The CFP's first contract, 1925

Here is the original in Arabic of our first contract: this agreement was signed in March 1925, between the Government of Iraq and the Turkish Petroleum Company, which brings together the Compagnie Française des Pétroles and its partners (Royal Dutch Shell, British Petroleum, Near East Development Corporation, Calouste Gulbenkian). Through this agreement, the government of Iraq grants the TPC an exclusive 75-year concession for the exploration and exploitation of the subsoils of part of Iraqi territory.

This led to our first discovery: in 1927, oil sprang up at Kirkuk, a deposit with considerable reserves. It marks the beginning of Total's Middle Eastern adventure.