Who taught the Middle East the technology to process oil to petroleum and then to gasoline?

Question

Did they have any idea of the wealth they have underground until the someone introduced the technology?

Answer 1

No, they didn't teach themselves. Oil wasn't very useful during the time of coal driven warships, and horse and carriage transportation. After world war 1, most of this changed. When the Ottoman Empire dissolved, the British took over most of the key oil regions, to include modern Egypt and the what is now Iraq and Kuwait. The French took other areas on the African continent. It was these countries that can be attributed to the development of the oil infrastructure.

Answer 2

British oil companies in conjunction with middle eastern governments did the first exploration and development of he middle eastern oik fields about a 100 years ago.
http://www.gasandoil.com/ogel/samples/freearticles/roundup_01.htm
There was no wealth underground until the technology to use oil ( Internal combustion engines) was developed and created a market.

Answer 3

The Middle Easterners taught themselves this technology which is not a surprise since they discovered many important parts of mathematics in history, like Algebra.