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Coll 6/48 'Oil: Concessions in Saudi Arabia. (Hasa)' [17r] (33/1153)
The record is made up of 1 file (574 folios). It was created in 8 Dec 1923-11 Jul 1945. 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
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
/7
i
- 2 -
and bustle at the port, where boats were being loaded with lucerne for
Bahrain and ’aalug* (dates boiled when immature) and ’dibs 1 (date juice)
for India. (Iwae told that the embargo on the export of dates from
^,atif did not apply to ’salug* and ♦dibs*).
6. The Amir of A1 Khobar was present when his brother, the Amir of
Q.atif, entertained me to tea. In accordance with a suggestion lah ich 1
had previously made to Mr. Ohliger the conversation was directed by him
to the subject of food supplies. The Amirs of A1 Khobar and ^atif,
who are reported to have made large fortunes during the last six months
by the part they have taken dhirxggxt^crx'tairtxiitxxniBiKtMg in manipulating
food prices, displayed no embarrassment in discussing the subject. They
stated that they had recently been instructed by Ibn Saud to make a cen
sus of stocks of food and that there were, apart from Government stocks,
8000 bags of rice in ^.atif and 15000 bags in Hofuf. They also stated
that they had received orders the previous day that the selling price
of rice and dates was to be controlled. Maximum selling prices were to
be as followst-
Calcutta Rice
Karachi rice
Dates
Es 39/- per bag
Es 33/- per bag
Es 3/- per basket
If merchants claimed that their stocks of rice had cost more than the
selling price now fixed the Saudi Government would, on production of tb
merchants* invoices, take over their stocks at the cost price and wouldp^
place them on the market at the new controlled price®
7. In the course of conversation several references were made to
the failure of this year’s crop of wheat sown with Canadian wheat seed.
It will be recalled that 3000 bags of Canadian wheat ware lent to the
Saudi Government by the Shaikh of Bahrain in October 1942 when, we were
told, there was no grain in Eastern Saudi Arabia and the people were
dying of starvation. Apparently the Canadian wheat intended for immed-
iate consumption in Saudi Arabia was used as seed grain. The result
has been unfortunate as the crop expected from it has been a completd
failure.
8. From ^atif we returned to Dhahran via Dammam® Along the road south
of ^atif very large areas of land are being developed. I saw enclosures,
many acres in extent, which were said to belong to JMaj ib Saleh (Ibn
Saud*8 Minister of Mines and Public Works), Shaikh Abdullah al Eadhl
and Saleh Islam (Shaikh Abdullah al Radhl’s assistant). Hew wells have
been bored and 4500 new date palms were, i was informed, to be planted
this season.
9. In the evening I attended a dinner given for me at his house in
Dammam by Shaikh Abdullah al Eadhl. The house is a very handsome one,
well-kept and clean, with electric light installed. The food provided
was, of course, on a lavish scale, and far exceeded in quantity and var
iety anything that I have experienced in Bahrain.
s On the morning of March 11th 1 was shown round the Oil Company’s
<1/ °nd was duly impressed by the enterprise shown in its nr^anisation.
"The well stbcked^o«imissa^_^ar^tbe home-made poultry incubators in
\ air-conditioned house were of particular interest.
li® Later in the morning I attended a midday dinner given for me by
the Amir of Al Khobar. The number of guests was small - not more than
a dozen - but the food provided included six sheep roasted whole and
more than 250 side dishes (incluij^ng fried locusts). At this feast I
was accompanied by Mr. Bertram ThoiS'as' andV’af^'ts^conclusion, we were
both presented by the Amir with swords of honour.
12. I said good-bye to the Amir of Al Khobar at his house and to
/ bhaikh
About this item
- Content
This file relates to oil concessions in Saudi Arabia, particularly the Hasa [Al Hasa] concession between the Government of Saudi Arabia and the Standard Oil Company of California (SoCal). It includes discussion of the following:
- Oil negotiations in Saudi Arabia during March and April 1933, and the reported involvement of Major Frank Holmes in negotiations relating to the Kuwait (also spelled Koweit in the file) [Saudi-Kuwaiti] neutral zone.
- Details of an agreement for the oil concession relating to the Hasa region of Saudi Arabia, made between the Government of Saudi Arabia and SoCal (signed on 27 May 1933), and assigned by SoCal to its subsidiary, the California Arabian Standard Oil Company (Casoc).
- British concerns regarding a request made by Casoc via the United States Embassy for its aeroplane to be permitted to fly over Kuwait and Bahrain, as part of a survey of the region relating to its oil concession.
- Reports that Casoc may be interested in exhanging the southern half of its Hasa concession for land further west, and the effect that this might have on Britain's negotiations with Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd].
- Reports of the discovery of oil in Hasa in 1935, and the discovery of commercial quantities of oil there in March 1938.
- Reports that Casoc is considering the possibility of laying a pipeline from Hasa to Bahrain.
- Casoc's oil rights in the Kuwait neutral zone.
- The progress of operations carried out in Hasa by Casoc, including the status of its wells at Dhahran.
- An account of a visit made by 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 Bahrain (Hugh Weightman) to Casoc's site at Dhahran as well as to other areas in the region, in May 1939.
- Details of a loan from Casoc to the Government of Saudi Arabia.
- Reports of Casoc having taken the decision to construct a refinery at Ras Tanura.
The file features the following principal correspondents: 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. ; 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. , Bahrain; 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. , Kuwait; the Secretary of State for the Colonies; His Majesty's Chargé d’Affaires, Jedda; the His Majesty's Minister at Jedda; officials of the Foreign Office, 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 War Office, the Air Ministry, and the Petroleum Department; representatives of Casoc.
In addition to correspondence the file includes the following:
- Copies of the oil agreement and a supplementary agreement between the Government of Saudi Arabia and the Standard Oil Company of California, dated 1933 and 1939 respectively.
- Extracts from Bahrain and Kuwait intelligence reports.
- The minutes of an interdepartmental meeting held at the Colonial Office on 26 April 1933, concerning British interests in oil in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (notably Kuwait, Bahrain, Hasa in Saudi Arabia, and the Kuwaiti neutral zone).
- Draft and final copies of a War Office report entitled 'Brief Summary of the Oil Situation in the Middle East, November 1934'.
The date range of the volume is 1923-1945 but only a handful of items date from before 1933. These include copies of 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. 's correspondence with the Secretary of State for the Colonies and the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India respectively, which date from 1923 to 1926 and concern the possibility of oil development both in Qatar and on the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. .
The file includes three dividers which give a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. These are placed at the back of the correspondence (folios 2-4).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (574 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 575; 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. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/2115
- Title
- Coll 6/48 'Oil: Concessions in Saudi Arabia. (Hasa)'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:5v, 15r:19v, 21r:32v, 35r:38v, 40r:43v, 45r:61r, 65r:83v, 85r:97r, 102r:103v, 108r:117v, 119r:124v, 126r:129v, 131r:137v, 140r:146v, 156r:159v, 162r:164v, 167r:188v, 191r:207v, 209r:212v, 214r:225v, 227r:234v, 244r:248v, 252r:259v, 261r:290v, 291ar:291av, 291r:350v, 352r:398v, 400r:414v, 417r:422v, 440r:457v, 463r:551v, 553r:555v, 558r:564v, 566r:575v, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence