Oil Industry
1969, 13 October
Printer: Format International Security Printer, Ltd.
Designer: Victor Whiteley
Sheet size: 4 x 10
Perforation: 11 x 11
This set of five stamps was issued to commemorate the first export of oil from the Fateh oilfield in the Arabian Gulf, off the coast of Dubai.
Due to the distance from shore and shallow depths of the coastal waters it was not practical to deliver the oil to the shore and then load it onto ship. A floating tanker storage system consisting of tanker bodies rebult into two floating storage vessels is used adjacent to the fienld production facilties. Additionaly, there is an underwater storage tank haaving a capacity of 21 million gallons of oil.
The tank was built by Chicago Bride & Iron Company and is 279 feet in diameter and an overall height of 205 feet. The tank, weighing 28 million pounds was designed to withstand forces 40 foot waves and 100 miles per hour winds.
Ships can tie up near the storage tank and load the crude oil, even under severe weather conditions.
VALUES
5 dirhams - Shows the tank being constructed.
20 dirhams - Illustrates the process of moving the tank into place.
35 dirhams - Shows the tank at reat on the bottom of the sea.
60 dirhams - A portrait of the Ruler of Dubai and its Dependencies, H.H. Shaikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al-Maktoum with the left panel showing a drilling platform and the right, the Dedication Monument commemorating the first export of oil.
1 Riyal - A view of the Gulf with a drilling platform and a helicopter pad and helicopter.
- A scarce imperforate block of four, most likely from the archives of the now defunct Format International Security Printer, Ltd..
- The above images are the front and back of the same cover. It is a FDC for the Oil issue and was sent registered mail to the United States. It certainly is unusual to have the set on both sides of the envelope. Any First Day Covers after the Baroody contract are scarce and difficult to find.
