Abstract: The volume contains correspondence and telegrams between the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India and the Secretary of State for the Colonies in London, the Political Resident at Bushire, the Political Agent at Kuwait and and Eastern and General Syndicate Limited (E.&G.S.) representatives. The main subject is the negotiations for oil concessions in Kuwait between APOC and Eastern and General Syndicate Limited, represented by Major Frank Holmes.The volume also includes some letters, in Arabic and in translation, from and to the Ruler of Kuwait, Shaikh Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ, and correspondence regarging him being invited to visit London as guest of the Eastern and General Syndicate (folios 73-74). On folios 155A-166 'Final Record of a Meeting held at the Colonial Office on the 26th of April, 1933, to discuss various questions relating to Oil in the Persian Gulf', regarding Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar.Physical description: The foliation is written in pencil, not circled, and can be found in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.The numbering commences at the title page with 1, 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D; then 2-23; 24 and 24A; 25-45; 46 and 46A; 47-110; 111, 111A and 111B; 112-154; 155 and 155A; 156-176; 177-178 are missing or skipped; 179-185; 186 and 186A; 187-215; 216 and 216A and then it carries on until 245, which is the fifth folio from the back of the volume.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence relating to how the dispute between Bahrain and Qatar over Zubarah has affected the work of Petroleum Concessions Limited. The principle correspondents are: the Political Agent at Bahrain; Sir Charles Belgrave, Advisor to the Government of Bahrain; Shaikh Sulman bin Hamad Al Khalifa [Salmān bin Ḥamad Āl Khalīfah], ruler of Bahrain; Shaikh Abdulla bin Qasim Al-Thani [‘Abdullāh bin Qāsim Āl Thānī], ruler of Qatar; and representatives (usually Ernest Vincent Packer) of Petroleum Concessions Limited (hereafter, the company) and its subsidiary, Petroleum Development (Qatar) Limited.The matters covered by the file are mostly founded on the rival historic claims to the old settlement of Zubarah. They are as follows:the need to settle normal relations between the two countries, partly driven by the clarity needed to define oil concessions;the company's attempts to buy land in Manama which lead to conditions imposed by the ruler of Bahrain concerning mosques, tombs and properties in Zubarah that are claimed by the Āl Khalīfah family;disagreements over the company's use of the port of Sitra in Bahrain, and what they are permitted to import and export;a meeting held between Packer and Shaikh Salmān on 15 February 1947 to settle these issues;incidences of violence and conflict between Bahraini seamen employed by the company and Qatari guards at Zekrit during 1947 and 1948;the refusal by Qatari authorities to allow Shaikh Shafi bin Salim, head of the Bani Hajir tribe, and his four sons to land at Zekrit in July 1948.Folios 43-45 are internal office notes.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover and terminates at the back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 2-33; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: The volume contains correspondence and telegrams between the Political Department, the Colonial Office and the Secretary of State at the India Office in London, the Political Resident at Bushire, the Political Agents at Kuwait and Sharjah, local rulers, and Anglo Persian Oil Company (APOC) representatives on the negotiations for oil concessions in Kuwait, Bahrain, Nejd [Najd, Jubail, Saudi Arabia], Qatar, Muscat, Oman and Trucial Coast against the competitor Eastern and General Syndicate Limited, represented by Major Frank Holmes.The volume includes the agreement on the oil exploration license in Muscat and Oman, in Arabic and English, signed on 18 May 1925, between Saiyid Taimur bin Faisal, Sultan of Muscat and Oman, and D'Arcy Exploration Company limited (folios 281-296).Physical description: The main foliation is circled in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto of each folio. The numbering begins with the first item of correspondence, on number 1, and ends with the last folio of writing, on number 314.