1909 to 1954
In May 1908 a group of British geologists discovered a large amount of oil at Masjid-i-Suleiman in Iran. It was the first commercially significant find of oil in the Middle East. The Shah of Iran granted a concession to William Knox D'Arcy to enable the British to drill for Iran's oil. On 14 April 1909, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) was incorporated as a subsidiary of Burmah Oil Company. Some of the shares were sold to the public. The first chairman and minority shareholder of the company became Lord Strathcona.