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File 3877/1912 Pt 1 ‘Turkey in Asia: oil concessions’ [304r] (616/834)
The record is made up of 1 volume (412 folios). It was created in 17 Jul 1904-4 Sep 1913. It was written in English and French. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
reasons which have bTe^ freqrentlv^xXh 116 ! 1 T ^ V Ubl ' C iuterests as confidential, for
ever, that provision is madTtS ^ ^ be sta ted; how-
scale of price'of a reasonable proportion oft ^ e y b °\ a ^
of the Admiralty on the present har t ^ stimated annual requirements
allowance for expansion. The contract is for n°l 0i °o consa “P tlon and with due
own arrangements for transport Oot ns of ° ^ the Admiralt J ^ake its
description are provided for to meet nosshl mcr , e . ase of .^antity and of variation of
taking moderate supplies from Persia for V 6 c ° a in S enca3s - Admiralty has been
will prove to be ofg^od qu^y for^/jprpo^r 6 that the “>
upon AdmiUtTxpTriL::: ant the 0 !^ °of th, T d P* 7 ^ h ^ d
have been stated to Parliament by the First Lord of^hp 0 Adm 0 n f™ 12 * * 1S . S101 ! on tdat subject
yth July 19 13, on the navy
m 4 “ that 011 the’ 17th March!
U14, in introaucmg the navy estimates for 1914-15. Those statements also included
o P f oll uei and th P T P ol ‘y°f the Admiralty in regard to the extent of the use
nrinted as an iner d t ?t m6 8 7 ltS SUpply - ( Extracte those speeches are
printed as an appendix to this paper for convenience of reference.) 1
the ^nle^P-f at TL- S 1 ; eferred t°was pointed out that according to present experience
the superiority of oil fuel over coal is most marked in ships of a certain type, A, light
cruisers and destroyers, m which the use of oil gives decided advantages in design,
first cost, economy of upkeep and in personnel. Experience in the use of oil fuel in
sups o io arges size will be gained in due course when the five battleships of
tne 1912-13 programme, which burn oil only, are commissioned. With the further
engineering evelopment of internal combustion engines it may be expected a greater
economy ln 01 consumption will be realised. Seeing, however, that at present most of
le arger ue -consuming units of His Majesty’s fleet still use coal, and will continue
o o 80 ui the immediate future, the latter fuel will continue to form the principal
combustible m use in His Majesty’s navy for some time to come. Oil fuel is, however,
o very great importance, and the proportion that the amount consumed bears to the
otal quantity of ^ fuel used is an increasing one. Experiments are being carried out by
numerous investigators to arrive at the most economical method of extracting oil from
shale and coal. It is hoped, therefore, that when the use of oil in His Majesty’s
ser\ ice shall be so extended that it will form the major part of the fuel used, instead of
the mmor part as at present, the production and commercial utilisation of oil and other
products of coal and shale will have reached such a position that the oil fuel so obtained
will supplement natural petroleum to a greater extent than is at present the case. It
would then be practicable to meet a portion of the increased demand from these sources.
. IL The whole circumstances of the supply of oil fuel have been very carefully
investigated by the Admiralty, with the valuable aid of the Koyal Commission. The
situation has been considered from the point of view both of the amounts of natural
petroleum that may be reasonably expected to be obtainable and of the possibility of
the increased quantities that may be available from the sources referred to in
paragraph 9.
11 . The quantity of oil fuel that is used by His Majesty’s navy is indeed only a small
proportion of the world’s total production of petroleum oil, but it must be remembered
that not all oil products are suitable for use in His Majesty’s ships, nor is there as a rule
af any given moment any large quantity of suitable oil immediately available on the
market, and what there is is liable, particularly at times of political stress, to large
fluctuation of price. There is also the possibility of restriction of supply, whether
natural or artificial, to be'guarded against, and therefore, in order to place the country
m a position of security as regards the supply of oil fuel, it is necessary to provide that
some considerable portion of the Admiralty’s annual requirements shall come from a
source which shall be as free as possible from these disturbing influences.
