The Abadan Oil Refinery: 1913 to 1920

In 1913, the Abadan Oil Refinery became the first oil refinery in the Middle East to begin refining oil in significant volumes. At its outset, it was the largest refinery in the world. The Abadan Oil Refinery was a project of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company which was started in 1909 after oil was first discovered in Persia by George Bernard Reynolds in 1908. At first the company got off to a rough start and it nearly went bankrupt. Then, in 1914 the British government acquired a 51 percent stake in the company giving the refinery a constant demand for its product in Britain. During World War I, the refinery was seized by Britain so that they wouldn’t lose control of its oil supply during the war. The Abadan Oil Refinery would remain the largest oil refinery in the world for decades to come. Today, the Abadan Oil Refinery is owned by the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company.