The history of oil in the Middle East and the Arab world goes back many centuries during which seepages of oil and tar were used for a multitude of purposes. A mission of German experts in 1871 (1288 AH) visited Iraq and reported plentiful supplies of oil. In 1907 (1324/25 AH), another mission said Iraq was a veritable 'lake of petroleum'. In Iran, oil was found in quantity in 1908 (1325/26 AH). The major Iraqi field was discovered at Kirkuk in 1927 (1345/46 AH) and began producing oil in commercial quantities; oil flowed abroad in 1934 (1352/53 AH). In 1932 (1350/51 AH), petroleum was discovered in Bahrain.
