An understanding of the Partex Oil and Gas Group commences with the Founder, Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian, and continues with the foundation he created and which inherited his oil interests, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian may justly be considered one of the creators of the world oil industry.
He was born in Scutari (now Üsküdar), Istanbul, on 23rd March 1869, the son of Sarkis and Dirouhie Gulbenkian, members of an illustrious Armenian family.
Calouste Gulbenkian spent his early years in Constantinople (now Istanbul) and pursued further schooling in Marseille. He completed his higher studies at King's College in London, graduating with a first class degree in Engineering in 1887.
|
|
|
Returning to Turkey after graduation, he was initiated by his father into the oil industry in Baku, at the age of 22. He wrote a book and an acclaimed series of articles on the oil industry, becoming an internationally recognized oil expert in his early twenties.
At a time when the strategic and economic significance of the Middle East was completely unknown, Gulbenkian foresaw the importance of its oil reserves and had the vision to make both international investors and the Ottoman government realise the need for rational organisation to exploit this resource.
He participated in founding the Royal Dutch Shell Group, played a key role in negotiations between the French, British and American oil industries and launched the industry in the Persian Gulf.
Prior to the First World War, Calouste Gulbenkian was the entrepreneur behind the formation of the Turkish Petroleum Company which, after many vicissitudes, became the Iraq Petroleum Company in which he held a 5% interest (becoming known as Mr. Five Percent as a result).
The contract between Royal Dutch Shell, Anglo Persian (now BP), Compagnie Française des Pétroles (now Total), Near East Development Company (now Exxon/Mobil) and Calouste Gulbenkian was signed in July 1928.
At the same time the partners undertook to work together within the boundaries of the former Ottoman Empire - the "Red Line Agreement". This agreement had a fundamental influence on the future development of the oil reserves in the Middle East and led directly to the Partex Oil and Gas Group's present interests in the United Arab Emirates and the Sultanate of Oman.
Calouste Gulbenkian was, above all, an exceptionally skilful negotiator. His influence extended beyond the Middle East oil industry to the involvement in the industry in many countries including Venezuela and Mexico, as a result of his contacts with other pioneers in the industry and as an advisor to various governments. |
|
 |
There is no doubt, however, that his greatest contribution was in the development of the Iraq Petroleum Company which he always saw as his creation.
In addition to his passion for the oil industry, his other consuming interest was his art collection. Calouste Gulbenkian revealed his passion for art at an early age. Above all, it was the beauty of the objects that appealed to him.
Throughout his life, he used is knowledge of art, his negotiating mastery and his wealth to build up one of the greatest collections ever to have been assembled by an individual, an eclectic and unique collection that was influenced by his travels and his personal taste, and sometimes involved lengthy and complex negotiations with the leading experts and specialist dealers. His collection totals over 6,000 pieces, whose time-span ranges from antiquity until the early twentieth century. His attachment to the pieces that he acquired was so strong that he even considered them as his "children".
Calouste Gulbenkian was a generous philanthropist who always strove to help the less fortunate. He was particularly concerned with protecting Armenian communities.
Calouste Gulbenkian spent the final years of his life in Lisbon, Portugal, where he died in 1955. In his will, he left his oil interests and his art collection to a foundation, which was to be based in Lisbon.
