"ملف ١/٥ III شركة نفط الكويت" [و‎‎٢‎٠‎٣] (٧٦٦/٤١٠)

OOlFi PUfTIAL.
T).0. Ua.
2iet December \927.
You ui?y remeaber that #hea you -vere returning ShaiJch
Ahaad* s call on your recent visit here, the subject of
drilling for water came up in conversation. I mentioned
that Mr. Armstrong had told me that very day that he had
reached a certain depth, and the Shaikh was surprised at
what I said, as he had been told a diffsrent depth.
You will have seen from my last Diary that ’’drilling
operations have had to be stop ed temporarily,pending uha
receipt of a further supply of piping from England".
Major Holmes came here last Just before I went on
leave, and I was surprised when I got back to find that,
although drilling operations had been in Progress since
the iirst fortnight in May, there was nothing on my files
on the subject subsequent to the Agreement signed bn Oth
April 19 ^ 6 , of which I sent an advance copy to the Resi
dency with my memorandum No.39H of 8th March 1916,although
this Agreement required a slight modification in view of^
Clause vl). I understand, however, that this is what is
supposed to be being worked on.
8y it the Syndicate has to sink a well - or rather
two wells - to a depth of 7o0 feet, unless sweet water is
found at a lesser depth, and to go beyond that depth if
required but only on receiving an extra Rs.90/- a" foot
for any depth over TOO feet.
The Shaikh has given up all hope of water now, and
certainly vould not pay extra for boring beyond 700 feet.
„ According to Mr. Armstrong, they have now drilled
•?,bout > 0 feet“ I learn from another source however that
he has already used up at least ^50 feet of piping, and
probably more. I asked him how much he was expecting out
from Home now, and he said about 700 feet. I asked him
what he wanted so much for as he had already done 500 ,and
according to the Agreement o ily had to do ? r 0 - There is
n » W ii 10 t 5 ik 0f a ? econd wel1 -• He replied that this was a
smaller bore of piping, which he would put down inside the
the existing piping right to the top, and then he hoped to
DHj - 1 u ? ^He^exl^s t log pi pi ng,. I pretended to believe this,
out I most certainly do not.
The don hxe iiteut. Colonel L. B. H. Haworth,
Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, 3ushire.