Abstract: The file primarily focuses on the progress being made by the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) in drilling for oil in Kuwait, including establishing drills at new sites and the discovery of oil at the Burgan site in February 1938. Later correspondence relates to various topics, as follows: the work and tests required on the oil before announcements relating to the discovery of oil in commercial quantities can be made; discussions with the India Office over the difference between 'commercial quantities' of oil and 'commercial conditions' for oil, the latter requiring the company to discuss the establishment of a refinery with the British Government; the decision by the KOC to cease their activities in Kuwait, other than drilling for water, owing to the outbreak of war, along with their actions in safeguarding the wells against potential enemy action; the negotiations with the Shaikh of Kuwait regarding the payment of royalties for the discovery of oil and advances on those royalties. The primary correspondents are the Kuwait Oil Company; Shaikh of Kuwait (Shaikh Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ); the Political Agent at Kuwait (Gerald Simpson de Gaury, Andrew Charles Stewart); the Political Resident at Bushire (Trenchard Craven Fowle, Charles Geoffrey Prior); the Secretary of State for India (Lawrence Dundas, the 2nd Marquess of Zetland) and India Office staff (J P Gibson, Alexander Symon, Roland Tennyson Peel)Also discussed in the file is the question of a concession for an area outside of the territorial waters of Kuwait and numerous correspondence between the Kuwait Oil Company, India Office, Admiralty (Clifford George Jarrett) and Petroleum Department (Frederick Charles Starling) that debate what the jurisdictions might be in such an area, the exact nature of the territorial waters surrounding Kuwait, and potential boundary and frontier issues that might arise from such a concesssion. The correspondence is cut short owing to the outbreak of World War II as the various departments no longer have the time to discuss such matters and an agreement is reached with the Company and the Shaikh of Kuwait to suspend the matter until the war is over.Other matters discussed in the volume include:An article which appeared in
Al Sijilmagazine which criticises the Kuwait Oil Company for failing to find oil in Kuwait and the Shaikh of Kuwait for keeping the concession negotiations and signed agreement secret from his own people. A translated copy of the article is included at folios 8-9;The commencement by the Kuwait Oil Company of the construction of a jetty at Bandar Shuwaikh, and the potential defensive benefits such a jetty could have in war-time;A proposed visit by Colonel Harold Dickson, Chief Local Representative of the Kuwait Oil Company, to Ibn Sa'ud over Christmas 1938 that was eventually cancelled due to objections from the Shaikh of Kuwait;Arrangements with the American Mission in Kuwait for the provision of medical and hospital facilities for Company employees and the decision to employ another American nurse who would attend to the hospital needs of the company but would also assist with the work of the Mission's Women's hospital (folios 76-80);Correspondence between the Kuwait Oil Company, Secretary of State for India and the India Office regarding the appointment of American personnel in Kuwait and obtaining the British Government's permission for their appointments;Correspondence between the Political Agent at Kuwait, the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf and His Majesty's Vice-Consul at Khorramshar (Albert Napier) regarding a Kuwait Oil Company employee of non-British or Kuwaiti status who was granted a visa to travel to Kuwait for work without permission from the British Government and discussing the correct passport and visa procedures for non-British subjects travelling throughout the region.Physical description: Foliation: The foliation has been written in pencil and can be found in the top right hand corner of the recto side of each folio. The sequence begins with the first item of correspondence and ends on the inside back cover.Foliations anomalies: 1, 1A and 1B. Foliation errors: 173 and 176 have been omitted.
