Oil Centenary: Oil at 100

This month marks the centenary of a truly pivotal moment in the history of the Middle East, and indeed of the wider world. For in the early hours of May 26 1908, at a remote spot in the Persian mountains, a drilling team led by an intrepid British geologist, George Reynolds, suddenly felt the ground rumbling and then watched a stinking black torrent burst through. Amidst exultant shouts, oil had been discovered in the Middle East and a new era in international relations was born. A century on, can the oil boom continue?