‘File 86/2 XI (C 53) Bahrain Oil’

Content

The volume contains letters, telegrams and memoranda relating to oil production in Bahrain being undertaken by the Bahrain Petroleum Company (hereafter BAPCO). The volume is a direct continuation of ‘File 86/2 X (C 52) Bahrain Oil’ (IOR/R/15/1/658). The principal correspondents in the volume are the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard Fowle the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. in Bahrain, Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Gordon Loch, BAPCO’s London representative, Hamilton Ballantyne, and various British Government officials, chiefly Mr Laithwaite of the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. .

The main subjects covered in the volume are:

• Negotiations over the terms and wording of BAPCO’s mining lease between Laithwaite and Ballantyne, including records of meetings and conversations between the two men (folios 22-33, 63-70), correspondence relating to the wording of particular clauses (including those concerning access to records of wells, royalties, arbitration of disputes and the nomination of an umpire, closure of wells), and a printed draft of the lease with pencil and pen annotations (folios 193-200);
• The arrival and departure from Bahrain of representatives of Redwood & Co., the nominated independent calibrators of BAPCO’s oil storage tanks (folios 8-9);
• Ballatyne’s visit to Bahrain in October 1934;
• Oil exports from Bahrain, including the first shipment to Japan, invoking a protest from the Persian Government, who maintained a claim on the Bahrain Islands. The Persian protest was published in the Japan Times on 17 July 1934 (folios 56-58, 116-119)
• Anticipated future production in Bahrain of 5,000 barrels a day (folio 73), and continued questions over the prospects of refining being undertaken in Bahrain;
• The appointment of Mr Russell (Bahrain Manager of the Mesopotamia-Persia Corporation) as Chief Local Representative for BAPCO in Ed Skinner’s absence (folios 17, 19-20, 45);
• The payment of lighting dues by BAPCO vessels (folios 40, 48-49);
• The arrival in Bahrain in October 1934 of a director of the Iraq Petroleum Company (folios 228-29), in connection with marketing possibilities for BAPCO oil, and amid competition between oil companies operating in the Gulf.

Extent and format

1 volume (254 folios)

Arrangement

The volume’s contents are arranged in approximate chronological order, from the earliest item at the front to the latest at the end. The office notes at the end of the volume (ff 233-40) mirror the chronological arrangement. Some items of correspondence in the volume are annotated in pencil with page numbers. These page numbers refer to other items within the volume, marked with numbers marked in red and blue pencil.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: The volume is foliated from the first to last folio, using numbers written in pencil in the top-right corner of each recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. . Index numbers written in red and blue pencil are part of the volume’s original filing system, and correspond to the office notes index at the end of the volume (ff 233-40). The following foliation anomalies occur: 1, 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D; 38 and 38A; 98 and 98A; 200, 200A and 200B.

Written in

English in Latin script

Type

Archival file

Access & Reference

Original held at

British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity.

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

IOR/R/15/1/659

Former external reference(s)

A Series: 86/2 XI Confidential Series: C 53

History of this record

Date(s)

3 Nov 1933-3 Nov 1934 (CE, Gregorian)

Subjects

Concessions, Oil, BahrainPetroleum products

Places

BahrainSitrah

People & organisations

Bahrain Petroleum CompanyChief Local RepresentativePolitical Agent

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‘File 86/2 XI (C 53) Bahrain Oil’, British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/1/659, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100000000193.0x000279> [accessed 23 April 2024]

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