, to develop the country’s oil possibilities. After agreeing to finance this venture early in 1901, he sent Alfred Marriott, a cousin of his private secretary, to Tehran

Tehran

Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...

 to negotiate for a concession to explore for oil in Persia. At the same time he sent a geologist, H.T. Burls, to make a technical report. Kitabgi and Cotte went too, and shrewdly D'Arcy told Marriott to keep in the background and leave the initial moves to Kitabgi, who was on personal terms with the Shah

Shah

Shāh is the title of the ruler of certain Southwest Asian and Central Asian countries, especially Persia , and derives from the Persian word shah, meaning "king".-History:...

's first minister, the Atebeg or Grand Vizier

Grand Vizier

Grand Vizier, in Turkish Vezir-i Azam or Sadr-ı Azam , deriving from the Arabic word vizier , was the greatest minister of the Sultan, with absolute power of attorney and, in principle, dismissable only by the Sultan himself...

. In April 1909, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company was formed, which is now known as BP (British Petroleum).

External links

• http://www.lescimetieres.com/Photos/ParcoursIranien/KITABGI.htm