![File 2249/1915 Pt 4 ‘Oil: Mesopotamia & Persia. (General File) 1920–24’ [‎181r] (361/484)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000419.0x0001c4/IOR_L_PS_10_557_0372.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "File 2249/1915 Pt 4 ‘Oil: Mesopotamia & Persia. (General File) 1920–24’ [‎181r] (361/484)")
File 2249/1915 Pt 4 ‘Oil: Mesopotamia & Persia. (General File) 1920–24’ [181r] (361/484)
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.
3 -
the Canadian Gevernment c^jnjnunicated with as soon as
po ssible,
Mr. Clark© suggested that it might he
advisable to make reference in the.memorandum to the
shale industry in Australia which had recently collapsed
owing to labour troubles though it had no neighbouring
production <^f petroleum to compete with. This showed
that the shale industry was much more complicated than
drilling for natural petroleum. The Common T wealth Oil
Company had obtained quite a good production last year.
Sir G, Beilby said that such manufacturing experience as
had been obtained in Australia would be very useful.
It was felt that It was very necessary to get
to work quickly as the Standard Oil Company appeared to
be active in Canada but it was not thought that any
material progress could be made until a Government
representative ?fas sent to Canada.
Sir John Cadraan said that sooner or later
something would have to be done to soothe the feelings
of the United States oil interests by personal contact
and he thought that both objects might be conveniently
accomplished at the same time. Another important phase
of the shale question was the possibility of working the
deposits in Norfolk and Dor sot. A groat deal of money
had been subscribed by the public for tho development
of the shale deposits of Norfolk and he thought that
something should be done to put the industry on proper
lines* He suggested that the subject was one for
further research and that the Scientific and Industrial
Research Department might initiate the necessary action,
Mr. Kellaway said that any such steps should
bo taken not to protect the interests of investors who
must look after themselves, but to ensure that the
sources of natural wealth In this country were properly
developed
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’ [181r] (361/484), 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_100076914802.0x0000ad> [accessed 29 July 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100076914802.0x0000ad
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_100076914802.0x0000ad">File 2249/1915 Pt 4 ‘Oil: Mesopotamia & Persia. (General File) 1920–24’ [‎181r] (361/484)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100076914802.0x0000ad"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000419.0x0001c4/IOR_L_PS_10_557_0372.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