D'Arcy Concession

Map of Persia, Afghanistan and Baluchistan, 1901

The D'Arcy Concession (Persian: امتیازنامه دارسی, romanized: qarârdâdeh Darsi) was a petroleum oil concession that was signed in 1901 between William Knox D'Arcy and Mozzafar al-Din, Shah of Persia. The oil concession gave D'Arcy the exclusive rights to prospect for oil in Persia (now Iran).[1] During this exploration for oil, D'Arcy and his team encountered financial troubles and struggled to find sellable amounts of oil. Facing high costs, they were about to give up but eventually struck large commercial quantities of oil in 1908. The Burmah Oil Company created the Anglo-Persian Oil Company to take over the concession in 1909.[2]

The D'Arcy Concession was cancelled in 1932.[3]

  1. ^ Paine, Schoenberger, “Iranian Nationalism and the Great Powers: 1872–1954.” MERIP Reports, 37, (1975), pp.5–6.
  2. ^ Beck, “The Anglo-Persian Oil Dispute 1932–33.” Journal of Contemporary History, 9, 4 (1974): p.124.
  3. ^ Pesaran, Evaleila (2024). "Imperial power, anti-imperial resistance, and the shaping of international hierarchies: Lessons from 1930s Persia". Review of International Studies. 50 (4): 760–776. doi:10.1017/S0260210523000190. ISSN 0260-2105.