'D.142 CONFIDENTIAL. 86/13-i. P.C.L. KUWAIT.'

Title:

'D.142 CONFIDENTIAL. 86/13-i. P.C.L. KUWAIT.'

Contributor:

India Office (correspondent)
Petroleum Concessions Limited (correspondent)
Political Agent, Kuwait (correspondent)
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (correspondent)
HM Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (correspondent)
Secretary of State for India and Burma, United Kingdom (correspondent)

Date:

1936/1938

Description:

The volume comprises correspondence between the India Office (John P Gibson, Maurice Clauson, Roland T Peel, John C Walton); the Foreign Office (George Rendel, Lacy Bagallay); the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Trenchard C Fowle); the Political Agent at Kuwait (Gerald S de Gaury); His Majesty’s Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan, Sir Reader Bullard); Secretary of State for India (Lawrence Dundas, 2nd Marquess of Zetland); the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Anthony Eden); and Petroleum Concessions Limited (John Skliros, Stephen H Longrigg, Frank Holmes) regarding the Kuwait Neutral Zone and Petroleum Concessions Limited’s interest in attempting to secure an option or concession from the Shaikh of Kuwait and the Government of Saudi Arabia for their shares in the zone.The volume consists of general correspondence regarding Petroleum Concessions Limited’s interest in and work towards various concessions in the Persian Gulf and various possibilities for approaching the Saudi Arabian Government regarding their share of the Neutral Zone concession. Also discussed are attempts to ascertain the exact nature and extent of the Standard Oil Company of California’s preference rights for both the zone and the remainder of the territory of Saudi Arabia.Further discussion surrounds His Majesty’s Government’s concerns over the financial situation in Saudi Arabia and their desire where possible to provide assistance and support, along with the challenges of balancing this desire with their own policies and interests in the Persian Gulf.The main focus of the discussion in the volume centres on the possibility of a buy-out clause relating to the neutral zone concession existing in the Standard Oil Company of California (SOCAL)’s option agreement with the Saudi Arabian Government and the subsequent discovery that SOCAL’s preference rights were much more extensive. The exact nature of the preference rights are identified by the Foreign Office being supplied copies of the relevant concession articles by Mahmood Riyad Zada of the Royal Legation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in London.The correspondence concludes with PCL deciding to make an offer to the Saudi Arabian Government, via their representation in London, for a concession covering central and western Saudi Arabia and the Kuwait Neutral Zone to be worked by Petroleum Development (Western Arabia) Limited. Separate correspondence documents discussion between Hamilton Ballantyne of the Standard Oil Company of California and the India Office about SOCAL's potential interest in the neutral zone concession now that oil has been discovered in Hasa and Kuwait.Also included in the volume is the memorandum prepared in the Petroleum Department, June 1938, looking at areas where petroleum concessions were mostly likely to be, or had been already been obtained, on the Arabian Peninsula.A series of file notes which were maintained as a record of the correspondence in the volume can be found at folios 224-230.1 volume (233 folios)The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 235; 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 24-223; 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.

Language:

English
Arabic

Type:

Archival file

Type (Narrower):

Other Texts

Type (Broader):

Text

Subject:

Concessions, Oil, Kuwait-Nejd Neutral Zone

Geographic region:

Kuwait-Saudi Arabia Neutral Zone
Kuwait

Extent:

1 volume (233 folios)

Rights:

Unknown
Public Domain
Open Government Licence
Copyright or data protection restrictions

Identifier:

81055/vdc_100000000193.0x000293_ar
81055/vdc_100000000193.0x000293_en
IOR/R/15/1/685

Is part of:

British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers

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