Ziad Rafiq Beydoun (; 1924–1998) was a Lebanese petroleum geologist, leading authority on the geology of the Middle East and Emeritus Professor at the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB; ) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its main campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, autonomous board of trustees and offers programs le ...

(AUB).

Background and education

Born in Beirut in 1924, Ziad ("Don") Beydoun was from a distinguished family of Mutasharifs who had served in the Ottoman Empire. He was the eldest son of the District Governor in

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

under the British Mandate. He was educated at

St. George's School, Jerusalem St. George's School ( ''Madrasat al-Mutran'') is a British boys' school Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education, same-sex education, same-gender education, and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting educati ...

and St. Luke's School, Haifa. He returned to Beirut to obtain a first-class degree in political science and history at the AUB. He then studied at

St Peter's College, Oxford St Peter's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. Located on New Inn Hall Street, Oxford, United Kingdom, it occupies the site of two of the university's academic halls of the Univers ...

where he obtained a degree and doctorate in geology.Obituary by Ron Miller and others in the ''IPC Newsletter'', issue 99, July 1998, pp.36-7.

Early career with the Iraq Petroleum Company

Syria, Iraq, Qatar and Trucial Coast 1948-53

On 27 August 1948, he joined the

Iraq Petroleum Company The Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC), formerly known as the Turkish Petroleum Company (TPC), is an oil company that had a virtual monopoly on all oil exploration and production in Iraq between 1925 and 1961. It was jointly owned by some of the world ...

(IPC) as an exploration geologist with a field party led by Mike Morton in north-west Syria. Beydoun was multi-lingual, speaking Arabic, English, French and Turkish, and spent the next 15 years working for the company in its oil concession areas across the Middle East. From 1949 to 1951, he was field geologist and resident geologist with various IPC associate companies: Qatar Petroleum Company, Mosul Petroleum Company and Petroleum Development (

Trucial Coast The Trucial States, also known as the Trucial Coast, the Trucial Sheikhdoms, or Trucial Oman, was a group of tribal confederations to the south of the Persian Gulf (southeastern Arabia) whose leaders had signed protective treaties, or truces ...

) Ltd, where he was resident geologist for the Ras Sadr No.1 well. In 1951, he went to the Basrah Petroleum Company and in 1952 he was field and resident geologist with the Mosul Petroleum Company in the Ain Zalah field.

South-western Arabia 1953-58

In 1953, Beydoun conducted a remarkable one-man survey of the island of

Socotra Socotra, locally known as Saqatri, is a Yemeni island in the Indian Ocean. Situated between the Guardafui Channel and the Arabian Sea, it lies near major shipping routes. Socotra is the largest of the six islands in the Socotra archipelago as ...

, an island full of malaria and tribal intrigue. Later in the year, he began his association with Petroleum Concessions (Aden Protectorates) Ltd. The company, another IPC associate, had been created to explore the territory that was loosely known as "The Hadhramaut", in today's Yemen. The leader of the geological party was his old mentor Mike Morton. When Morton was called away to take part in the

Duqm Duqm () is a port town on the coastal strip of the Arabian Sea open to the Indian Ocean. It is about 550 km from Muscat. As of 2017, the population was approximately 12,000. History Duqm was a small fishing settlement on the coast of souther ...

landings in Oman, Beydoun took over the party and led it for successive seasons until 1958. IPC withdrew from the Hadhramaut in 1961, but Beydoun would continue to publish books and papers on the geology of the Yemen. On his return to Oxford, Beydoun completed his doctorate on the basis of his field work in that country.

His remaining career in the oil industry and academia

Upon rejoining IPC, Beydoun was posted to Qatar but following retrenchment of company operations, he was seconded to

Calouste Gulbenkian Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian (; ; 23 March 1869 – 20 July 1955) was an Ottoman-born British Armenian businessman and philanthropist. He played a major role in making the petroleum reserves of the Middle East available to Western development a ...

's firm,

Partex Partex Oil and Gas (Holdings) Corporation is an oil company owned by PTT Exploration and Production, a company based in Thailand. It was previously owned by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, from Lisbon, Portugal, until it was sold in June 2019 ...

. In 1963 he returned to Lebanon, taking up the post of assistant professor at AUB and acting as geology advisor to the Ministry of National Economy. In 1966 he took charge of

Marathon Oil Marathon Oil Corporation was an American company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration. In November 2024, it was acquired by ConocoPhillips and absorbed into the company. Marathon was founded in Lima, Ohio, as the Ohio Oil Company. In 1899, the ...

's Middle East and North African evaluation studies, returning to the AUB in 1970 as professor of geology while retaining an advisory role with Marathon. In 1977, Beydoun and his colleagues at the AUB formed the Lebanese Geological Society. In 1983, he married Muntaha Saghiyeh (a distinguished archaeologist in her own right). In 1987, he became a scientific director of a

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

UNDP The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

project on hydrocarbons in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. In 1990, he was patron of the Oxford University Expedition to north Yemen, which undertook a geological study of Kohlan in Hajjah province. In 1992, he was made Emeritus Professor of the AUB.

