مجموعة ٨٣/٥ "مرافق التزود بالوقود الخاصة بسلاح الجو الملكي وفيلق النقل بالجيش الأمريكي في البحرين" [و‎‎١‎٦‎٢] (٤٢٩/٣٢٣)

Hr» Harrison,
I saw tfr, Gass, a Director of the A.I.O.C.- on
Thursday the 16th March. He explained that for a number of
years his Company had been supplying B.O.A.C. (and its
predecessor) with petrol on the air route along the Gulf.
Hitherto petrol has been brought in from Abadan in tanks
and drums and has been, poured straight into the bowsers
on the aerodromes. With the increase in traffic, however,
requirements are getting too big for this method to be
maintained successfully and it is essential to be able to
put up storage tanks. Until the point was raised recently
by the Bahrein Petroleum Oil Company, Ms Company had no
knowledge of the exclusive right of Bapco to construct and
operate oil storage tanks in Bahrein and he wanted to find
out what the position of Ms Company now was. Were they
* in effect now excluded from operating on behalf of
B.O.A.C. in Bahrein as they had been doing Mtherto/
I explained to Mr. Gass that the exclusive right to
erect and operate oil storage tanks had been in Bapco*s
earlier agreements but had then, of course, only applied
to a particular area. When in 1940 the Company obtained
a further concession wMch gave them the whole of the
Sheikh*s territories, the exclusive right as to storage
tanks was again included and tMs, of course, had the
effect of giving them the exclusive right over the whole
of Bahrein. Mr. Gass enquired whether they also had
the exclusive right to s&l^tf oil in Bahrein and I was
able to assure him that paragraph 4 (c) of the agreement
specifically excluded any such rigfrt. I told Mr. Gass
that as far as I could see, although we had not yet had
time fully to explore the position from its legal
. aspect, there was nothing in the agreements to prevent
Ms Company from continuing to operate, except that they
could not erect storage tanks. Under the Civil Air
agreement. Article 11, H.M.G. has the right to supply
petrol either direct or through their Agents to users
of the aerodrome and if they chose to select a.I.O.C. as
their Agents, tMs would make the Company*s position
unassailable, aspecially as there was a clause in the
political agreement with the Bahrein Company that said that
"the company shall not have the right to use or occupy
any sites wMch may have been selected by H.M.G. for
aerodromes or sea-plane bases.” I explained to Mr.
Gass/