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Coll 6/48 'Oil: Concessions in Saudi Arabia. (Hasa)' [‎460r] (921/1153)

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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. .

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o
Article 14.
It is agreed that all gold payments provided for in this agreement, whether
e\ aie gold pounds or shillings, will be reckoned on the basis of gold pounds,
and in accordance with their weight and pureness at the time of payment. It
is also agreed that payments may be made in American dollars or pounds sterling
on the above-mentioned basis. It is also agreed that in case the payment of the
loan and the rent for the first year is made in pounds sterling or American dollars,
the late will then be calculated in accordance with the rate of exchange on the
date of payment.
Article 15.
All payments provided for in this agreement and which ought to
be paid to the Government should be paid to them direct or to their
credit in whatever bank they may fix in writing. The Government
have the right to change this bank from time to time provided that
ley inform the Company of such action in writing, so as to enable the Company
to have sufficient time to arrange for subsequent payment to the new bank It is
agreed that the Government shall select this bank,' whether in Saudi Arabia, or
m the United States of America, or in England, or in Holland, provided that no
bank be selected in Saudi Arabia, unless it has a correspondent in the United
States of America, England or Holland, through whom the money can be remitted
to Saudi Arabia, and if the Company pays in the proper way to the Government
am payment through the bank or through the correspondent of the bank for the
purpose of its transmission to Saudi Arabia, the Company will be then free of
any risk m respect of such payment. It has been agreed that the first payment
agreed upon (which is the preliminary loan and the rent of the first year) should
be paid within a period of fifteen days as from the date on which this agreement
t 01 ^ S /S t0 f° r ? e i° t , he COIT espondents of the Netherlands Trading Society of
Jedda (Saudi Arabia) at .New York or London for its transmission and handing
over to the Government against proper and correct receipt. The expenses
incurred in this connexion will be charged to the Company. If this first pavment
is not paid m gold it may be paid in pounds sterling at the rate of exchange at the
time the Company pays the said payment to the correspondent of the bank.
Article 16.
.u ^ fter discover ing oil in commercial quantities within a reasonable period,
the Company may choose a place in Saudi Arabia for the purpose of establishing
a factory An East India Company trading post. for manufacturing a sufficient quantity of petrol and kerosene to suffice
the needs of the Government. It is understood that the requirements or needs
of the Government will not include the sale of the same on their part inside or
outside the country. ^
The Company should proceed to establish this factory An East India Company trading post. after completing the
necessary preliminary arrangements and after obtaining the approval of the
Government regarding the place which the Company suggests. Durino’ everv
year following the establishment of this factory An East India Company trading post. the Company should offe? to the
fl G h™frinn n nr^ T qua ?*U of ab ° ut 20 ?- 000 g allons Petrol and another of
ah TJ m / m ! .o' allons ( ; f kerosene free of charge. It is understood that the
methods of taking over these quantities should not expose the work of the Comnanv
to any danger.
Article 17.
tv a Co f 1 1 P an y em pl°ys at its own expense the number of guards and guides
needed for the protection of its representative camps and establishments The
Government promise to afford every assistance to the Company in supplying it
vvith their best soldiers and men and entrust them with this matter. The
Government will offer the Company all reasonable protection at certain wages
which will not be more than the usual wages paid by the Government. It is
understood that the expenses incurred in connexion with such services should be
paid to the Government by the Company.
Article 18.
In return for the obligations undertaken by the Companv in pursuance of
is agreement, and in respect of the payments which are due from the Companv
[ 879 q 5] b3

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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
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Coll 6/48 'Oil: Concessions in Saudi Arabia. (Hasa)' [‎460r] (921/1153), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2115, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100040749884.0x00007c> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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