The construction of the plant radically changed the fate of a small coastal settlement. Abadan turned into a rapidly growing industrial center not only of the country but of the entire region within a few decades. Oil became the engine of economic development and a symbol of Iran's new, modern future. The city began to attract thousands of workers, engineers, and specialists from different regions of the country and abroad. As a result, a multinational and socially diverse society emerged, closely tied to the oil industry.

However, the development of Abadan was accompanied by sharp social contrasts: in one part of the city, well-appointed neighborhoods for foreigners with modern houses, clubs, cinemas, and schools; in another, densely populated slums of the local poor. Despite this, in the first half of the 20th century, the city was often perceived as a symbol of the country's modernization and even as a kind of "showcase" of the Iranian oil industry. The Abadan refinery played a special role for the British fleet, so as early as 1941 the city was occupied by British troops, and a separate garrison was stationed on the plant's territory. At the same time, the oil economy gave rise to new forms of social and political activity. As early as the 1910s and 1920s, the first labor protests and strikes emerged among workers, directed against low wages and harsh working conditions. These movements played an important role in shaping the labor movement in Iran. The social activism of the workers at this refinery later played, if not a decisive, then a very important role in the victory of the Islamic Revolution.