Karl Saben Twitchell (b. 1885 - d. 1968) [1] was an American mining engineer. Twitchell was born in St. Albans, Vermont in 1885. After graduating from St. Albans High School, he attended the Kingston School of Mines at Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, graduating in 1908. [2]
After graduation, Twitchell worked at mines in Idaho, California, Colorado and Arizona, in positions ranging from sampler to surveyor to manager. In 1914, Twitchell began working for Colonel Steeley W. Mudd, and was sent to Cyprus to work at the Skouriatissa copper mine. When the mine closed in 1917, Twitchell worked briefly for the Cyprus Forest Department before returning to the United States at the end of World War I. [2]
In late1919, Twitchell was hired by the R.T. Wilson Company of New York City. Originally destined for a gold mine in Dutch Guiana, Twitchell was instead sent to Portugal to manage a tin mine. Having become engaged to Nora Gilhespie, he stopped in London to get married, in 1920, before continuing on Portugal. While working with the tin mine and subsequently two copper mines, his son Harry Gilhespie Twitchell was born in Lisbon. [3] However, none of these operations was particularly successful -- Twitchell felt that at least one of the mines had been "seeded" to attract investment -- so Twitchell returned to London. This led to a meeting with Robert Annan, Chair of the Board of Consolidated Gold Fields of South Africa, who sent Twitchell on expedition to Abyssinia (now Ethiopia). Twitchell arrived in Addis Ababa in 1926, and spent six months exploring the northern half of the country. Twitchell's determination was that mineral mining was not commercially viable at that time. [3]
En route back to London, Twitchell passed through Aden, in Yemen, where he learned of the recent visit of Charles Richard Crane. Crane had met with the Imam Yahiz, King of Yemen, and promised to find mining engineers to explore for minerals in the country. Twitchell went to New York to meet with Crane, which led to Twitchell being hired to lead an expedition in Yemen in 1928. In addition to minerals, the expedition was also intended to consider methods for improving agriculture in the country, and to search for water resources. [4]
Twitchell worked for Charles Richard Crane, investigating water potential of Yemen. While the expedition found little in the way of commercial mining opportunities, Twitchell did conduct agricultural experiments and convinced the King to begin construction of a road system in the country. The expedition lasted six months,, and was followed by a second expedition of similar length in 1929, and a third trip in 1931, during which Twitchell oversaw construction of a major bridge. [5]
In 1932, Crane was invited by King Ibn Saud to come to Saudi Arabia. The King was aware of the work in Yemen, and interested in replicating it in his country, especially the efforts to locate water supplies. Crane then employed Twitchell to investigate the water prospects in Ibn Saud's Saudi Arabia. Twitchell arrived with his wife in Jedda in mid-1932. After a grand meeting and feast with Ibn Saud, Twitchell set out to explore the Hejaz area in search of water. Despite traveling some 1300 miles within this region, in April 1933, Twitchell determined no prospects for an artesian aquifer existed beneath the desert. However, he had noticed evidence of ancient Roman and Israelite mines, which suggested to him that there was potential for mining gold and possibly even finding oil. Saudi Arabia's finance minister, Sheik Abdulla Suliman Al Hamdan, grasped the implications of the oil possibilities, and sent Twitchell back out to travel eastward towards the Persian Gulf. In the course of this exploration, Twitchell became the first American to cross Saudi Arabia. [6]
Returning to the Saudi capital of Riyadh, Twitchell again met with Ibn Saud, who asked him to continue investigating the oil possibilities. This included a trip to Bahrain, where oil drilling was already in progress. Subsequently, Twitchell advised Ibn Saud to delay initiating any oil operations in Saudi Arabia until the venture in Bahrain, which was still in its early stages, produced significant results. In the meantime, Twitchell resumed exploration of the ancient gold mines. Ibn Saud preferred to work only with American investors, but Twitchell was unable to interest any American companies in the gold mining. However, while in the United States trying to line up investors for the gold exploration, Twitchell met with representatives of The Texas Company (now Texaco) and Standard Oil Company. After reviewing Twitchell's geological notes [6] , the Standard Oil Company of California (SOCAL) retained Twitchell as a negotiator, and on 29 May 1933, SOCAL received such a concession. [7] The exploration rights covered an area of approximately 360,000 square miles (930.000 square kilometers), and the agreement was for sixty years. [8] An initial advance on royalties, in the form 35,000 gold sovereigns, was shipped by SOCAL to the Saudi government in July 1933, at which point Twitchell terminated his contract with the oil company and went back working on the gold mines.
