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File 2249/1915 Pt 4 ‘Oil: Mesopotamia & Persia. (General File) 1920–24’ [221v] (442/484)
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.
really objected to was the profits made Toy the
Anglo Persian Oil Company, to the detriment of
their competitors, the Standard Oil. These
proposals would still more increase their
profit s.
Mr. WenKiey stated that the A.P.O.O. would
never-have commenced their work had it not oeen
for military consideration*. This was the reason
why the Foreign Office supported the idea that
the military should pay.
Mr. Millar said that the solution
involved the introduction of several complications
large amount of work^to meet the hypothetical
objections of the American Governmentj
Objections
which it was possible^ would never be puu forward.
Sir A. Hirtzel enquired as to the progress
hy the A.P.O.C,
Mr. Clarkfc stated that Wo well^B wa^e being
sunk and oil might be struck any day, and a
Refinery was in process of erection at Baghdad.
Sir A. Hirtzel asked whether they were
in a position to make profits within the next
few months.
Mr. Clark^ repl led that the revenue^ would
•Ti'Vvic
rot in any case meet tlie \ 7 hole exnenditur^ He
was of opinion that if ultimately necessary the
arrangements suggested by the
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.
could
be made with the A.P.O.C., but he doubted whether
they would be effectives ^ ^
! i. Millar statedrthat in the papers as they
stood there was no suggestion of an ultimate
re-adjustment of accounts^
This may have been understood but it was
nowhere on paper.
lT • Gierke stated that it was ai^sq-y'under sto
-•ot the accounts would eventually have to be
squared
/7U. Cy , C
Od
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
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File 2249/1915 Pt 4 ‘Oil: Mesopotamia & Persia. (General File) 1920–24’ [221v] (442/484), 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_100076914803.0x000036> [accessed 12 August 2026]
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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