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'File 8/15 Arab Series - 1933-1939' [‎24r] (47/434)

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The record is made up of 1 file (214 folios). It was created in 31 Aug 1933-20 Mar 1939. It was written in English and French. The original is part of the 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. .

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41
the Deutsche Bank, 25 per cent. each. This agreement also provided that the
three groups should give undertakings not to be interested directly or indiiect j
in the production of oil in the Ottoman Empire in Europe and Asia (excluding
Egypt, Koweit and the Transferred Territories), except through the Turkish
Petroleum Company. This agreement was signed by the British and German
Governments, and by the groups concerned. As the Turkish Petroleum Company
was then predominantlv British, this arrangement had the effect of securing the
whole of this area to interests which were predominantly British. After the
war American and French interests were admitted into the Iraq Petroleum
Company and the arrangement as regards non-competition between the groups
composing the Iraq Petroleum Company was confirmed in an agreement between
the groups, entered into in 1928. This was a private agreement between the
groups with which the British Government was not associated. Under this
agreement a line was drawn round Arabia, Palestine and Asia Minor, which
excluded the Sultanate of Koweit and the Farsan Islands, but included Bahrein,
and an area was thus defined within which the various groups constituting the
Iraq Petroleum Company agreed that they would not seek for or obtain oil
concessions otherwise than through the Iraq Petroleum Company or its nominee.
On the admission of French and American interests the share capital of the
Iraq Petroleum Company was distributed as follows :—
Percentage.
Anglo-Persian Oil Company
Royal Dutch Shell ..
French Group
American GroupO) ..
C. S. Gulbenkian
.. 23.75
.. 23.75
.. 23.75
.. 23.75
.. 5.00
100.00
As the Royal Dutch Shell is 60 per cent. Dutch and 40 per cent. British,
the British shareholding in the company now only represents about 33| per cent.
The Iraq Petroleum Company is still technically a British company, as m
article 32 of its convention with the Government of Iraq the company must be
and remain a British company, registered in Great Britain, and the chairman
must at all times be a British subject. But the position is different from a
British point of view, from that which formerly obtained when the company was
British in fact as well as in name.
Apart from the Anglo-Persian Oil Company and the Burmah Oil Company,
there are no really large oil companies which are entirely British, and which
could compete with the big groups represented on the Iraq Petroleum Company.
The Burmah Oil Company has never been inclined to undertake exploration work
outside India. There may, however, be some instances where the Iraq Petroleum
Company is not prepared to seek concessions in the reserved area, and where the
Anglo-Persian Oil Company, either by itself or in association with one or more
of the other groups, may be allowed to acquire concessions.
(2) British Oil Dcvcloprucyit Compayiy and Mosul Oil-fields (Limited)* On
the 20th April 1932, the Iraq Government granted an oil concession to the
British Oil Development Company (Limited) over the western portion of Iraq.
The concession is for a period of seventy-five years and covers an area of about
40 000 square miles, comprising all Iraq lands situated west of the River Tigris
and north of the thirty-third parallel of latitude. A special law confirming the
British Oil Development Concession was passed and published in the
Official Gazette on the 29th May 1932. This is reckoned as the date of the
commencement of the concession. The company must be and remain a Bntish
company registered in Great Britain, and the chairman must be a British^ subjec .
There is, however, a large foreign interest in the company. The British Oil
(!) In 1932 the American shareholding in the American group (Near East Development Cor
poration) was held in the following proportions
Percentage.
Standard Oil Company of New Jersey .. .. •* •• 411
Standard Oil Company of New York (now the Socony-Vaeuum Company) .. 41§
Gulf Oil Corporation of Pennsylvania .. . • • • • •
Le571FD

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Content

The file contains the Foreign Office confidential prints of the Arabia Series for the years 1933 to 1938. It includes correspondence, memoranda, and extracts from newspapers. The correspondence is principally between the British Legation in Jedda and the Foreign Office. Other correspondents include British diplomatic, political, and military offices, foreign diplomats, heads of state, tribal leaders, corporations, and individuals in the Middle East region.

Each annual series is composed of several numbered serials that are often connected to a particular subject. The file covers many subjects related to the affairs of Saudi Arabia.

Included in the file are the following:

  • a memorandum on Arab Unity produced by the Foreign Office dated 12 June 1933 (author unknown), folios 11-13;
  • a memorandum on petroleum in Arabia produced by the Petroleum Department dated 5 August 1933 (author unknown), folios 23-26;
  • a record of interviews with Ibn Sa‘ūd, King of Saudi Arabia, conducted by Reader Bullard and George William Rendel between 20 and 22 March 1937;
  • a memorandum on Yemen by Captain B W Seager, the Frontier Officer, dated 20 July 1937;
  • several records of proceedings of ships on patrol in the Red Sea, including that of HMS Penzance , Hastings , Colombo , Bideford , and Londonderry .

Folios 213-15 are internal office notes.

Extent and format
1 file (214 folios)
Arrangement

The file is arranged chronologically.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 217; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 2-215; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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'File 8/15 Arab Series - 1933-1939' [‎24r] (47/434), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/310, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100025548486.0x000030> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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