Twitchell was able to form a syndicate backed by English, American and Canadian investors, and Twitchell returned to Jedda in July 1934 to negotiate a concession. The process proved more complicated than he had anticipated, but an agreement was finally reached on Christmas Eve. [6] The timing was fortuitous, as gold prices were soon raised to $35 per ounce. The area controlled by the syndicate proved to have approximately 450,000 tons of gold tailings. While the syndicate had to build virtually the entire mining and processing infrastructure, building everything from mills to roads to a shipping pier in Jedda, the project was successful. By the time the tailings were worked out in 1954, approximately $32 million worth of gold, silver and copper had been produced. This time frame included the entirety of World War II, which complicated matters considerably. Replacing equipment during the massive war equipment-building effort was extremely difficult, but Twitchell convinced the U.S. Department of State that closing the mine during the war would be viewed very negatively by the Saudi government, potentially even driving the Saudis to align with Germany, and the State Department continued authorizing the equipment until the last nine months of the war. [9] Twitchell also served as chief of the first U.S. Agricultural Mission to Saudi Arabia, at the request of King Ibn Saud. [10]
After World War II, Twitchell was involved in developing the "Seven Years Plan" in Iran and also in a diamond and gold mining operating in British Guiana. He joined the boards of directors of the Rock of Ages Corporation, a granite quarrying company based in Barre, Vermont, and also the American Eastern Corporation. He wrote a book simply titled "Saudi Arabia", published by Princeton University Press; it went through three editions and was considered a definitive description of the country for several decades. [9] In 1955, his novel, "Keith Arnold in Mining Engineering", co-authored with Robert Wyndham, was published by Dodd, Mead and Company. Twitchell was also a long-time member of the Explorers Club and the Mining Club.
Twitchell and his wife moved to Byram, Connecticut in 1949. He passed away at his home on January 7, 1968. Many of his papers, photographs and collected items were donated to the Harvard Semitic Museum; more of his legacy is in the possession of Princeton University and Middlebury College, from which he received an honorary Doctor of Science degree on June 12, 1950.
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The history of Saudi Arabia as a nation state began with the emergence of the Al Saud dynasty in central Arabia in 1727 and the subsequent establishment of the Emirate of Diriyah. Pre-Islamic Arabia, the territory that constitutes modern Saudi Arabia, was the site of several ancient cultures and civilizations; the prehistory of Saudi Arabia shows some of the earliest traces of human activity in the world.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a country situated in Southwest Asia, the largest country of Arabia, by the Arabian Peninsula, bordering the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, north of Yemen. Its extensive coastlines on the Persian Gulf and Red Sea provide great leverage on shipping through the Persian Gulf and the Suez Canal. The kingdom occupies 80% of the Arabian Peninsula. Most of the country's boundaries with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, and the Republic of Yemen are undefined, so the exact size of the country remains unknown. The Saudi government estimate is at 2,217,949 square kilometres, while other reputable estimates vary between 2,149,690 and 2,240,000 sq. kilometres. Less than 7% of the total area is suitable for cultivation, and in the early 1960s, population distribution varied greatly among the towns of the eastern and western coastal areas, the densely populated interior oases, and the vast, almost empty deserts.
The Arabian Peninsula, or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. At 3,237,500 km2 (1,250,000 sq mi), the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world.
Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud, known in the West as Ibn Saud, was an Arab tribal, political, and religious leader who founded Saudi Arabia, the third Saudi state, and reigned as its first king from 23 September 1932 until his death in 1953. He had ruled parts of the kingdom since 1902, having previously been Emir, Sultan, and King of Nejd, and King of Hejaz.
Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was a Saudi Arabian statesman and diplomat who was King of Saudi Arabia from 2 November 1964 until his assassination in 1975. Prior to his ascension, he served as Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia from 9 November 1953 to 2 November 1964, and he was briefly regent to his half-brother King Saud in 1964. He was prime minister from 1954 to 1960 and from 1962 to 1975. Faisal was the third son of King Abdulaziz, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, and the second of Abdulaziz's six sons who were kings.
Harry St John Bridger Philby, CIE, also known as Jack Philby or Sheikh Abdullah, was a British Arabist, adviser, explorer, writer, and Colonial Office intelligence officer.
Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was King of Saudi Arabia from 9 November 1953 to 2 November 1964. During his reign, he served as Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 1953 to 1954 and from 1960 to 1962. Prior to his ascension, Saud was the country's crown prince from 11 May 1933 to 9 November 1953. He was the second son of King Abdulaziz, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, and the first of Abdulaziz's six sons who were kings.