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence and telegrams between the Political Department and the Under Secretary of State at the India Office in London, Sir Winston Churchill (Secretary of State for the Colonies at the time), the Political Resident at Bushire, the Political Agent at Kuwait, the Vice-Consul at Mohammerah [Khorramshahr, Iran] and Anglo Persian Oil Company (APOC) representatives regarding contacts with local rulers about oil concessions in Bahrain and Kuwait.The file also contains:copy of a letter from the Political Resident to the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India, dated 8 September 1921, on oil explorations in the various Persian Gulf states, and on APOC's desire to exclusive prospective rights in Oman (folios 11-13);draft agreement between the rulers of Bahrain and Kuwait and D'Arcy Exploration Company Limited for oil explorations (1921 ca.) (folios 22-27, 102-107 and 257-260);notes concerning meetings of Major Frank Holmes with Ibn Saud re oil exploration in Arabia [Saudi Arabia] (folio 80)letter from the Political Agent at Muscat to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf regarding oil in Muscat (folios 96-97).The file is incomplete. Some letters, mainly containing pledges signed by Trucial Coast rulers not to grant any oil concession to anyone except with the permission of the British Government, were removed from the original file and forwarded to the Foreign Office in 1953. In these instances the former numbering sequence presents gaps, and these letters are replaced by folios indicating page numbers, sender, receiver, date and subject of the letter removed. These letters are now in FO 371/7723 and FO 371/104408.Physical description: The main foliation is in pencil in encircled numbers in top right corner of the recto of each folio. The numbering starts on the front cover with 1 and carries on until 153, which is the last number given on the back cover of the file. A former sequence runs from the first to the last folio of writing, pencil numbers (not circled) in top right recto of each folio, not crossed through - the numbering runs 1-260 missing numerous numbers out. The reason is that some letters were removed from the original file to be forwarded to the Foreign Office in 1953, whereas the former numbering sequence presents gaps.
Abstract: The volume contains letters, telegrams and memoranda relating to negotiations for the extension of Eastern & General Syndicate Limited’s (hereafter E&GS) concession for oil exploration in Bahrain. Correspondents in the volume include the Political Agent in Bahrain (chiefly Major Cyril Barrett, incumbent from September 1926 to April 1929), representatives of E&GS (including Major Frank Holmes and the Company Secretary, H. Adams), and various British Government officials in the Colonial Office.Key subjects covered by the volume include:Fears on the part of British officials in 1925 to the prospects of the discovery of oil in Bahrain (folios 29-31), and resistance to the E&GS having signed a concession with the Ruler of Bahrain, Shaikh Ḥamad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah (folios 62-63);An application by E&GS in 1928 to extend their oil concession agreement (folios 110-11);Confusion over the terms of a new agreement, with particular reference to a new clause insisting that the E&GS would remain a British interest (folios 193-95, 206-10);Reports of American investment in E&GS (folios 196-98);Terms of the agreement between E&GS and the North American Gulf Oil Company (folios 217-50);Assignment of Gulf Oil’s option on the concession to the Standard Oil Company of California (folios 260-61);Negotiations between E&GS and the Colonial Office over the maintenance of British control over oil exploration funded by foreign investment in Bahrain (folios 277-86);Confirmation of the concession extension with the agreed terms over the extent of foreign (American) investment (folios 299-304).The volume also contains copies of the numerous drafts of the oil concession, with its various modifications and amendments, including the original 1925 concession in English and Arabic (folios 79-97), and a draft copy of the 1928 agreement with additions inserted by a representative of the Government of Bahrain, presumably the Adviser to the Government, Charles Dalrymple-Belgrave (folios 156-75).Physical description: Foliation: There is an incomplete foliation sequence and a complete foliation sequence. The complete sequence is circled in pencil, in the top-right corner of the recto of each folio, and runs from 1 on the front cover, to 324 on the inside back cover. The following foliation anomalies occur: f.1 is followed by f.1a-f.
