There's a reason that, for so many years, people have spoken of oil men. During most of the history of the oil industry, though increasingly less true today, most of the people who made the decisions, whether in oil companies or oil-exporting countries, were men. And yet, over those many decades, there were two women who would have a decisive influence on the industry. Both were journalists, and neither hesitated to take on the most powerful.
Excerpted from Chapter 4: Savoring the Bedouin Brew
Walking the Harem Gauntlet
Wanda admitted that she did not know what to say or do in the presence of King Saud. Since women were forbidden by Saudi law to enter the king's palace, the king received Wanda in his harem--the women's quarters--where no man except the king could go. To reach him, she had to pass through a gauntlet of several hundred long-robed, black-veiled women, all relatives of the king. They whispered and giggled as she gingerly walked on Persian carpets at least three hundred feet toward Saud...
Is Arabia Moving to a New 50/50 Oil Pattern More Like Venezuela's? - Petroleum Week, 2/22/1957
Is There Any Oil in the Sand Mountains? - Petroleum Week, 3/8/1957
Deborah Charms the 'Pirates' - Petroleum Week, 3/15/1957
All articles used with permission from McGraw-Hill.