File 3516/1914 Pt 11 'Persia: protection of Anglo-Persian Oil Co's fields etc' [‎221r] (446/550)

of the Anglo-Persian Oil ( ompuny’s oil-fields and pipe-line in South-Western
Persia. The Committee was constituted as follows :—
General Sir E. Barrow, G.C.B. ( 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. ).
Vice-Admiral Sir E. Slade, K.C.I.E., K.C.V.O. (Admiralty).
Col. the Hon. M. (T Talbot (War Office).
Mr. E. Oliphant (Foreign Office).
]\Ir. J. E. Shuckburgh ( 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. ).
o Phe general position with regard to the Anglo-IVrsian Oil Company’s
conces-ion in Persia may be briefly stated. The Company was formed in 1909
to work a concession obtained from the Persian Government in 1901 by
Mr. W. K. D’Arcy. which runs for 60 years from the 28th May 1901, and
gives the exclusive right to drill for, produce, pipe, and carry away oil and
petroleum products throughout the whole Persian Empire excluding the five
Northern provinces (Azerbaijan, Ghilan, Mazanderan, Asterabad, and i\hor-
assan). The only oil-fields at present being worked by the Company under
this concession are situated in the neighbourhood of Maidan-i-Naphtun in the
Bakhtiari country, whence the oil is conveyed in a pipe-line to the Company’s
refinerv on Abadan Island at the head ot the Peisian Gull. Altoi leaving the
Bakhtiari hills the pipe-line runs through a tribal area subject to the influence
of the Sheikh of Mohammerah. Under agreement with the Company the
Bakhtiari Khans have undertaken to police and protect the field works and
upper section of the-pipe line, while the Sheikh of Mohammerah is under a
similar obligation in regard to the refinery and the lower part of the line. The
Bakhtiari Khans are entitled, by agreement, to 3 per cent, of the shares in
anv company formed to work oil m Bakhtiari counti}, and thus have a
substantial interest in the success of the venture. In May 1914 an agreement
was concluded between the Company and the Admiralty, by which the latter
acquired a sufficient number of shares to give them a controlling interest in
the Company’s operations. . ., ,
3 fip to the end of 1914, the pipe-line was never interfered with; but m
January and February of the present year ('onsiderablejdamage was done by the
Bawi an Arab tribe then in revolt against the Sheikh ol Mohaininerah, to the
section lying between the Bakhtiari border and Ahwaz. Ihe damage has
since been repaired, and the Bawi have made their suomission to the Sheikh of
Mohammerah, and have formally accepted responsibility for the security of the
pipe-line, telephone line and the Company’s employees, m return loi '.'hich a
subsidy of 1,0001. has been granted to the tribe. Ihe Bakhtiau.-, have
so far fulfilled their engagements; but in May 1915, when a rupture with the
Persian Government seemed imminent, it was thought desirable to execute a
further agreement with the Khans, by which they imclertook, in the event of
hostilities between Great Britain and Persia, and of their themseives no
longer in a position to afford the necessary protection, to gne the head of the
oi fi • ds community 20 davs’ notice in advance, and to be responsible for the
safety of the Company's employees during those 20 days. The agreement was
dated the 24th May 1915. It may be mentioned that the population at the oil
fields consists of some 1,000 souls, including 10 Kuropeans^
I In the event of disturbances m Persia endangering the oil-helcls, it s
considered that half-measures would be useless, and that only two practicable
courses are open to us, viz. :
( 1 ) To despatch a military force sufficiently strong to defend the holds and
vn tvo- 11 iie against all comers . 01 .
(9) To shut down the fields and withdraw the personnel until such tmie as
the Bakhtiaris are in a position to resume then engagemen s.
Tbe political objections to abandoning so important an interest, or, m
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