A geological survey of the country in 1925 by the D'Arcy Exploration Company found no conclusive evidence of oil.The company had the same five shareholders as IPC, four of which had an interest of 23.75%: the Royal Dutch/Shell Group, the Anglo-Persian Company (which would eventually become the British Petroleum Company, or BP), Compagnie Francaise des Petroles (a predecessor of today's Total) and the Near East Development Company (whose shareholders were Standard Oil of New Jersey and Socony-Vacuum, today's ExxonMobil), and the remaining 5% stake being held by the fifth shareholder, Partex, representing the interests of the oil magnate, Calouste Gulbenkian.A month before, in June, the Compagnie Francaise des Petroles rejoined the partnership by taking over two-thirds of Partex's equity share, resulting in the following shareholding in the company that by then had changed its name to Petroleum Development (Oman): Shell 85%, Compagnie Francaise des Petroles 10% and Partex 5%.Twelve years later, when American geologists began intensively searching for oil in neighboring Saudi Arabia, Sultan Said bin Taimur granted a 75-year concession for central Oman to the Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC), and a separate concession for the province of Dhofar.The pipe laying was followed closely by the construction of an industrial complex at Saih al Maleh (later renamed Mina al Fahal), the building of a tank farm, the installation of single-buoy moorings for seagoing tankers and the erection of a 20-megawatt power plant.In January 1956 the company started drilling its first well at Fahud but did not find any oil.[1][2] Later, when the supply line was switched to the Sumail Gap, warring tribes were able to disrupt convoys and bring operations to a halt.Having landed at Duqm in February 1954, IPC geologists were faced with tribal conflicts which made access to the most promising oil prospect, Jebel Fahud, difficult.Supplies had to be transported from Duqm.