As far as I know, the first oil rigs were in USA, but by the end of the last century the whole petroleum industry shifted to the Middle East. What caused this transformation to suddenly happen?
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Due to millions of years of geological activity, the middle east found itself sitting on top of a sea of *easily-accessible* light, sweet crude–the easiest and most profitable grade of oil to refine. There are oil deposits all over the world, but having them relatively close to the surface in desert conditions makes for quick, easy drilling and extraction. So that covers part of our story.
But your question is why the *industry* moved into the middle east following the oil boom in the U.S. The answer is simply: Americans took it there. By the 30’s, it was clear to the emirs and other tribal leaders of Arabia that they were sitting on an ocean of wealth, but they had no idea at all how to extract it. So it’s not surprising that they partnered with Americans who had this whole game down cold. Americans sold them the technology, trained their personnel, plugged them in to the global commodities market, planned the logistics, etc. etc. etc. To this day, there are enclaves of Americans and other westerners all over Arabia (see: the green zone in Saudi Arabia) that exist for the sole purpose of keeping the oil flowing.
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