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'CONFIDENTIAL 86/31 VOL. B.64 OIL IN ITS RELATION TO THE MIDDLE EAST' [242v] (489/578)
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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
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(iv) The Neutral. Zone between Sa’udi Arabia and Iraq.
61. The treaty of Mohammerah which Iraq and Najd (now Sa’ndi Arabia)
concluded in 1922 provided inter alia for the rhomboid known as at-Tawwal,
which is situated between the two states, to be neutral ground. This area, which
covers approximately 2,750 square miles, was defined (but not delimited) by
straight lines joining the Shaib Auja and the wells of Amghar, Uqubba and
Ansab.
62. Anyone wishing to obtain exploration and exploitation rights within
this area has to get the said rights from the Governments of both Sa’udi Arabia
and Iraq. The Arabian American Oil Co. has already, as stated above, obtained
the grant of Ibn Sa’ud’s rights in that area, but it is not known whether the
company has also approached the Iraq Government.
63. Any company obtaining a concession over this area would encounter
difficulties because its boundaries have never been demarcated.
64. In view of recent discoveries of oil in the province of al-Hasa, it is
thought that oil may also be found in the neutral zone.
N.B.—For the neutral zone between Sa’udi Arabia and Kuwait, see
paragraphs 70-72 below.
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(v) Trans-A rabian Pipe-line.
65. The United States Government, the Arabian American Oil Company
and the Gulf Exploration Company had under consideration the ambitious
scheme of constructing a 1 , 200 -mile pipe-line from Jabal Dhahran right across
Arabia to the Eastern Mediterranean to either Haifa or Alexandria, with a
feeder line from Kuwait and a possible branch to the Red Sea. If this project
had been carried out, the Petroleum Reserves Corporation, a concern formed and
controlled by the United States Government, would, by agreement with the two
companies concerned, have constructed, owned and maintained the main
pipe-line; the companies themselves would have constructed the gathering lines.
The United States Government, however, are no longer likely to participate in
this scheme, but it is nevertheless possible that the companies concerned may
themselves put it into operation at a later date.
66 . Although the construction and maintenance of such a pipe-line would
be feasible from the engineering point of view, it is clear that, unless a very large
quantity of oil (minimum 6 , 000,000 tons per annum) could be guaranteed, the
pipe-line would be unable to compete with the alternative means of transport
provided by tankers.
67. From the strategic aspect, the construction of the pipe-line would have
the following advantages :—<
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(i) It would provide an alternative to the already existing I.P.C. pipe-line
flom Kirkuk to the Mediterranean.
(ii) In time of war it would save sea transport and reduce escort duties,
(iii) It would probably render the United States more inclined to participate
in the defence of the Mediterranean sea route.
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XIII.—Kuwait.
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68 . Attempts to obtain an oil concession covering Kuwait date back as far
as 1911, but none proved successful until 1934. On the 23rd December of the
latter year the Shaikh of Kuwait granted a concession valid for 75 years for the
whole of his territory ( 6,000 square miles), but excluding the neutral zone (see
paragraphs 70-72 below), to the Kuwait Oil Company, Ltd. This company, which
is registered in Great Britain, has a capital of £ 200 , 000 ; the shares are held in
equal proportions by the Anglo-Iranian Oil Co. and the Gulf Exploration
Company, a subsidiary of the Gulf Oil Corporation of Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
The British Government have, by agreement with the concessionaire, a pre
emption right over any oil produced during an emergency.
69. After an abortive attempt to find oil at Bahra, on the northern shore of
Kuwait bay, two successful wells were drilled in 1938 at Burghan, 26 miles south
of the town of Kuwait. Other productive wells were subsequently drilled, but
operations were curtailed at the beginning of the war and were discontinued m
1942, when the British military authorities plugged the wells in order to deny
their use to the enemy. It is now proposed to rehabilitate the wells and later to
resume drilling operations. The reserves are known to be very large. Two oil
jetties have been constructed at Shuwaikh, 2^ miles west of Kuwait, and a refinery
may be built.
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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:
- notes produced at an oil conference in Cairo in 1944 which described oil production in Bahrain and Kuwait, they contained a number of inaccuracies and were re-written by the Political Agents for Bahrain and Kuwait with assistance from the Chief Local Representatives of the Bahrain Petroleum Company and the Kuwait Oil Company;
- The future of oil in its relation to the Middle East ; memorandum produced by Arthur Charles Hearn, Admiralty, 11 October 1940 (ff 9-21);
- Note on present oil position in Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. by Commodore John Montagu Howson, Senior Naval Officer, Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (ff 103-104 );
- Memorandum on the oil concessions in the Arab Sheikhdoms of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , by the External Department, 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. , 13 Mar 1944 (ff 126-134);
- A survey of the oil resources in the Middle East (With map and graph), Research Department, Foreign Office, 28 Feb 1945 (ff 239-250);
- Iraq Oil (ff 257-267).
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.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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- Reference
- IOR/R/15/1/700
- Title
- 'CONFIDENTIAL 86/31 VOL. B.64 OIL IN ITS RELATION TO THE MIDDLE EAST'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:25v, 27r:56v, 59r:59v, 61r:87v, 89r:93v, 95r:119v, 122r:122v, 124r:155v, 160r:161v, 163r:167v, 169r:173v, 175r:176v, 177v, 178v, 179v, 180v:182v, 191r:195v, 197r:200v, 202r:210v, 216r:216v, 220r:247v, 249r:286v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence