![File 2249/1915 Pt 4 ‘Oil: Mesopotamia & Persia. (General File) 1920–24’ [‎64v] (128/484)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000419.0x0001c4/IOR_L_PS_10_557_0139.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "File 2249/1915 Pt 4 ‘Oil: Mesopotamia & Persia. (General File) 1920–24’ [‎64v] (128/484)")
File 2249/1915 Pt 4 ‘Oil: Mesopotamia & Persia. (General File) 1920–24’ [64v] (128/484)
The record is made up of 1 item (242 folios). It was created in 1 Nov 1919-20 May 1924. 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.
4
No. 2.
Mr. Davis to Earl Curzon.—(Received July 29.)
Embassy of the United States of America,
AK T , ' London, July 28, 1920.
" PURSUANT to the instructions of my Government I haveUre honour to rec^l )
to your Lordship the. statement m my note of the
Government of the United States would g 0 mic policy in the mandate
views of His Majesty’s Government with respect to its economic policy
^‘TThfGovemment of the United States appreciates that. wdh respect to the
inauguration of the administration of the mandate 3 Hi g Majesty’s
ment will consider it necessary to proceed with d '® , States is primarily
relating merely to the eommercial competiUj^ Government of the United
laS its noroffhe'^trMay? 1920, suggested certain
occur ences subsfq,lent to the submission of this note have not served to clarify he
Son or to diminish the concern felt by the Government and people of the United
Stat< 4 The Government of the United States has noted the publication of an agreement
between His Majesty’s Government and the French Government making certain
provisions for the disposition of petroleum produced in Mesopotamia, and giving
France preferential treatment in regard thereto, ft is not c e ^ ^° ^ e i^-m^of
of the United States how such an agreement can be consistent with the principles ot
equality of treatment understood and accepted during the peace negotiations at Paris.
q 5 7 The Government of the United States desires to record its views that such a
agreement in Imht of the position the British Government appears to have assumed
toward Mesopotamia and its economic resources will, as a practical ^ ^
srave infringement of the mandate principle which was formulated loi the purpose o
removing in the future some of the principal causes of international differences.
6 In the interests of a frank discussion of the whole s" b J ect the Government of the
United States desires further to call the attention of His Majesty s Government to t
existence of reports to the effect that the officials charged with the administration of
Tanganyika territory have accorded privileges to British nationals that have not been
accorded to the nationals of other countiies. •
7 The Government of the United States desires to express anew the hope that m
an early reply to the note of the 12th May, 1920, His Majesty s Government will find it
possible to elucidate fully its policy regarding the mandated territory ot the Near Last
and other regions. j h &c .
No. 3.
Earl Curzon to Mr. Davis.
^ U Foreign Office, August 9, 1920.
™ I HAVE The honour to refer to the notes dated the 12th May and 28th ultimo
bich you were good enough to address to me, and in which your Excellency referring
the^andate? assigned to Great Britain, had occasion to point out the general
•inciples stated to be advocated by the United States Government and agreed to by
,e Allied Powers which should be adopted and applied to the mandates over former
urkish territory.
[4LU2J
About this item
- Content
The item comprises correspondence and other papers concerning oil exploration in territories that were part of the Ottoman Empire prior to the First World War. The item includes: reports on exploratory drilling being undertaken by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) at Naft Khana [Nafţ Khānah], in territory transferred from Persia [Iran] to Mesopotamia [Iraq] in 1914 in response to recommendations made by the Turco-Persian Boundary Commission; the question of whether APOC drilling activity at Naft Khana should be paid for out of military funds, given Britain’s military occupation and administration of Mesopotamia during and after the First World War; oil concessions in Mesopotamia in relation to the San Remo Oil Agreement (1920), signed between the British and French Governments; a 1920 survey report by the APOC geologist, William Robert Smellie, entitled ‘Oil in relation to Fars anticlines’ (ff 132-139), and a response by the Officiating Director of the Geological Survey of India, Edwin Hall Pascoe, that disagrees with Smellie’s findings (ff 100-101); British Government policy on mining and oil prospecting in Palestine; and correspondence exchanged between representatives of the Government of the United States and the Foreign Office, relating to the refusal to permit American companies to conduct oil surveys in Mesopotamia.
The item’s principal correspondence are: the Foreign Office; HM Petroleum Executive, the Civil Commissioner in Baghdad, Arnold Talbot Wilson; and representatives of the Government of the United States.
The item includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.
- Extent and format
- 1 item (242 folios)
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
Use and share this item
- Share this item
File 2249/1915 Pt 4 ‘Oil: Mesopotamia & Persia. (General File) 1920–24’ [64v] (128/484), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/557/2, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100076914801.0x00008c> [accessed 16 July 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100076914801.0x00008c
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100076914801.0x00008c">File 2249/1915 Pt 4 ‘Oil: Mesopotamia & Persia. (General File) 1920–24’ [‎64v] (128/484)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100076914801.0x00008c"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000419.0x0001c4/IOR_L_PS_10_557_0139.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000419.0x0001c4/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/557/2
- Title
- File 2249/1915 Pt 4 ‘Oil: Mesopotamia & Persia. (General File) 1920–24’
- Pages
- 63v:64v
- Author
- Davis, John William
- Usage terms
- The copyright status is unknown. Please contact [email protected] with any information you have regarding this item.