Who was called to be one of the chief deputies to Harold Ickes in the Petroleum Administration for War and was tasked in 1943 to appraise the oil potential of Saudi Arabia?

Who was called to be one of the chief deputies to Harold Ickes in the Petroleum Administration for War and was tasked in 1943 to appraise the oil potential of Saudi Arabia?

• A. Ibn Saud
• B. Everette Lee DeGolyer
• C. Calouste Gulbenkian
• D. Henry Ford

Answer: (B)

During WWII, the U.S. government relied on top scientists and oilmen to map out overseas fuel resources, shaping how oil would be secured for the war effort. Everette Lee DeGolyer, a renowned American geologist and founder of the firm DeGolyer and MacNaughton, was chosen as one of Harold Ickes’s chief deputies in the Petroleum Administration for War. In 1943 he led a team to appraise the oil potential of Saudi Arabia, producing the analysis that Saudi fields could meet significant wartime needs and influencing the U.S.–Saudi oil strategy. Ibn Saud was the Saudi king, not the appraiser. Calouste Gulbenkian was a financier and oil investor, and Henry Ford was an industrialist in the automotive field. The question centers on the figure who conducted the petroleum appraisal, which is why Everette Lee DeGolyer is the best answer.

During WWII, the U.S. government relied on top scientists and oilmen to map out overseas fuel resources, shaping how oil would be secured for the war effort. Everette Lee DeGolyer, a renowned American geologist and founder of the firm DeGolyer and MacNaughton, was chosen as one of Harold Ickes’s chief deputies in the Petroleum Administration for War. In 1943 he led a team to appraise the oil potential of Saudi Arabia, producing the analysis that Saudi fields could meet significant wartime needs and influencing the U.S.–Saudi oil strategy.

Ibn Saud was the Saudi king, not the appraiser. Calouste Gulbenkian was a financier and oil investor, and Henry Ford was an industrialist in the automotive field. The question centers on the figure who conducted the petroleum appraisal, which is why Everette Lee DeGolyer is the best answer.