At the dawn of the 20th century, oil was already reshaping the world. Wells in Pennsylvania had been pumping since 1859, Texas roared to life with the Spindletop gusher in 1901, and Russian fields around Baku were supplying Europe. Romania and the Dutch East Indies added to the flow. 

Oil was no longer just for lamps. It was powering cars, trucks, and engines. Nations were beginning to see its strategic value. 

Britain, still running its navy on coal, knew it could not fall behind. Scholars scoured Middle Eastern writings describing ancient “black pitch,” while engineers confirmed oil seeps in Persia and Mesopotamia. 

In 1901, British investor William Knox D’Arcy secured a sweeping deal with the Shah of Persia for exclusive drilling rights. Nearly bankrupted by the effort, his team finally struck oil at Masjed Soleiman in 1908, the first major Middle Eastern find.

Britain quickly formed the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (later BP) and established control. The stakes rose higher in 1912 when Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, decided to convert the Royal Navy from coal to oil. For Britain, Persian oil was not just business. It was military survival.

Ancient clues, fieldwork, and political muscle had opened the door to modern power, and reshaped global energy forever.