Books and awards

Ziad Beydoun wrote extensively about the geology of the Middle East, with numerous books and articles (see selected bibliography below) including ''The Stratigraphy and Structure of the Eastern Aden Protectorate'' (1964) and ''The Middle East: Regional Geology and Petroleum Resources'' (1998). In 1994, he received the William Smith Medal from the

Geological Society of London The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe, with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

for his "outstanding achievement in petroleum geology". He joked that it was good to receive the medal while he was still alive. In 1995, he was awarded the Medal of the

National Order of the Cedar The National Order of the Cedar () is the highest Order (honour), state order of Lebanon, established on 31 December 1936. It is offered in five grades. History The Order was created on the 31 December 1936, but is regulated by the Lebanese C ...

by the Government of Lebanon for "distinguished services to geological investigations and research". The Ziad Beydoun Memorial Award is given each year at the annual convention of the

American Association of Petroleum Geologists The American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) is one of the world's largest professional geological societies with about 17,000 members across 129 countries. The AAPG works to "advance the science of geology, especially as it relates to ...

in recognition of the best AAPG poster session paper presented at the previous year's International conference. Ziad Beydoun died on 7 March 1998. In late September of the same year, the Prime Minister of Yemen presented his widow with the Republic's Science Medal, awarded posthumously to him in recognition of his unique contribution to the study of Yemeni geology.

Selected bibliography

*"Synopsis of the Geology of the Eastern Aden Protectorate". Report 21st. International Geological Congress, Copenhagen, 21st, 131–149. 1960. *Geological map of Eastern Aden Protectorate, British Directorate of Overseas Surveys, 1:1,000,000. (D.O.S. (Geol.) 1148). 1963. ''The Stratigraphy and Structure of the Eastern Aden Protectorate'', Overseas Geology and Mineral Resources Supp. Ser., Bull. Supp. 5, 107pp. HMSO London. 1964. *"Eastern Aden Protectorate and part of Dhufar", ''Geology of the Arabian Peninsula'', U.S.G.S. Profess. Paper 560H, 49pp. Washington D.C. 1966. *"Aden Protectorate and Dhufar", ''Lexique Stratigraphique International'', (ed.) L.Duberret, Vol. III, fasc. 10b2, 126 p, CNRS Paris. (with Greenwood, J.E.G.W.,) 1968. *"Southern Arabia and Northern Somalia: Comparative Geology", Phil. Trans. Royal Society London, A 267: 267–292. 1970. *"Geology of Socotra Island, Gulf of Aden" ''Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society'', London, 125: 413–446. (done with Bichan, H.R.,) 1970. *"The Gulf of Aden and North West Arabian Sea", ''Ocean Basins and Marins'', 6, The Indian Ocean, (eds) A.E.M. Narin and F.G.Stehli. Ch. 6: 253–313, Pienum Pub. Corp., New York. 1982. *"The Petroleum Resources Of The Middle East: A Review", ''Journal of Petroleum Geology'', 9: 5-28. 1986. *''The Middle East: Regional Geology and Petroleum Resource'', Scientific Press, Beaconsfield UK, 292 p. 1988. *"Hydrocarbon prospects of the Red Sea-Gulf of Aden: A Review", ''Journal of Petroleum Geology'', 12: 125–144. 1989a. *"Hydrocarbon potential of the Deep (pre-Mesozoic) Formations in the Middle East Arab Countries", ''Proceeding OAPEC/ADNOC Seminar on Deep Formations in the Arab countries: Hydrocarbon Potential and Exploration Techniques'', Abu Dhabi, Oct. 1989, 31–84. * "Arabian Plate Hydrocarbon Geology and Potential – a Plate Tectonic Approach", AAPG Studies in Geology No. 33, Tulsa, OK, 77p. 1990. *"Arabian Plate Hydrocarbon Geology And Potential - A Plate Tectonic Approach",(Eds), ''Studies In Geology'', American Association Of Petroleum Geologists, 33, 77, 1991. *"Red Sea-Gulf of Aden: Re-assessment of Hydrocarbon Potential", ''

Marine and Petroleum Geology ''Marine and Petroleum Geology'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering marine and petroleum geology. It was established in 1984 and is published by Elsevier. The editor-in-chief is Massimo Zecchin ( Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e d ...

'', 9 (5): 478-485 (with Sikander, A.H.,) 1992. * "The Red Sea-Gulf of Aden: Biostratigraphy, Lithostratigraphy and Paleoenvironments", Journal of Petroleum Geology, 15, 135–156. (with Hughes, G.W.,) 1992. *"The Qishn Formation, Yemen: Lithofacies and Hydrocarbon Habitat", ''Marine and Petroleum Geology'', 10 (4): 364–372. (with Bamahmoud, M.O., and Nani, A.S.O.,) 1993. *''Geological Evolution and Hydrocarbon Potential of the Deep Formations in The Middle East Arab Countries Proceeding to the Second Seminar on hydrocarbon potential of the Deep Formations in the Arab Countries'', OAPEC, Cairo, Oct. 1994. 52p. 1994. *"Productive Middle East Clastic Reservoirs: Their Depositional Settings and Origin of their Hydrocarbons: Sedimentary Facies Analysis", (ed.) A.G. Plint, Special Public. International Association of Sedimentologists, 22: 331–354. 1995. *"Sedimentary Basins of the Republic of Yemen: Their Structural Evolution and Geological Characteristics", ''Revde I’Instit. Francais du Petrole'', 51 (6): 763–775. *"Rift sedimentation and Tectonics in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Region", ''Journal of Petroleum Geology'', 19: 235–245, 1996. *"Introduction to the revised Mesozoic Stratigraphy and Nomenclature for Yemen", ''Marine and Petroleum Geology'', 14, special issue on Yemen, 1997.

References

External links

* Looking for Yemen's Hidden Treasur

* ''In the Heart of the Desert'', photographs and tex

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beydoun, Ziad Rafiq 1925 births 1998 deaths Recipients of the National Order of the Cedar American University of Beirut alumni Alumni of St Peter's College, Oxford Geology of Yemen Academic staff of the American University of Beirut Scientists from Beirut Geologists of the Iraq Petroleum Company Oil exploration in the Middle East Lebanese geologists 20th-century geologists St. George's School, Jerusalem alumni