Abstract: The volume contains letters, telegrams and memoranda relating to the completion of the transfer of the Bahrain oil concession to the Bahrain Petroleum Company (hereafter BAPCO), and BAPCO’s ongoing oil exploration activities in Bahrain. The volume is a direct continuation of ‘File 86/2 II (C 31) Eastern and General Syndicate, Oil, Bahrain’ (IOR/R/15/1/650). The principal correspondents in the volume are the Political Agent in Bahrain (Captain Charles Prior until November 1932, Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Gordon Loch thereafter), the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Hugh Vincent Biscoe until July 1932, Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard Fowle thereafter), and representatives of BAPCO, chiefly Major Frank Holmes in Bahrain and Kuwait, and Hamilton Ballantyne in London.Key subjects covered by the volume include:The British Government’s rejection in 1930 of a request from BAPCO for an extension to the Bahrain concession area (folios 16, 18-21);The appointment of the Canadian-born solicitor Montague G. Powell to the BAPCO board, in response to the British Government’s stipulation that a British subject sit on the BAPCO board (folio 27);The extension of BAPCO’s prospecting license, including provisions, with a copy of the 1932 extension (folio 196);A discussion between British Government and BAPCO officials over the terms of the concession in relation to determining the value of a well (folios 81-82, 84-85);News of oil having been struck in Bahrain (folios 96-97);Holmes’s guarantee in 1923 of 0.5 per cent of the company to Shaikh Abdulla bin Esa al Khalifa [Shaikh ‘Abdullāh bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah], for assistance in helping Eastern Syndicate & General win the Bahrain concession (folios 107, 115-16);Concern that Holmes, in his capacity as chief representative of BAPCO in Bahrain, does not spend sufficient time in Bahrain (folios 139-41);Negotiations throughout 1932 for amendments to clauses in the prospecting license, relating to the measurement, payment of royalties and use of crude oil by the company, including copies in both English and Arabic of an indenture modifying the terms of the concession (folios 228-31, 240-43).Physical description: Foliation: There is an incomplete foliation sequence and a complete foliation sequence. The complete sequence is circled in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto of each folio. It begins on the front cover on number 1, and ends on the inside back cover, on number 263. The following foliation anomalies occur: 1, 1a, 1b, 2, 2a, 2b, 2c.
Abstract: The volume contains letters, telegrams and memoranda relating to ongoing exploratory oil drilling being undertaken in Bahrain by the Bahrain Petroleum Company (hereafter BAPCO). The volume is a direct continuation of ‘File 86/2 III (C 42) Bahrain Oil, Eastern and General Syndicate Limited’ (IOR/R/15/1/651). The principal correspondents in the volume are Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard Fowle, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Gordon Loch, Political Agent in Bahrain, and Major Frank Holmes, Chief Local Representative of the Bahrain Petroleum Company.Key subjects discussed in the volume include:Discussion amongst British officials in Bahrain and London over whether BAPCO are fulfilling conditions C and D of their contractual obligations in the concession agreement, respectively: the long periods of absence from Bahrain of the Chief Local Representative of the Company (Holmes), and the proportion of British to non-British workers employed by BAPCO;A dispute over exemption of duty on equipment imported by BAPCO;Whether oil royalties should be paid in Indian rupees or Sterling;A request by BAPCO for an extension of the prospecting license, including Holmes’s offer of terms and a draft indenture (folios 68-72), and the Ruler of Bahrain, Shaikh Ḥamad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah’s rejection of Holmes’s offer (folios 86-91);A map of the prospective location of the British naval base at Bahrain (folio 117a);Enquiries by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company after a concession for those parts of Bahrain not covered by the existing BAPCO concession.The volume also contains a set of notes which provide a concise overview of the Bahrain concession to date, including details of the commercial viability of Bahrain’s oil, under the heading ‘exploitable quantity’ (folios 58-64).Physical description: Foliation: The main foliation sequence begins on the front cover and ends on the last folio, and uses circled pencil numbers located in the top centre of each recto. A second foliation sequence is present between ff 3-209; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The following foliation anomalies occur: 1, 1a, 1b, 2, 2A, 2B, 2C, 117 and 117a.
