The Arco gas stations in the Western United States, like BP in the East are part of British Petroleum, one of the oldest oil producers in the world. BP got its first start as the Anglo-Persian Oil Co., Ltd. (APOC), developing an oil-field concession negotiated by the statesman William Knox D’Arcy with the Iranian government. In three years, a pipeline would channel oil from the fields to a newly-built refinery at Abadan, on the outskirts of Basra, all because of a great discovery 600 miles from Tehran.

On this day, May 26, in 1908, oil was struck for the first time in Iran, in the historic city of Masjed Soleyman. At a depth of  about 1,200 feet underground, drillers discovered oil; the gusher reaching more than 40 feet in the air signified a new era in the colonization of Iran.

D’Arcy negotiated the oil contract for a mere £20,000, equivalent to about $2.6 million today, for a sixty year concession to explore for oil over 480,000 square miles. It was a decision that no doubt came back to haunt the Iranians later on.