12 . The policy of the Admiralty with regard to the provision of oil is to spread
its contracts as much as possible over widely separated fields. Thus in time of war if
some areas should be closed others will remain open. But while it is not
desirable to draw all our supplies from one source, it is essential that the fields over
About this item
- Content
The volume comprises copies of correspondence, memoranda and other papers, produced in response to the prospect of an oil company backed by German capital taking control of future oil concessions in Mesopotamia [Iraq], and the implications that such concessions might have on the Anglo-Persian Oil Company’s (APOC) own oil concession in neighbouring Persia. The prospect of foreign capital exploiting Mesopotamia’s oil resources was a particular cause for concern amongst senior officials in the Admiralty, who were dependent on APOC’s oil production for their fuel supplies, and the Foreign Office. The more peripheral interest of such a concession in Mesopotamia to the Government of India and the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. is reflected in the volume’s papers.
The volume’s principal correspondents are: the Secretary to the Admiralty (Sir William Graham Greene); Secretary at the Foreign Office (Sir Louis du Pan Mallet); Secretary of the Political Department at the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. (Sir Arthur Hirtzel); Permanent Under-Secretary of State at the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. (Sir Thomas William Holderness); the Managing Director of APOC (Charles Greenway).
Subjects covered include:
- correspondence dated late 1912, chiefly between representatives of the Admiralty and Foreign Office, airing concerns over the implications of exploratory oil concessions agreed for Mesopotamia between a consortium including the National Bank of Turkey, Shell (referred to in the volume as either the Shell Transport Company or the Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company) and Deutsche Bank, to APOC oil exploration in Persia;
- discussion of the Government of India’s interest in maintaining an independent APOC, and whether the Government of India should not invest in APOC, including a proposal that it purchase oil from APOC for use on the Indian railways, or contribute to the purchase of fuel supplies on behalf of the Royal Navy;
- through February 1913 to April 1913, diplomatic negotiations (including some correspondence in French) seeking to secure concessionary agreement for oil exploration in the Mesopotamian vilayets of Mosul and Baghdad for APOC (based on earlier arrangements made between the Ottoman Government and William Knox D’Arcy on APOC’s behalf) against the competing claims of the National Bank of Turkey consortium, and oil exploration rights outlined in the railway concession held by the Société du Chemin de Fer ottoman d’Anatolie (Anatolian Railway Company);
- between May 1913 and July 1913, with the likelihood of APOC not being given exclusive oil concessionary rights to Mesopotamia, negotiations to secure ‘absorption’ (with a British-controlling interest) of APOC with the National Bank of Turkey or its partners, Shell and Deutsche Bank.
The core correspondence in the volume dates between September 1912 and September 1913. The earlier date indicated in the volume’s date range refers to a copy of a contract between Turkish Government’s Ministry of the Civil List and the Société du Chemin de Fer ottoman d’Anatolie, dated 17 July 1904 (ff 147-148).
The volume includes a divider which gives the subject (Turkey in Asia: oil concessions) and part number (1), the year the subject file was opened (1912), and a list of correspondence references contained in that part by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence (f 1).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (412 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.
The subject 3877 (Turkey in Asia: oil concessions) consists of 3 volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/300-302. The volumes are divided into 5 parts, with parts 1 and 2 comprising one volume each, and parts 3, 4 and 5 comprising a third volume.
- Physical characteristics
The foliation sequence commences with 1 and terminates with 411. The front and back covers, along with the leading and ending flyleaves have not been foliated.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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File 3877/1912 Pt 1 ‘Turkey in Asia: oil concessions’ [304r] (616/834), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/300, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100028928519.0x000011> [accessed 8 February 2025]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/300
- Title
- File 3877/1912 Pt 1 ‘Turkey in Asia: oil concessions’
- Pages
- 303r:305v, 309r:312v
- Author
- Unknown
- Usage terms
- The copyright status is unknown. Please contact [email protected] with any information you have regarding this item.