Skip to item: of 602
Information about this record Back to top
Open in Universal viewer
Open in Mirador IIIF viewer

'D.178 86/13-III KUWAIT NEUTRAL ZONE' [‎150v] (300/602)

This item is part of

The record is made up of 1 file (300 folios). It was created in 24 Nov 1946-3 Jun 1948. It was written in English. 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.

Transcription

This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.

Apply page layout

(b) as far as we knew, the Sheikh had not applied any time
limit to the bidding for the concession;
(c) if he wished to bid for the concession, he should con-,
duct his negotiations direct with the Sheikh, through the It er's
Secretary; * a f ^ r ' 5
(d) it would be a breach of confidence to tell him what
bids, and by what Cornpanies, had already been put in. He fully
accepted this; —-——- -
(e) we had not formulated any firm views on whether a larger
cash payment down would be better than a larger royalty or vice-
versa, but that a much higher royalty than was being paid on other
existing concessions would undoubtedly cause a good deal of trouble*
Jacobsen expressed the view quite bluntly tnat the sensioie
arrangement seemed to be for the neutral zone to be dov^j-oped
jointly by the ^trabian/american and the Kuwait Oil Company. .7e
made no comment on this expression of opinion.
You will be interested to know that we have ascertained
from the treasury that > hold an interest in Amerada to the
extent of 226,000 shares pledged under the R.F.C. loan and 1,978
shares free stock.
A point on which we would like your advice is that
Jacobsen rang up just before leaving for America to say that if they
did decide to bid for the Kuwait Neutral Zone concession it would
probably be necessary for them to employ as negotiator, at a very
good fee, someone with considerable experience of the Middle iiast
and he asked whether we would be able to put him in touch with
anybody. He was told that we would think it over and let him know
if the situation arose, but that our first reaction was that as we
wished to be impartial we might find it difficult actually to
suggest or recommend a negotiator to one of the parties seeking the
concession.
V7e would appreciate your views on this point. . ,
X am sending a cony of this letter to Pyrnan,
Yours sincerely, <
(sgd). l. MONSELL-DAVIS. ^

About this item

Content

The file contains correspondence between 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. (William Rupert Hay); 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. at Kuwait (Gordon Noel Jackson, Maurice O’Connor Tandy); 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. (later the Commonwealth Relations Office, Eion Pelly Donaldson, Adrian Harbottle Reed, Ralph Ingham Hallows); the Foreign Office (Lancelot Frank Lee Pyman); the Ministry of Fuel and Power (William Dunmore Monsell-Davies); His Majesty’s Minister at Jedda (Alan Charles Trott); the Shaikh of Kuwait (Shaikh Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ) and various oil companies in relation to the auction process instituted by the Shaikh of Kuwait for his share in the Kuwait-Saudi Arabia Neutral Zone oil concession.

The companies which expressed an interest in bidding for the Kuwait neutral zone concession included Petroleum Concessions Limited, the Burmah Oil Company, the Eastern Gulf Company, the Amerada Petroleum Company, the American Independent Petroleum Corporation, the Superior Oil Company of California and the Canadian Eagle Oil Company. However owing to the Shaikh's requirement that financial backing and resources to undertake exploitation of an oil concession are proven by each potential bidder only four companies were permitted to continue and submit final bids on 1 June 1948 – Petroleum Concessions Limited, the Burmah Oil Company, the Eastern Gulf Company and the American Independent Petroleum Corporation.

Other matters discussed in the file include:

  • the question of the political agreement between His Majesty’s Government and successful Oil Company and discussing whether such an agreement could be made with an American Company and also what changes and special requirements would have to be made owing to the concession only being for the Shaikh of Kuwait’s share of the neutral zone.
  • a visit paid by the Shaikh of Kuwait to Ibn Saud (‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd)and the question of whether or not the neutral zone was discussed by them.
  • debate around the possibility of a geographic division of the neutral zone in order to make administration of the zone easier, and the conclusion that negotiations for such a division could take years and would not perhaps be in the best interests of the Oil Companies exploiting an oil concession there.
  • a hydrographic survey of the coast-line of the neutral zone to locate a suitable landing site for heavy equipment.
  • a new air service instituted by Iraq Airways in 1947 that would fly from Basra to Kuwait and Bahrain.

A series of file notes which were maintained as a record of the correspondence in the volume can be found at folios 272-299.

Extent and format
1 file (300 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 302; 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 2-99 and ff 113-300; 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 in Latin script
View the complete information for this record

Use and share this item

Share this item
Cite this item in your research

'D.178 86/13-III KUWAIT NEUTRAL ZONE' [‎150v] (300/602), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/1/687, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100029106992.0x000065> [accessed 29 March 2024]

Link to this item
Embed this item

Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.

<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100029106992.0x000065">'D.178 86/13-III KUWAIT NEUTRAL ZONE' [&lrm;150v] (300/602)</a>
<a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100029106992.0x000065">
	<img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000193.0x000295/IOR_R_15_1_687_0300.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" />
</a>
IIIF details

This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000193.0x000295/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images

Use and reuse
Download this image