Abstract: The volume contains letters, telegrams and memoranda relating to ongoing exploratory oil drilling being undertaken in Bahrain by the Bahrain Petroleum Company (hereafter BAPCO), and the resignation of Major Frank Holmes as Chief Local Representative for BAPCO in Bahrain. The volume is a direct continuation of ‘File 86/2 V (C 44) Bahrain Oil’ (IOR/R/15/1/653). The principal correspondents in the volume are Captain Everald Gastrell, officiating Political Agent in Bahrain, Major Holmes, and various Government officials from the Colonial Office, India Office and Petroleum and Mining Departments in London.Key subjects discussed in the volume include:Holmes’s resignation as Chief Local Representative for BAPCO in Bahrain, including a record of proceedings at the India Office in London, dated 10 August 1933, in which a decision for Holmes’s removal was established (folios 27-33), an announcement of Holmes’s resignation in a telegram from the Secretary of State for India, dated 15 September 1933 (folio 58), and a copy of the text of a letter from Holmes, dated 15 September 1933, announcing his resignation to the Political Agent (folio 83);The Ruler of Bahrain, Shaikh Ḥamad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah’s response to Holmes’s resignation (folios 46, 55-56, 66);Holmes’s departure from Bahrain, including translations of speeches given by the secretaries of the Manama and Muharraq municipalities at a farewell party in Holmes’s honour (folios 159-60, 161);Oil prospects in Bahrain and the need or lack of need for refineries in Bahrain (folio 113);A request from the replacement Chief Local Representative, Ed Skinner, for an urgent extension to the Company’s prospecting license, and subsequent negotiations for the extension (folio 148, 165-67, 180-82);Modifications to the BAPCO mining lease, with a draft of the amended lease (folios 128-42).The volume also contains a printed translation of the Saudi decree announcing the oil concession at Al-Hasa, dated 10 July 1933 (folios 170-74).Physical description: Foliation: The main foliation sequence begins on the first folio and ends on the last folio, using circled pencil numbers written at the centre and top of each recto. A second foliation sequence is also present between ff 3-190; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The following foliation anomalies occur: 2, 2A, 2B and 2C. Index numbers written in red and blue pencil are part of the volume’s original filing system, and correspond to the numbered office notes index at the end of the file (ff 191-96).
Abstract: The volume contains letters, telegrams and memoranda relating to oil prospecting undertaken in Bahrain by the Bahrain Petroleum Company (hereafter BAPCO), and the development of BAPCO’s infrastructure. The volume is a direct continuation of ‘File 86/2 IX (C 50) Bahrain Oil’ (IOR/R/15/1/657). The principal correspondents in the volume are the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard Fowle, the Political Agent in Bahrain, Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Gordon Loch, the Chief Local Representative for BAPCO, Ed Skinner, and BAPCO’s London representative, Hamilton Ballantyne.Subjects covered by the volume include:The ongoing construction of oil export facilities off Sitrah Island, including a submarine line, buoying, wireless radio link, and oil storage tanks;Application by BAPCO for the use of long-distance wireless radio within Bahrain’s coastal waters, rejected by the British and Bahrain Governments, recommending instead the use of Imperial & Communication Limited’s own, similar facilities (folios 21-22, 26);The calibration of oil storage tanks, and measurement of oil for royalties, including the appointment of an external inspector by the Government of Bahrain (folios 101-03, 110-11), and a set of US pound to UK ton conversion tables (folios 170-72);Reports of five barrels of crude oil having been shipped to Yokohama Japan (folio 8), and intelligence about where and why the barrels had been sent (folios 105-06, 134);Negotiations between British Government officials and BAPCO over amendments to the proposed mining lease, including a copy of the amended lease (folios 49-63), and a memorandum from the British Governmental Mining Department on the draft mining lease (folios 157-65);Reports on BAPCO’s workforce, and the nationality of the Company’s employees, with a report that the Company has increased its proportion of British and Bahraini subjects (folios 113-14), and a copy of the quarterly Roster of Employees report, dated 15 April 1934 (folios 116-32), including details of all employees names, nationalities, roles, and length of residency in Bahrain;Application by BAPCO for the appointment of a mooring master and pilot at the Company’s facilities off Sitrah Island (folio 75), initially rejected by the Government of Bahrain, but later accepted after acknowledgement of the specialist skills required of a mooring master for tankers (folios 179-80);The departure on 7 June 1934 of the Standard Oil Company tanker
El Segundo, form Bahrain to Singapore, carrying 3,300 tons of oil (folio 144).The volume also contains pages of an article entitled “Bahrain Oil Field”, dated 17 May 1934 taken from the British journal
Oil News(folios 198-99).Physical description: Foliation: The main foliotion sequence begins on the front cover and ends on the back cover, using circled pencil numbers in the top-centre corner of each recto. A second foliation sequence runs between ff 2B and 202, but skips ff 116-132; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The following foliation anomalies occur: 1, 1A and 1B; 2, 2A and 2B; 53 and 53A; 54 and 54A; 55 and 55A; 59 and 59A; 60 and 60A; 132 and 132A. Numbers written in red and blue pencil are part of the volume’s original filing system, and correspondent to the office notes index at the end of the file (ff 203-06).
