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'CONFIDENTIAL 86/31 VOL. B.64 OIL IN ITS RELATION TO THE MIDDLE EAST' [‎240v] (485/578)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (285 folios). It was created in 11 Oct 1940-22 Aug 1945. 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. .

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18. Drilling near the Sea of Marmara rendered only negative results, but
the Maden Tetkik ve Arma Enstitiisii (M.T.A., the Institute of Mineral Research)
has achieved a slight measure of success at Raman Dag, 10 miles south of Beshiri
in the Siirt vilayet, in south-eastern Turkey. There are some geological structures
there which are superficially promising, and one of the wells sunk by the M.T.A.
has produced some oil. It is possible that oil may be found in other test wells in
the neighbourhood, but the prospects of finding a reasonably large field cannot be
said to be very encouraging.
19. The Turkish press has expressed the view that production from the
Raman Dag field will be sufficient to meet home requirements, but this is open to
doubt.
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VI.— Cyprus.
20. Petroleum Development (Cyprus), Ltd., an associated company of the
Iraq Petroleum Company, has been granted several prospecting licences for
Cyprus, but the exploration work so far carried out has not been encouraging.
Owing to the war operations have been suspended.
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VII.— Palestine.
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21. Petroleum Development (Palestine), Ltd., an associated company of the
Iraq Petroleum Co. (with the same shareholding interests), has a capital of
£122,100. It holds 29 licences under the Palestine Mining Law covering in all
5,268 square miles. The survey obligations under the licences were all fulfilled
and arrangements to begin drilling had been made before war broke out. Owing,
however, to war conditions, the company could not obtain the necessary drilling
equipment, and the Palestine Government have agreed to the postponement of
drilling until after the war or until materials can be obtained, whichever is the
earlier.
22 . Haifa is now of great importance as the Mediterranean terminal of the
southern branch of the I.P.C. pipeline from Kirkuk. There is a large tank farm
and there are ample loading facilities for tankers.
23. In addition, the large refinery operated by Consolidated Refineries, Ltd.
(in which all the shares are held jointly by the A.I.O.C. and the Anglo-Saxon
Petroleum Co., a Shell subsidiary) on the outskirts of Haifa treats crude oil from
the I.P.C. field at Kirkuk; its capacity is being increased from 2,800,000 to
3,800,000 tons a year. The Shell and a number of other concerns have storage
installations at Haifa. C. yt / *^v 5 f O An. S .bo /^c» MchJ- 0 l KfCvc. Co t.cL ,£o*VkC
VIII.— Syria.
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24. The Syria Petroleum Company, Ltd., an associated company of the Iraq
Petroleum Company, has a capital of £1,250,000. It holds a concession from
the Syrian Government dated the 26th February, 1938, which was ratified by the
French High Commissioner on the 25th March, 1940.
25. 1 he concession area covers the whole of the Syrian Republic north of
the parallel running through Damascus (36 v 18'); it is approximately
63,000 square miles in extent. The concession provides for “ dead rent ” payments
beginning at £15,000 (gold) per annum and rising to £80,000 (gold) per annum
oyer a period of 15 years. Should oil be produced in sufficient quantities, royalties
will take the place of these “ dead rent ” payments. At the expiration of the
15-year period, the company must either begin to export oil or abandon the
concession.
26. Drilling operations were started in 1939 and continued until 1941, when
the military situation in Syria brought the work to a standstill. Most of the
drilling equipment was destroyed by the British military forces in order to deny
its use to the enemy. The Syrian Government have granted the company a
moratorium on drilling obligations which is to last until two years after the end
of the war with Germany.
27. The results of the small amount of test-drilling carried out were
inconclusive, but encouraging.
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IX.— Lebanon.
Petroleum ,Co. holds nrosoectin^ licences covering" over
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About this item

Content

The volume comprises correspondence and discussions regarding the economic and political situation in relation to oil in the Middle East during and immediately after the Second World War. At the centre of the discussions are talks which took place in Washington DC between US and UK government officials looking at the global importance of oil, which focused particularly on oil in the Middle East.

The talks concluded with the production of a memorandum of understanding which was published 8 August 1944 as the Agreement on Petroleum between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, otherwise known as the Anglo-American Oil Agreement (1945).

Also included in the volume is correspondence between the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (Charles Geoffrey Prior), the Secretary to the Government of India, External Affairs Department (Olaf Kirkpatrick Caroe), 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. , and His Majesty’s Minister at Jeddah (Stanley Jordan) regarding two proposed pipelines. The first being the ‘trans-arabian pipeline’ which it was proposed would link the Middle East to the Mediterranean. The proposal was initially postponed owing to heavy criticism of it in the United States press but was later taken up by the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO). The second proposal from the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) and the California Arabian Standard Oil Company (CASOC, later renamed ARAMCO) was for a pipeline to take crude oil from Dhahran [Aẓ-Ẓahrān], Saudi Arabia to the BAPCO refinery at Bahrain.

Also included is correspondence between the Chief Local Representative for BAPCO (Milton H Lipp, Ward P Anderson) and the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain (Charles Dalrymple Belgrave) regarding possible sites for the pipeline and the reservation of required land. Further discussion centred on the question of the eastern frontier of Saudi Arabia, which was in dispute, and whether His Majesty’s Government should look to tackle the matter at that time with the Saudi Arab Government or wait until the progress of the oil companies required its resolution. Jabal Naksh and Khor-al-Odaid [Khawr al ‘Udayd], which were claimed by Qatar and Abu Dhabi respectively, and whose claims were supported by His Majesty’s Government but contested by Saudi Arabia were discussed as being key areas in the frontier dispute.

Another matter discussed in the volume was a visit paid by the Mission of the Petroleum Reserves Corporation to the Middle East. The Mission’s purpose was to review resources of petroleum in the Middle East and its itinerary included visits to Kuwait, Dhahran, and Bahrain. The mission was headed by Everette Lee Degoyler and also included the eminent geologists and petroleum experts Dr George Martin Lees, William Embry Wrather, and John Herhold Murrell.

Other matters touched on in the volume include a request by ARAMCO to undertake a hydrographic survey of the coast line of the Kuwait Neutral Zone; the possibility of resuming oil field production in Qatar and Kuwait provided the necessary equipment could be obtained from the USA; articles published in American journals and newspapers regarding the global oil situation and oil in the Middle East; and a visit paid by Major Frank Holmes to Kuwait in 1944.

Also included in the volume are a number of notes and memorandums relating to oil in the Middle East:

A series of file notes which were maintained as a record of the correspondence in the volume can be found at folios 272-283.

Extent and format
1 volume (285 folios)
Arrangement

The volume contains a table of contents on folio 5 comprising of subject headings and page references. The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 287; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 7-270; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

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English in Latin script
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'CONFIDENTIAL 86/31 VOL. B.64 OIL IN ITS RELATION TO THE MIDDLE EAST' [‎240v] (485/578), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/1/700, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100086676321.0x000056> [accessed 25 April 2024]

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