File 3877/1912 Pt 4 ‘Turkey in Asia: oil concessions’ [‎100r] (141/176)

[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty’s Government.!
^ TURKEY.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[22542]
i 7 c t
No. 1 .
[May 20 . ]
Section 3.
Central Mining and Investment Corporation to Foreign Office .—(Received May 20.)
1, Condon TT all Buildings, London,
Sir, May 19, 1914.
WE have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 15th instant,
and, in reply, beg to be allowed to state that from the information supplied to us it
would appear that the interpretation placed on article 22 of the Bagdad Railway
Convention, dated the 5th March, 1903, by the Ottoman Government is not identical
with the interpretation underlying your letter under reply, but that, on the contrary,
the Ottoman Government claim that, inasmuch as the oil rights within the vilayets of
Mosul, Bagdad, and Basra were reserved by Imperial firman A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’). , dated 1890, to the
Imperial Civil List, they were expressly excluded from the operations of the Bagdad
Railway Convention.
We realise that His Majesty’s Government have for some time past been giving
their support to Mr. D’Arcy. We understand, however, that the “ cahier des charges”
submitted to the Ottoman Government ou behalf of Mr. D’Arcy and his group is less
favourable to the Ottoman Government than that prepared by ourselves, and that in
consequence of their being able to obtain terms more acceptable to them the Ottoman
Government favours our group. We beg respectfully to point out that the terms
offered by us to the Ottoman Government, whilst fully safeguarding the interests of the
Government itself, are considerably more favourable to the lessee or concessionnaire
than the terms embodied in the agreements existing between the Government of
Trinidad and either the United British West Indies Petroleum Syndicate or the
Trinidad Leaseholds (Limited), and are thus capable of being carried out.
We also realise that His Majesty’s Government have made the grant of the
concession to a British-German group the condition of the assent to the desired increase
of the Turkish customs duties from 11 per cent, to 15 per cent, ad valorem and to the
institution of certain monopolies in Turkey, but would respectfully point out that, in so
far as the interests of His Majesty’s Government are concerned, it should be immaterial
who the concessionnaires themselves are, provided the Turkish Government adhere to
the condition that the grant is to be made to a British-German group in accordance
with the arrangements come to between His Majesty s and the Imperial German
Governments.
Acting on behalf of the British group, the constituents of which are already known
to His Majesty’s Government, we would be prepared, in addition to any obligations
undertaken vis-d^vis the Ottoman Government, to enter into an agreement with His^
Majesty’s Government for a pre-emptive right of all oil fuel produced within the area of
the concession referred to and under the control of the British group (Uz., two-thuds of
the total production) on terms to be agreed upon. ,
We are anxious to avoid any appearance of embarrassing His Majesty s Govern
ment, but, in view of the above, we respectfully submit that a reconsideration of t e
final paragraph of your letter under reply appears to become necessary.
F ^ * 1 We have, &c.
(The Central Mining and Investment Corporation),
V L. REYNOLDS, Director.
[2136 u—3]