Abstract: This file is a memorandum concerning the use of the French flag by dhows belonging to subjects of the Sultan of Maskat [Muscat].The memorandum is divided up as follows:Abstract of correspondence 1891-92;1894-96;1897-99;1900;1901;Summary;Extent to which French jurisdiction has been claimed and admitted in the past.Physical description: Foliation: the file's foliation commences at f 14, and terminates at f 18, as it is part of a larger physical volume; 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; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: The file concerns issues arising from definitions of the limits of Iranian territorial waters.The papers consist of correspondence forwarded to the Political Agency, Bahrain by the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, and HM Representative at Tehran. Correspondence forwarded by the Political Resident includes copies of correspondence from the British Legation, Tehran, and the Foreign Office.The papers include: advice from the Foreign Office that Iranian jurisdiction should be recognised over the outer anchorage, Bushire, following an enquiry from the British Legation, Tehran over the position to be adopted in the event of the arrest of a British subject there, November 1937; and a copy of a telegram from HM Representative, Tehran to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, reporting a statement by the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs that a British vessel had been observed patrolling within a six-mile limit of Iranian territorial waters, on which HM Representative, Tehran comments that the Iranian Government had been repeatedly informed that HM Government did not recognise territorial waters above three miles, June 1940.Where the correspondence includes enclosures, the date given is that of the covering letter.The date range gives the covering dates of the correspondence forming the main body of the file. The last dated addition to the file is an entry in the notes on folio 10 dated 30 June 1940.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 12; 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 3-9; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: The file concerns the question of whether Kuwait Bay (also referrred to in the papers as Koweit Bay) was an historic bay (or territorial inlet) [an area of water over which a coastal state has asserted soverignty over a long period of time, and with the acquiescence of other nations], and the precise extent of Kuwait's territorial waters. The issue arose from an enquiry raised with the India Office by the Kuwait Oil Company in 1940 about how to settle details of oil concessions, but which had not been investigated fully because of the intervention of World War Two. The file contains correspondence on the subject between the India Office, the Ministry of Fuel and Power, the Admiralty, the Foreign Office, the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, the Political Agent, Bahrain, and the Political Agent, Kuwait, July 1946 - July 1947 (including reference to the issue of ownership of the seabed under international law for the purposes of extracting oil, and discussion of the ways in which the Sheikh of Kuwait could assert his title to the bay); and resultant correspondence in Arabic and English between the Political Agent, Kuwait (Major Maurice Patrick O'Connor Tandy) and the Ruler of Kuwait (Sheikh Sir Ahmed al Jabir As-Subah) containing a request from the Agency that the Ruler inform the Kuwait Oil Company in writing that the territory of the State of Kuwait included Kuwait Bay, as defined within precise maritime co-ordinates, July 1947.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation system in use commences at 1 on the front cover, and continues through to 19 on the back cover. The sequence is written in pencil and appears in the top right hand corner of the recto page of each folio. Foliation anomalies: ff. 1, 1A, 1B. The following folio needs to be folded out to be read: f. 7.
Abstract: The volume contains correspondence and telegrams between the Foreign Office, His Majesty's Minister at Teheran, His Majesty's Consul at Geneva (in French), the Political Resident at Bushire and Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) representatives in regard to the settling of the dispute between Britain and Persia at the League of Nations, due to the cancellation of the 1901 D'Arcy Concession. Subjects also include the negotiations for a new concession with APOC and the definition of the territorial waters for the new concession area. The volume also includes newspaper cuttings on the subject, from
The Times.Physical description: The foliation is written 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, 2-17; then 18 and 18A; 19-21; 22 and 22A; 23-133; 134 and 134A and carries on until 203, which is the last number given, on the inside of the back cover of the volume. Some of the folios have been paginated in error, which means that the following numbers are missing from the foliation sequence: f. 48; f. 50; f. 52; f. 54; f. 56; f. 58; f. 60; f. 62; f. 64; f. 72; f. 74; f. 76; f. 80; f. 82; f. 101; ff. 103-105; f. 107; f. 109; f. 111; f. 113; f. 115; f. 117; f. 119; f. 121; f. 123; f. 125; f. 132; f. 138; f. 144.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence regarding the issue of oil concession grants for land beneath the sea beyond the three mile territorial limit. The correspondence is principally between the British Agency at Sharjah, the Political Agency at Bahrain, and the ruling shaikhs of the Trucial Coast [United Arab Emirates].The matters covered by the file include:British instructions to the Trucial shaikhs to make claims to the subsoil of the seabed beyond the three mile limit;the case of arbitration between Petroleum Concessions Limited and individual shaikhs over whether this potential extension of territory was included in the original 1939 concessions.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 47; 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 2-44; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: This file relates to incidents of Kuwaiti sailing boats being intercepted (and in some cases seized and detained) by Persian warships and other vessels, on suspicions of smuggling. The file largely consists of correspondence between British officials regarding several specific incidents, including one case in which a Kuwaiti dhow was reportedly seized by a Persian warship (the
