"ملف 8/16 ملخص استخباراتي بشأن البحرين" [و‎‎٦] (١٠٨/١١)

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/the presi
dent of the
Bahrain
Petroleum
Company, the
President
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that Mr. Skinner was the first General Manager of the Bahrain
Petroleum Company being relieved in 1937 by Mr. C.W. Deacon.
Mr. Skinner informed the Political Agent that a party of
influential oilmen particularly closely connected with the com
panies operating in Bahrain and Dhahran would be visiting this
area towards the end of February. It, is understood that the
party will consist of a- Director of the Texas Corporation, a
Director of the California Standard Oil Company, the President/
of the Arabian American Oil Company, and possibly Lloyd N.
Hamilton and Mr. E.A. Skinner himself. The purpose of the
visit^has not so far been disclosed nor has Mr. Parker I. Hart,
the Vice consul for the United States of America at Dhahran,
received any information regarding all their intentions.
(ii) On the 24th Mr. N.E. Baker and Mr. F.E. Wel*lings, geolo
gists employed by the Iraq Petroleum Company, accompanied by
Mr. E.V. Packer, M.B.E., the local manager of Messrs. Petroleum
Concessions Limited, called on the Political Agent and informed
him that Messrs. Petroleum Concessions Limited contemplated an
extensive programme of geo-physical research on the Trucial coast
commencing in the autumn of this year. It is apparently the
intention of the geologists to commence operations about October
and during the course qf the next two years not only do they
hope to complete their survey of the Trucial Shaikhdoms but also
they hope to be able to survey the eastern limits of Oman down to
the neighbourhood of the South Arabian Coast in the neighbourhood
of Masirah island. ,
(iii) Air Vice Marshal Robert George, C.B.E., M.C., visited
Sharjah on the 25th and after spending the night there arrived
in Bahrain on the 26th. He was accompanied by some eighteen
staff officers and technical experts and the visit was in con
nection with various Royal Air Force projects. The Air vice
Marshal left for Habbaniyah on the 27th.
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(iv) Reference paragraph 3(iii) of Intelligence Summary No.l
194 o •
of
On the 29th Dr. Van der Meulen arrived from Bushire by sea
and left for Dhahran on the 31st.
(v) On the 30th Mr. Don J. Hanna, Executive vice President of
the Bahrain Petroleum Company, arrived by air from New York. He
informed the Political Agent that he proposed to remain in Bahrain
for several months.
The Bahrain Petroleum Company Limited
Reference paragraph 5 of Intelligence Summary No.l of 1945.
The Political Agent has been informed that the process of
casting off of American labour employed on the Refinery construc
tion project will commence in February when it is expected that a
hundred men will return to the United States of America. They
^llbe followed by a further fifty early in March and a hundred
anc - fifty about the end of March or beginning of April.
(ii) Reference paragraph 7 of Intelligence Summary No.l of 1945.
^The Refinery construction work beingchead of schedule the
Bahrain Petroleum Company are commencing to discharge all their
Iraqi a.rtisans almost immediately and have cancelled recruitment
orders which had been placed in India for additional Indian
artisans.
15. Market conditions
There is a general downward trend in the prices of some
goods. This is probably due to the satisfactory news from the
western Front which was followed by a fall in the exchange rate
of the Sovereign from Rs.65/- to Rs.59/-. it remains to be seen
. whether, as so cften has been the case in the past, this is merely