On December 2, 1950, the Sidon terminal of the TransArabian Pipe Line Company, familiarly known as Tapline, loaded for the first time a tanker with crude oil from- Saudi Arabia. In the years that have followed, Tapline has established itself as an important enterprise in the rapidlyprogressing Middle East. This is the story of that enterprise today.
   The Middle East is a vast area in which efficient commercial transportation has always been a necessity, for goods are of little value unless they can be moved to a market. In fact, it was in this extensive region that commercial transportation on a large scale first began. This was in about the year 1,000 B.C. when the great networks of camel caravan routes came into being. Over them moved the legendary riches of the East which were so eagerly sought by the Western world. These routes, in turn, led to the building of the ports of Sidon and Tyre and other Mediterranean cities, from which the early Arab peoples carried enterprise and civilization to far horizons.
   The passage of time has brought no lessening in the importance of commercial transportation in the Middle East. The old caravan trails are disappearing; in their place are highways, railroads, airways and oil pipelines. And from the Mediterranean seacoast great tankers and freight vessels now move out to the far ends of the earth, as did the ships of the Phoenicians centuries ago.
   The lifeblood of commerce is competition, and competition never stands still. Everywhere in this area, gigantic strides are being made in the development of new and improved methods of commercial transportation. This is especially true in the field of oil transportation. For, like other products of the Middle East, oil must be moved swiftly and efficiently if it is to be able to compete on favorable terms in the markets of the world.