![File 2249/1915 Pt 4 ‘Oil: Mesopotamia & Persia. (General File) 1920–24’ [‎116r] (231/484)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000419.0x0001c4/IOR_L_PS_10_557_0242.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "File 2249/1915 Pt 4 ‘Oil: Mesopotamia & Persia. (General File) 1920–24’ [‎116r] (231/484)")
File 2249/1915 Pt 4 ‘Oil: Mesopotamia & Persia. (General File) 1920–24’ [116r] (231/484)
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.
COPY.
(S 11823/175/44 )
No. 245.
Sir
September 28th 192u.
i transmit the accompanying copy of
correspondence with the Petroleum department regard
the present restrictions on prospecting for oil in
Palestine.
ing
2. In this connection it occurs to me that, if
this has not been done already, the attention of the
competent bepartmnet of your Administration should be
directed as soon as possible to the necessity of framing
a mining policy in the interests of the country which
can be adopted as soon as the prohibitions on prospect
ing and concession seeking are removed, and applications
for oil and mineral development begin to be addressed
to the Administration.
3. As you are aware, concessions for oil
development in Palestine already claimed by various
concessionaires are based on Turkish mining laws which
are unsatisfactory and quite inapplicable in the case of
oil, so that a studied policy in this matter will be
essential when, for instance, effect has to be given
to the Articles of the Treaty of Peace with Turkey
regarding concessions. You ?/ill doubtless find it
useful
Ihe Aight Honourable
Sir Herbert Samuel
etc., etc
Ur • 23 • ijj • ,
etc.
• »
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’ [116r] (231/484), 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_100076914802.0x00002b> [accessed 22 July 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100076914802.0x00002b
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_100076914802.0x00002b">File 2249/1915 Pt 4 ‘Oil: Mesopotamia & Persia. (General File) 1920–24’ [‎116r] (231/484)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100076914802.0x00002b"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000419.0x0001c4/IOR_L_PS_10_557_0242.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
- 1r:6v, 8r:15v, 19r:28r, 30r:47v, 49r:56v, 59r:60v, 62r:63r, 65r:65v, 68r:74v, 77r:105v, 107r:131v, 140r:146v, 149r:163v, 174r:187v, 190r:190v, 193r:198v, 200r:201v, 203r:212v, 214r:229v, 231r:242v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence