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As its name suggests, it is the first oil well in the Arabian side of the Persian Gulf and is located in Bahrain. The well is situated below Jebel Dukhan. It was operated by Bahrain Petroleum Company. Oil first spurted from this well on 16 October 1931, and the well finally began to blow heads of oil on the morning of 2 June 1932. The initial oil flow rate was 9,600 barrels per day (1,530 m3/d); by the 1970s the well produced 70,000 bbl/d (11,000 m3/d), and after that it stabilized at about 35,000 bbl/d (5,600 m3/d). Close to the well, which has been reconstructed to its first appearance, is a stable.
Bahrain was the first place on the Arabian side of the Persian Gulf where oil was discovered, and it coincided with the collapse of the world pearl market.