'File 38/17 Delimitation of Trucial state boundaries and Petroleum Concession Limited's Concession Areas on the Trucial Coast' [‎3r] (5/225)

O' c? c
C.12.38.
3/1 n codes:
j ' / BENTLEY S SECOND PHRASE
PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT ( t SSt l ) LIMITED
/V ./f.fr/f SS - ^ A* £T<Z y _ JTv* _ V _ ^
Directors :
, J. B. A. Kessler (dutch). L.
Cwtrol.
(gBEHCwl^W. FRASER. C.B.E., C. S. GULBENKIAN (FORMERLY ARMENIAN)
Wert (FWEWcfl). -H-. ■». BeipgL -(u.s.Rr). R. W. Sellers. J. Skliros / O ‘ £
SECRET
TSA. 2/4885
To 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. ,
Bahrain.
Dear Sir,
BAHREIN
PERSIAN GULF The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
Dated 30th April 1947.
to
C,
iat.
BAHRAIN RECEIPT.
m.
In continuation of our 5^0. No TSA.2/4768 dated the
6 th March 1947.
We understand from our London principals that they
have been in correspondence with 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. on the
question of boundaries between the various Sheikhdoms on the
Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. . Our principals took the view that boundaries
should be settled prior to drilling or other intense activity
which could reveal to the Shaikhs the position of potential
oil fields. It is understood that 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. prefer
not to undertake a general boundary demarkation but would
prefer to limit rulings to cases of possible dispute.
2* ^ We consider a case in point has now arisen between
Abu-Dhabi and Dubai. Geo-physical work this season 1946-47
indicates two po^en^ lal oil fields, both partially
in disputed territory, and it ishighly desirable to establish
ownership before intensive work next season reveals the
Company^ interest in the disputed area and gives the Shaikhs
ideas on its value to them. Actually for the next two seasons
geo-physical and seismic work will, in all probablity, be
oriOiient rated on^ thf Afru-j MMM yidf. which may be expected to
intensify aM^eBenr Gubai claimsT
3* Our geologists have put forward an idea that in
certain circumstances,where at all feasible and wnere a
disputed area lends itself to it, the boundary line could
with advantage oe drawn on a geological basis, thus avoiding
the splitting of an oil field involving the Company in all
the evils attendant upon such a situation. Such evils could
easily include prolonged litigation in connection with oil
royaltiea, or hostilities between Sheikhdoms or tribes. The
geologists further state that these circumstances apply in
the Dubai Abu-Dhabi area, and that the red line on the attached
map, by a useful coincidence, both separates two potential