Abstract: The volume contains letters, telegrams and memoranda relating to oil production in Bahrain, being undertaken by the Bahrain Petroleum Company (hereafter BAPCO). The volume is a direct continuation of ‘File 86/2 XII (C 54) Bahrain Oil’ (IOR/R/15/1/660). The principal correspondents in the volume are the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard Fowle, the Political Agent in Bahrain, Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Gordon Loch, and BAPCO’s representatives in London (Hamilton Ballantyne) and Bahrain (Messrs Russell and Smith).The subjects covered by the volume are:Finalisation of BAPCO’s mining lease, and its signing on 29 December 1934 by the Ruler of Bahrain, Shaikh Ḥamad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah, and representatives of BAPCO. The volume includes a photostat [photocopy] of the original lease (in English and Arabic, folios 137-67) and a printed copy (English, folios 170-87), both of which contain a map (folios 164 and page 186 respectively) showing the 100,000 acres designated by BAPCO for the mining lease;Discussion over the status of land reserved by Shaikh Hamad and the ruling family for leisure purposes within the concession area (palace and gardens, hunting, racing), with a scientific survey of the areas in question (folios 191-99);Details relating to the transfer of oil from storage tanks on land to tankers off the coast of Sitrah Island, including proposals for procedures to be followed relating to oil in the sea-loading line and the discharge of ballast (folios 77-79, 81-84) and a diagrammatic plan (folio 50) of the tank installation, attached to a detailed description of the tank facilities (folios 43-49);The appointment of Mr Smith as Chief Local Representative for BAPCO (folio 119), pending Mr Russell’s planned absence from Bahrain;Speculation over the extent of oil exports from Bahrain, and Japan as a key market, with an anticipated five tanker visits during 1935 (folios 110-11);An abstract of accounts for oil measured in 1934 (folios 102-04), including details of the amount of oil produced and shipped, the amount of oil in storage, and royalties paid to Shaikh Hamad;BAPCO’s annual report for 1934 (folios 127-34), with details about the status of BAPCO’s wells, a description of the oil camp buildings, and a breakdown of the nationalities of the Company’s 589 employees;An application by BAPCO to reserve uncultivated land for the drilling of water wells, including a map of the area under consideration (folios 204-05).Physical description: Foliation: The volume is foliated from the first folio to the last folio, using pencil numbers written in the top-right corner of each recto. The foliation sequence switches to pagination between ff 171-186. Numbers written in red or blue pencil are part of the volume’s original filing system, and correspond to the office notes index at the end of the volume (ff 209-13). The following foliation anomalies occur: 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D; 187 and 187A.
