File 3877/1912 Pt 4 ‘Turkey in Asia: oil concessions’ [‎89v] (120/176)

I have not failed to cause Mr. Silley to be placed in contact with the representatives
of the Turkish Petroleum Company, with the view of his discussing with them the
bases on which he would be willing to transfer his rights in the Basra applications to
the company. I am given to understand that, at the meeting which took place
between Mr. Silley and the company’s representatives, the former was most reluctant to
part with any information respecting the properties he hopes to acquire, nor did he give
any indication of the conditions on which he might be willing to part with his rights.’
TKp nipftt.inor was stfirilft in results.
The meeting was sterile in results.
It occurs to me that, in these circumstances, it might possibly be advisable that the
Petroleum Company should approach the Turkish associate (Mehmet Eakhri) whose name
appears in the application.
I have, &c.
LOUIS MALLET.
Enclosure 1 in No. 1.
Repo7’t respecting Mr. Silley's Claims.
THE examination of the various documents having reference to the applications
for “ permis de recherches ” mentioned by Mr. R. H. Silley has shown that these
applications were made by Ottoman subjects for the following:—
In the Vilayet of Bagdad:
Oilfields at Tekrit, Dilim, and Mendeli: Applicants, Mehmed Fakhri and Mehmed
Reshad.
In the Vilayet of Mosul:
Oilfields at Hamam Ali and Kifri : Applicants, Mehmed Fakhri and Mehmed
Shewket.
An application, dated July 1913, for “permis de recherches” for the oilfields at
Baba Gurgur, in the Kerkuk district of the Mosul vilayet, was made in the joint names
of Mehmed I akhri and R. H. Silley, and this is the only application amongst the six
mentioned by Mr. Silley in which his name appears.
Separate statements annexed to this memorandum have been drawn up for the
purpose of showing, as far as is possible, the action which was taken by the Government
Departments in the case of each application and the reasons which were put forward
by the Departments for withholding the issue of “ permis de recherches ” for oil in the
two provinces.
It will be noted that in the case of Hamam Ali and Kifri “ permis” were not
granted—
<< vi ® eca . use th ese t wo well-known oilfields come within the class of mines described
as Maden-i-Mekshoufeh, viz., discovered mines, and for which no “ permis ” are ever
issued; . r
• ^ ecause ’ quit 0 apart from the fact that under ordinary circumstances these
mines belong to the “ Mekshoufeh” class, the concession of all oilfields situated in the
provinces of Mosul had been granted to the Civil List ; and
3. ecause of ceitain pending negotiations which had reference to the Chester
railway scheme.
As regMds the application for the Baba Gurgur oilfields—the only one of the series
in \\ nc i - r * 1 s name appears the instructions given to the Mosul authorities
T f to the ettect that they were to issue no permits and to await further instructions,
inatriwt^o S t 0n ^ l . 1C | ^ 10 cen tral authorities based their reasons for giving these
nfnartment h a 3r + u 0t heen a ? certained . but it is permissible to believe that the Mining
Department had the concession granted to the Civil List in view.
Baorla ] e nrmhnT tl0nS ^ llCenCeS ^ P ros P eot the oilfields at Tekrit and Dilim in the
oilhelds in that R as !^ e ’ ow i n g 1° the fact that the concession of all the
been tranrfwredT f S ° ^ S ranted to th e Civil List, and had subsequently
to exant nerrnits i 6 mis ^ r y of Finance. The local authorities were also forbidden
account of the OhL^T 61106 ° f mstruction s from the Porte which were issued on
trsubiect in const T 7 n T tiati0nS - The Cou ™ d of State was consulted on
t su iject in consequence of complaints made by the applicants, and decided that there