File 2249/1915 Pt 1 ‘Oil: Mesopotamia & Persia: General File’ [‎210r] (426/478)

under the administration of the Egyptian Government or of the Sheikh of Koweit or
,n the transferred territories ” on the Turco-Persian frontier, otherwise than
through the I urkish Petroleum Company.
Foreign Office, March 19, 1914.
(4or the Imperial German Government)
R. VON KUHLMANX.
(hor His Britannic Majesty's Government),
EYRE A. CROWE'.
(4 or the National Bank of Turkey)
H. BABINGTON SMITH.
(4or the Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company. Limited),
W. DETERDING.
WALTER H. SAMUEL.
(For the Deutsche Bank),
C. BERG MANN.
(4Yr the ITArcv Group),
C. GREEN WAY.
H. S. BARNES.
ANNEX 2.
[36846j
Foreign Office to Admiralty*
(Confidential.) . „
g- r Foreign Office, March 2, 1916.
’ WITH reference to my letter of the 29th ultimo, enclosing a copy of a letter from
the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (Limited), secretary Sir 4^. Gre\ considers it
important that the assumption should be at once controverted that “the company
would in any case, in the event of any change in the Middle East favourable to
British interests occurring, be given complete oil rights ^ over any portion of the
Turkish Empire which may come under British influence
2 The D’Arcy group, as distinct from the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, were
interested in the Turkish Petroleum Company. The interests of that group never
extended to certain portions of the Turkish Empire, such as the barsan Archipelago,
where His Majesty’s Government, before the war, were committed to support other
Eritish groups, whose claims would, in any case, be entitled to careful, and probably
to preferential, consideration. , - i ,i
S Rut apart from these aspects of the question, and from that of whether the
D’Arcy group is in fact entitled to a claim of monopoly in Mesopotamia m regard to
n lrhd,K Sir E Grey deems it essential that the whole attitude of H,s Majesty s
T overament towards the oil question should be reviewed at an early date.
Government that , leaving out of account the American supplies, which in
the opinion of some experts may eventually be entirely absorbed bv the anticipated
ncreSe °n the American demands, the principal sources of supply are those con-
sasw. ***• "-tsssnr ss* laxWirsrs
by lb. Anglo-Persian Oil Compnn, an,! the Burma
various cate^one imnnrtant extent, are therefore not free agents.
0,1 cTrcumstances and having regard to the limited area of production
5. in tnese cncu . , (o ttie fact that one of them has proved unable
of the two Government subsidies, it appears to Sir E. Grey
to carrv on without sr . ^ i Butch-Shell group cannot be brought under
desirable to examine Anglo-Persian Companies,
British control, by an ama g < irs t0 p e opportune for such a development:
or otherwise. Tl | e I^f^j 1 r r , " f) , cp ort < Companv are, it is believed, favourable to some
such scheme 15 , and prepared to make sacrifices in order to enter into closer relations
m „ Pnanl nf Trade, 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. .
* Also to Treasury, noaru or naue. ai