Abstract: The volume contains letters, telegrams and memoranda relating to oil production in Bahrain, being undertaken by the Bahrain Petroleum Company (hereafter BAPCO). The volume is a direct continuation of ‘File 86/2 XIII (C 61) Bahrain Oil’ (IOR/R/15/1/661). The principal correspondents in the volume are the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard Fowle, the Political Agent in Bahrain, Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Gordon Loch, and BAPCO’s representatives in London (Hamilton Ballantyne) and Bahrain (Ed Skinner).The subjects covered by the volume are:Continued discussion amongst Government officials over a decision to charge BAPCO lighting dues on their vessels at Bahrain, and the Secretary of State’s opinion that it would be unwise to impose dues at present, recommending instead that BAPCO pay an annual lump sum to Government (folios 61-62);Allegations that BAPCO have been using wireless telephone to communicate with their head offices in California, prohibited under the terms of the concession agreement (folios 28-30). Attempts to substantiate the claims are inconclusive (folio 59);Appointment of a new British (Canadian) subject to the BAPCO board (folios 53, 60);BAPCO’s plans for the construction of an oil refinery at Bahrain, including various applications to Government, identifying land on which the refinery is to be built, with maps (folios 43, 47-50, 173-77, 181-87);Reports in the world press about Standard Oil’s negotiations with other oil companies to assist in the marketing of Bahrain oil, including a report in the
Iraq Timesin October 1935 about negotiations between Royal Dutch Shell, the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and BAPCO (folio 21), and reports in the
Times(folio 81), the
New York Tribune(folios 93-97) and
Daily Gazetteof Karachi (folios 114-16) on an agreement, eventually struck around June 1936, between Standard Oil and the Texas Corporation;Correspondence between the British Government and Ballantyne with regard to the implications of the new agreement which has created the California Texas Oil Company Limited, with a broad consensus that the Company will have a “general obligation to respect HMG’s [His Majesty’s Government’s] interests” (folios 206-09);Correspondence between Government and BAPCO, stating the need for a “neutral referee” to check (or gauge) oil, in light of new oil refining techniques being employed (folios 121-28);The prospect of an application for the unallotted areas of Bahrain (i.e. those not covered by the existing BAPCO concession), anticipated to be made by Petroleum Concessions Limited (folios 100-05);BAPCO abstracts of accounts and statements of royalties for the second half of 1935 (folios 64-65) and the first half of 1936 (folios 156-57), and annual reports for 1935 (folios 67-77) and 1936 (folios 194-205), both of which include details of the status of the Company’s oil and water wells, buildings constructed, and nationality of workforce. A map accompanies each report, indicating well locations and other facilities including pipelines, pump stations and camps. Both maps are enclosed in a single envelope (folio 76 for the 1935 report, folio 77 for the 1936 report);The copy of a deed updating the mining lease, dated 3 June 1936 (folios 146-51), its changes chiefly relating to the construction of the oil refinery and increased production.Physical description: Foliation: The main foliation sequence begins on the first folio and ends on the last folio, using circled pencil numbers found in the top-centre of each recto. A second foliation sequence runs between ff 4-209; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the top right corner of each recto. The following anomalies occur in the main foliation sequence: 1, and 1A; 78 and 78A; 81 and 81A.Index numbers written in red and blue pencil are part of the volume’s original filing system, and correspond to the office notes index at the end of the volume (ff 210-17).
Abstract: The file contains correspondence between the Political Agent in Bahrain, the Financial Adviser to the Government at Bahrain, Charles Dalrymple Belgrave, and representatives of the Bahrain Petroleum Company Limited (BAPCO) and Gray, Mackenzie & Co. on shipments from Sitra terminus.The file mainly contains copies of Royalty Delivery Tickets showing the amount of oil shipped during 1938, transmitted by the Political Agent in Bahrain to the Secretary of State for India and the Political Resident in the Gulf.Physical description: The foliation is written in pencil and can be found in the top right corner. The numbering starts at the front cover with 1A; then 1B and 1C; 2-102; 103A, 103B, 103C, 103D and 103E; 104-132; 133 and 133A; and then continues through to 285, which is the last number given to the back cover of the file. The numbering is repeating from 124 to 133.