The ʿAsir Region is a region of Saudi Arabia located in the southwest of the country that is named after the ʿAsīr tribe. It has an area of 76,693 square kilometres (29,611 sq mi) and an estimated population of 2,211,875 (2017). It is surrounded by Mecca Province to the north and west, Al-Bahah Province to the northwest, Riyadh Province to the northeast, Jazan Province to the south, and Najran Province to the southeast. ʿAsir also shares a short border with the Saada Governorate of Yemen to the south.
Najran is a region of Saudi Arabia, located in the south of the country along the border with Yemen. It has an area of 149,511 km². Its capital is Najran.
Frank Holmes, known affectionately by Arabs as "Abu Naft", was a British-New Zealander mining engineer, geologist and oil concession hunter. Following distinguished service in World War I, he was granted the title of honorary Major and was thereafter known as Major Frank Holmes in his civilian life.
Mohammed Hussein Ali Al-'Amoudi is a Saudi billionaire businessman. He was born Ethiopia in 1946 to a Yemeni father from Hadhramaut and an Ethiopian Muslim mother from the Wollo Amhara clan.
The Saudi–Yemeni War was a war between Saudi Arabia and the Kingdom of Yemen in 1934.
Rezayat Group is a group of companies which are headquartered in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia. Originally called Ali Reza Group, it was founded by Abdullah Alireza in 1949 in the British Protectorate of Kuwait. The Rezayat Group is active in the industries of oil & gas, water, power generation, engineering and transportation with over 16,000 employees and operations in 13 countries. It is a family owned business descended from the House of Alireza trading family.
The Golden Gimmick refers to a foreign tax credit deal enacted in November 1950 by the U.S. Government under President Harry Truman between King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia and the Arabian-American Oil Company (ARAMCO), a consortium comprising Standard Oil of California (Chevron), Standard Oil of New Jersey (Exxon), Standard Oil of New York (Mobil) and Texaco. King Ibn Saud was being influenced by Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonso of Venezuela who cut a similar 50/50 deal with New Jersey Standard Oil and Royal Dutch Shell. This 50/50 deal accorded the American oil companies a tax break equivalent to 50% of their profits on oil sales, with the other 50% to be diverted to King Ibn Saud via the US Treasury. The King agreed to this 50/50 splitting of Aramco's oil profits instead of nationalizing Aramco's oil facilities on Saudi soil. Venezuela eventually led the effort in forming OPEC and Saudi Arabia gained full control of Aramco by 1980.
Bilateral relations between Saudi Arabia and the United States began in 1933 when full diplomatic relations were established and became formalized in the 1951 Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement. Despite the differences between the two countries—an Islamic absolute monarchy, and a secular constitutional republic—the two countries have been allies ever since. The core logic underpinning the relationship is that the United States of America (USA) provides military protection of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in exchange for a reliable oil supply from the Saudis, pricing of oil in USA dollars, and Saudi support for USA foreign policy operations across the world. However, the Saudi Ambassador to the US, Reema bint Bandar says the relationship in recent years has shifted from “oil for security” to one that is built around regional growth, food and energy security, stability, and climate change. The current status of the alliance was given 15 July 2022 in The Jeddah Communique: A Joint Statement Between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that was attended by President Joe Biden in Jeddah.
Discovery! The Search for Arabian Oil is a non-fiction book written by Pulitzer Prize winning American author Wallace Stegner.
The Unification of Saudi Arabia was a military and political campaign in which the various tribes, sheikhdoms, city-states, emirates, and kingdoms of most of the Arabian Peninsula were conquered by the House of Saud, or Al Saud. Unification started in 1902 and continued until 1932, when the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was proclaimed under the leadership of King Abdulaziz, creating what is sometimes referred to as the Third Saudi State, to differentiate it from the Emirate of Diriyah, the First Saudi State and the Emirate of Nejd, the Second Saudi State, also House of Saud states.
Saudi Arabian oil was first discovered by the Americans in commercial quantities at Dammam oil well No. 7 in 1938 in what is now modern day Dhahran.
The following is a Gregorian timeline of the history for the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Abdullah bin Suleiman Al Hamdan, commonly known as Abdullah Suleiman and also by his nickname Wazīr Kullī Shaīʾ, was the treasurer and long-term as well as first finance minister of Saudi Arabia (1932–1955). He was named "the minister of everything" due to his involvement in nearly all state affairs which included agriculture, transportation and mining resources among the others. During the reign of King Abdulaziz he was the most significant non-royal official.
