‘File 86/2 I (C 30) Bahrain Oil Concession (Eastern & General Syndicate)’ [‎208r] (432/661)

Content

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 A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. 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).

Extent and format

1 volume (328 folios)

Arrangement

The volume’s contents are arranged in approximate chronological order, from the earliest items at the front to the latest at the end. The office notes at the end of the file (folios 309-17) mirror the chronological arrangement.

Physical characteristics

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 The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. 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.

Written in

English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script

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