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Coll 6/48 'Oil: Concessions in Saudi Arabia. (Hasa)' [‎472v] (946/1153)

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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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6
for the Farsans given by the Idrisi on the 25th September, 1926, to a Mr. Cooper,
who marketed it to the Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company (Royal Dutch Shell
Group). The latter formed the Red Sea Petroleum Company to work it. This
company started operations of some importance at Zifaf Island. The Idrisi,
acting, it was thought at the time, under Italian influence, but more probably
under that of Ibn Saud. made difficulties in the summer of 1927. After abortive
efforts by the company to overcome them, Ibn Saud came forward ostensibly in
the role of honest broker Often a local commercial agent in the Gulf who regularly performed duties of intelligence gathering and political representation. between the Idrisi, now his vassal, and the company. A
conference held at Wizan in December 1927 under his auspices between the
representatives of the company and the Idrisi was again abortive. Ibn Saud
eventually intimated “a decision in the question of the dispute which we were
asked to settle between the Red Sea Petroleum Company and the Idrisi Govern
ment " to the effect that a new concession should be drawn up and that in the
meantime it would be undesirable to accede to a request which the company had
put forward for permission to transfer their operations from Zifaf to Great
Farsan. He suggested that the company should send a representative to Jedda
to negotiate the revised concession. On his persisting in this attitude the
company decided to withdraw from the islands and in September 1928 they
removed all material under the auspices of H.M.S. Dahlia. It must be assumed
that this terminated any rights under the Cooper Concession. The Shell Company
has recently stated that it is not interested to reopen operations in the Farsan
Islands.
(D) —Present Position.
Whatever view might possibly be held as to the legal position in regard to
past concessions, it is quite certain that Ibn Saud believes himself to be quit of
all of them and he is probably right. The position in regard to the various areas
may be summed up as follows :—
(1) Northern Hejaz. —Midian (Limited), closely associated with Sharqieh
(Limited) or some other concern, may have had rights in this area, but there is
no reason to think that they survive. No one seems to be actively interested at
present.
(2) A sir. —Ibn Saud in June 1933 intimated that he would be prepared to
consider offers for a concession from British companies. The matter was referred
by the Petroleum Department to the I.P.C. within whose sphere of influence
Asir fell and who were the only company with any British interests who were
likely to be prepared to consider the matter. The I.P.C. have intimated that
they are prepared to send out geologists to make an examination if they can
secure the necessary rights without payment during the exploratory period.
(3) Hasa. —After some competition between the Iraq Petroleum Company
(who sent a representative out to negotiate in 1933) and the Standard Oil Company
of California, a concession was ultimately granted to the latter. It is under
stood from information obtained from the I.P.C. that the concession was signed
on the 29th May, 1933, the terms being an initial payment of £30,000 (gold) and
a further deferred payment of £20,000 (gold) with a royalty at 5 s. per ton.
(4) Qatar. —The A.P.O.C., acting on their own initiative but with the
object of transfer to the I.P.C., secured an exclusive option from the sheikh to
carry out geological investigations for a period of two years with the right to
apply for a concession within that period. A draft concession approved by the
I.P.C. has recently been submitted by the A.P.O.C. to the sheikh.
(5) Koweit Neutral Zone .—The present position in regard to this area is not
clear. It may be true that Major Holmes's primary object in coming to Jedda
in April 1933 was to obtain Ibn Saud's consent to a regrant, so far as the Saudi
Government are concerned, of a concession for this area. But it may also be the
case that so far as Ibn Saud is concerned, he has included the Neutral Zone with
the Hasa Concession. This position is at present under consideration by His
Majesty's Government.
(6) Farsan Islands. —There has been no activity since 1928 and both the
Shell and the Anglo-Persian have recently informed the Petroleum Department
that they are not interested any longer in obtaining a concession over these
islands.
August 5, 1933.
o

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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.

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English in Latin script
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Coll 6/48 'Oil: Concessions in Saudi Arabia. (Hasa)' [‎472v] (946/1153), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2115, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100040749884.0x000095> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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