Babr) off Henjam [Henjān], and towed to Bandar Abbas [Bandar-e ʻAbbās]. Much of the correspondence surrounding this case and others is concerned with establishing whether or not the incidents occurred within Persian territorial waters.The file discusses more generally the British perspective regarding the extent of Persia's territorial waters and the Persian Navy's right to stop and search foreign vessels in the Gulf. Also included are instructions from the Admiralty regarding the attitude that should be adopted by His Majesty's ships in the Gulf in response to incidents of interference by Persian vessels.The principal correspondents are the following:Political Agent, Kuwait;Political Resident in the Persian Gulf;British Minister, Tehran (later referred to as His Majesty's Ambassador, Tehran);British Chargé d'Affaires, Tehran;Ruler of Kuwait, Shaikh Ahmed Al-Jabir As-Sabah [Shaikh Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ];Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs;Foreign Office;India Office;Admiralty;Persian [Iranian] Ministry of Foreign Affairs;Senior Naval Officer, Persian Gulf.Some of the correspondence dating from after 1935 refers to 'Iranian' rather than 'Persian' vessels, presumably in response to the Iranian Government's request for the international community to refer to the state by its historical name.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 275; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Two additional foliation sequences are also present in parallel between ff 3-274, and ff 6-274; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: This file documents concerns held by the British that pearl fisheries – both within and beyond the territorial waters of the Arab rulers – might be exploited by foreign parties. Much of the correspondence speculates on the extent of Persia's interest in the pearl fisheries that are not within their own territorial waters, including not only those identified by the British as being Arab fisheries but also the following recently identified fisheries: shallow beds outside territorial waters that have not been worked by Arab pearl divers, and deep beds outside territorial waters that have not been exploited by Arab divers and in fact cannot be exploited without mechanical equipment.The file contains copies of correspondence between the Admiralty, the India Office, and the Foreign Office, which discusses how best to protect the deep water beds from foreign exploitation (i.e. by Persian, Japanese, or other foreign parties), in light of the fact that the Arab rulers have no valid claim to exclusive fishing rights.In addition, the file includes correspondence on the following: an expedition to the Iranian side of the Gulf by a Danish citizen named Dr Harald Blegvad, Director of the Danish Biological Station, who has been engaged by the Iranian Government to investigate the waters of the Gulf, with particular reference to fishing; the potential impact that deep-sea operations might have on fishing in shallow pearl beds.Correspondents include the following: the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Political Agent, Kuwait; the British Minister, Tehran; the India Office; the Foreign Office; the Admiralty; the Ruler of Kuwait, Shaikh Ahmad al-Jabir as Sabah [Shaikh Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ]; the Director of the British Museum (Natural History), Clive Forster-Cooper; Dr Cyril Crossland, zoologist at the University of Copenhagen's Zoological Museum.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 87; 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 present in parallel between ff 2-86; these numbers are written in pencil, and are not circled. A previous foliation sequence between ff 4-85, which is written in pencil and not circled, has been crossed out.
Abstract: This file documents a series of investigations carried out by various British officials into reports of Kuwaiti sailing boats being seized and detained by Iranian authorities. Most of the file consists of copies of telegrams between the following British officers: the Political Resident, Bushire (also serving as British Consul-General); the British Consul, Kerman; the British Minister, Tehran. Other correspondents in the file include the following: the Political Agent, Kuwait; the British Vice-Consul, Khorramshahr; the Ruler of Kuwait, Sheikh Ahmad al Jabir as Sabah [Shaikh Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ]; the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs.The majority of the file is concerned with a case involving a Kuwaiti sailing craft that was reportedly seized by an Iranian warship (an Imperial Iranian Navy ship referred to as HIMS
Babr) near Henjam [Henjān] on suspicion of smuggling, and towed to Lingah [Bandar-e Lengeh]. Much of the correspondence between British officials is concerned with confirming whether or not the boat was outside Iranian territorial waters when it was seized.Another case relates to a Kuwaiti boat that was apparently seized by Iranian customs officials at Qusbeh (also referred to as Gusbah) [Qoşbeh-ye Manī‘āt, Khuzestan, Iran], on the Iranian side of the Shatt al Arab. The third and final case concerns a Kuwaiti dhow that was reportedly seized at Khorramshahr.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 109; 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 present in parallel between ff 2-107; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: This file contains correspondence between British officials concerning the legal status of the water just of Kuwait bay and the extent of Kuwait's territorial waters. It also contains broader discussions concerning the delineation of the continental shelf in the Persian Gulf.The correspondence is primarily between British Government officials, but the file also contains a limited amount of correspondence with the Ruler of Kuwait, Shaikh Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah (in Arabic accompanied by English translations) and officials of the Kuwait Oil Company.In addition to correspondence, the file contains notes of a meeting concerning the continental shelf in the Persian Gulf, which was held at the Foreign Office on 23 October 1947, with representatives of the Ministry of Fuel and Power, the Admiralty, and the Commonwealth Relations Office all present.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 56; 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 present in parallel between ff 3-56; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled and have been crossed out.
Abstract: This file contains papers relating to the Ruler of Kuwait's proposals to various oil companies about offshore oil exploration around the Farsi Islands.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 8; 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 present in parallel; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: This file contains papers relating to a plan to extend the sovereignty of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf into the continental shelf and marine area of the Gulf. The correspondence mentions consultations with the United State's State Department, and the reasons for making joint Anglo-American plans to coordinate the extension of the territorial waters of various Arab Gulf states. Many of the letters discuss this as both a response to Iranian ambitions in the Gulf, and as a cautionary measure so as to avoid conflict between American and British oil interests in the region. Of note are several discussions on the choice of terminology to describe the marine territory in question, such as sovereignty versus jurisdiction.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 143; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.