‘File 86/2 VII (C 48) Bahrain Oil’

Title:

‘File 86/2 VII (C 48) Bahrain Oil’

Date:

1933/1933

Description:

Abstract: The volume contains letters, telegrams and memoranda relating to oil prospecting being undertaken in Bahrain by the Bahrain Petroleum Company (hereafter BAPCO). The volume is a direct continuation of ‘File 86/2 VI (C 46) Bahrain Oil’ (IOR/R/15/1/654). 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 in Bahrain for BAPCO, Ed Skinner, and British Government officials from the India Office and Petroleum/Mining Department in London.Key subjects discussed in the volume include:Negotiations over the proposed extension of the prospecting license until 2 January 1935, and the anticipated mining lease, with particular attention given to the financial payments and royalties payable to the ruling family of Bahrain;Acceptance by the ruler, Shaikh Ḥamad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah, on 19 November 1933, of the terms of the extension (folio 97), with a copy in English and Arabic of the agreement (folios 105-07);BAPCO plans for the development of an oil storage and export infrastructure at Bahrain, including: oil storage facilities, questions over the need for a refinery at Bahrain, a deep water anchorage with submarine line at Sitrah Island (including arrangements for aerial and marine surveys, and a blueprint map showing the submarine line and anchorage, folio 217), and the installation of wireless radio facilities;A proposal by BAPCO, dated 3 December 1933, to export 5,000 barrels of oil daily from 1 July 1934 (folios 165, 185);The employment of a local labour force (referred to as ‘coolies’, folios 193-94);A report dated 10 December 1933 of oil struck at well number 4 “in considerable quantity” (folio 228).Physical description: Foliation: There are two foliation sequences. One sequence is written in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto of each folio. The other sequence, which should be used for referencing, is circled in pencil, at the top of the recto of each folio, towards the centre. It begins on the first folio after the front cover, on number 1, and ends on the inside of the back cover, on number 301. Foliation anomalies: Folio 2 is followed by ff 2A-C; f 217 is followed by f 217A. 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 288-95).

Language:

English

Type:

Archival file

Type (Narrower):

Other Texts

Type (Broader):

Text

Subject:

Concessions, Oil, Bahrain
Petroleum products

Geographic region:

Bahrain
Sitrah

Rights:

المُلكية العامة

Identifier:

81055/vdc_100000000193.0x000275_ar
81055/vdc_100000000193.0x000275_en
IOR/R/15/1/655
IOR/R/15/1/655

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