File 1421/1908 Pt 3 'Persia: oil; negotiations between the Shaikh of Mohammerah and the Anglo-Persian Oil Co.' [323r] (211/338)
The record is made up of 1 item (168 folios). It was created in Apr 1909-Jul 1919. 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 Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
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[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty s GovcriunentJ^"
PERSIA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
’S
[August 16.]
Section 6 .
[30893]
No. 1 .
Consul-General Cox to Sir Edward Grey .—(Received August 16.)
(No. 9. Commercial.)
TXT ^v/ Bushire, July 25, 1909.
IN continuation of my despatch No. 8 , Commercial, dated the 18th instant, I have
the honour to submit a duplicate copy of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company’s agreement
with the Sheikh of Mohammerah," together with a memorandum for your information,
containing notes m comment or elucidation of various points in the agreement which
were the subject of special discussion in the course of our negotiations with the
sheikh.
My proceedings in connection with the said negotiations were as follows
oft for Mohammerah on the 7th instant, immediately on receipt of the draft
agreement and instructions received with Foreign Office despatch No 1 of the
12 th June.
Mr. McDouall, after so many years in Mohammerah, not having yet been able to
comp ete his preparations for departure, and consequently not having handed over
chaige of the duties of llis Majesty s Consulate, and being, moreover, anxious to avail
himself of the present opportunity to bid farewell to Sheikh Kkazal, accompanied me
to Ahwaz, as also did Lieutenant Wilson and Mr. J. B. Lloyd, the agent of the Oil
Company. We arrived there by steam launch on Sunday the 11th instant, and the
negotiations occupied the ensuing five days.
Ihis being the first important agreement which the sheikh had ever entered into
with a European company, it was not surprising that he should feel that he was
breaking new ground in which innumerable pit-falls might be awaiting him. He was,
consequently, extremely nervous and apprehensive, with the result that every petty
detail of the agreement had to be dissected, and discussed, and re-discussed ad
nauseam. It was owing to this fact that it had to be entirely altered in form.
By Thursday evening, after four sittings, everything regarding which Mr. Lloyd
and he could be brought to an understanding on business lines had been adjusted, and
there remained only the three cardinal points about which the joint arguments of
Mr. Lloyd and myself, as on behalf of the company, were unavailing. At this stage
Mr. Lloyd retired from the discussion, in order to mark the fact that as far as the Oil
(’ompany were concerned he had gone as far as he could, and to let the sheikh see
that he must either come to an understanding, on such advice on behalf of Government
as I might give him, or else adjourn the negotiations pending further correspondence
with London.
The three points of difference alluded to were :—
(7.) The question of the concurrency of the present agreement with the parent
concession, on which the company insisted.
(ii.) The sheikh’s demand for the substitution of the words “ sons and lineal
descendants,” for the words “ heirs and successors,” both in the preamble and in
article 18.
(Hi.) The question of the reversion of the existing buildings to the sheikh on the
expiry of the concession.
They are most convenient to handle in the above order.
As regards (i). The sheikh pressed perseveringly for the retention of the
stipulation inserted by him in his preliminary agreement, to the effect that at the
expiry of the original period of the company’s concession the possession of the land
and buildings should lapse to himself or his heirs, and should, in the event of a
renewal or extension, be leased by the company from him. That stipulation, it will be
remembered, was rejected altogether by the company, and the joint negotiations of
Mr. Lloyd and myself had reached a stage at which the sheikh had consented prima
facie to drop the question of lease and to let the agreement be concurrent, in con
sideration of a substantial advance in the figure of the rental for the second or any
subsequent period.
[2377 ?— 6 ]
* Not printed.
B
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Part 3 consists of correspondence relating to an agreement between the Anglo-Persian Oil Company and Shaikh Khazal-Bin-Jaber [Khaz‘al bin Jābir bin Mirdāw al-Ka‘bī] of Mohammerah [Khorramshahr]. The correspondence is mostly between the Government of India (Foreign Department), Foreign Office, and 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. . Included as enclosures are letters, telegrams, and memoranda from the following:
- Edward Grey, Foreign Secretary;
- British Minister to Persia, Tehran;
- representatives of Anglo-Persian Oil Company;
- Percy Zachariah Cox, 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. ;
- Shaikh Khazal of Mohammerah;
- Messrs Lloyd, Scott, and Co., agents of Anglo-Persian Oil Company in Mohammerah;
- Persian government officials;
- Arnold Talbot Wilson, Acting Civil Commissioner in Mesopotamia.
Several matters are covered by the papers, including:
- the negotiations over a loan to Shaikh Khazal by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company for the use of land on Abadan Island for an oil refinery;
- the question of what is to be done with company buildings on the island when the concession period ends;
- the nature of Shaikh Khazal's rights to the land in question;
- the Persian Government's exceptions to some of the terms of the agreement;
- the question of guards for the refinery and who will pay for them.
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- 1 item (168 folios)
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File 1421/1908 Pt 3 'Persia: oil; negotiations between the Shaikh of Mohammerah and the Anglo-Persian Oil Co.' [323r] (211/338), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/144/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100030500369.0x000037> [accessed 17 April 2024]
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- IOR/L/PS/10/144/1
- Title
- File 1421/1908 Pt 3 'Persia: oil; negotiations between the Shaikh of Mohammerah and the Anglo-Persian Oil Co.'
- Pages
- 218r:242v, 243v:246v, 247v:255r, 256v:257r, 258v:264r, 265r:267v, 269v:271r, 272v:273v, 275v:278r, 280r:282r, 283v:284v, 285v:293r, 294r, 295v:315r, 316r:316v, 319v:325v, 328r:328v, 329v:331v, 332v, 333v:336v, 337v:338v, 339v:340v, 341v:347v, 349r:349v, 351v, 353v:358v, 362r:382v, 384v:386v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
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