File 3877/1912 Pt 3 ‘Turkey in Asia: oil concessions’ [296r] (359/372)
The record is made up of 1 part (184 folios). It was created in 16 Mar 1914-25 Nov 1915. 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
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CONFIDENTIAL
P
Sir Edward Grey to Sir L. Mallet {Constantinople).
•'ll • . • 1 i • c # xx \sKJlllJJClLljr y di-lvi. tlicit 11“ lo
unwilling to giye an undertaking, similar to that obtained from Mr. Maxwell last
September, as His Majesty’s Government will not support his claims in regard to Mosul
and Bagdad as well as those concerning Basra and Nejd.
Silley urges that his prospecting licences in regard to Mosul and Bagdad are fully
in order, and that if Turkish Government disregards them he will claim compensation,
and try to enlist our diplomatic support.
It has been explained to solicitor that His Majesty’s Government have long been
committed to support Mr. I) Arcy, who many years ago had been promised a monopoly
m legard to Mosul and Bagdad ; that they have repeatedly pressed Ottoman Govern
ment to fulfil this promise, and that they cannot now support a claim against Turkish
Government for compensation owing to their having conceded to Mr. Silley prospecting
licences which were ultra vires. It was further explained that His Majesty’s
Government only became aivare of Mr. Silley s claims at a relatively recent date.
As to Basra and Nejd, Mr. Silley urges that his claims should be supported by
His Majesty’s Government in the same way as they are supporting claimants in Syria
and Farsan, i.e., by making definite grant of a concession a condition of British assent
to monopolies, Ac. It has been pointed out to solicitor that our conditions were
formulated in July ; that we were then unaware of Mr. Silley’s claims; and that it is
impracticable now to make further conditions; but that, if Mr. Silley gives the desired |
undertaking in writing, we will support his claims in Basra and Nejd and, if they are
valid, use our influence with Turkish Petroleum Company to secure equitable arrange
ments ; if he cannot secure satisfactory terms from them he will, subject to above
undertaking, be free to dispose of his rights elsewhere.
[440—124]
About this item
- Content
The volume is a chronological continuation of File 3877/1912 Pt 2 ‘Turkey in Asia: oil concessions’ (IOR/L/PS/301), and comprises papers concerning ongoing negotiations over oil concessions for the Mesopotamian vilayets of Mosul and Baghdad, in which the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC), Deutsche Bank, the British-backed National Bank of Turkey, and the Anglo-Saxon Oil Company (ASOC, a division of Royal Dutch Shell) are the principal claimants. The principal correspondents include: the Director of APOC (Charles Greenway); Foreign Office officials (Sir Louis Du Pan Mallet; Sir Eyre Alexander Barby Wichart Crowe); the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Sir Edward Grey); the Admiralty (William Graham Greene).
The papers cover:
- correspondence dated 1914 regarding a claim made by Roland H Silley, represented in the correspondence by his solicitors Treherne, Higgins and Company, to concessionary rights in Mesopotamia;
- proposals for APOC to represent the D’Arcy Group, the original British claimants to oil concession rights in Mesopotamia;
- an agreement made between representatives of the British and German Governments, the National Bank of Turkey, ASOC, Deutsche Bank and the D’Arcy Group (APOC), dated 19 March 1914, for the ‘Fusion of Interests in Turkish Petroleum Concessions of the D’Arcy Group and of the Turkish Petroleum Company’ (f 271);
- efforts, in late October and November 1914, to maintain the agreement of 19 March 1914, in spite of Britain now being at war with Turkey, including a letter from Greenway, dated 2 November 1914, stressing the importance of carrying through the concessions arrangements without delay (ff 156-161);
- a minute, with no indication of author, dated January 1915 which offers a concise précis of the history of oil concessions in Mesopotamia, and the background to the agreement of 19 March 1914 (f 143);
- in 1915, discussion amongst Foreign Office officials over the validity of the agreement signed on 19 March 1914, in response to events of the First World War.
- Extent and format
- 1 part (184 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/302/1
- Title
- File 3877/1912 Pt 3 ‘Turkey in Asia: oil concessions’
- Pages
- 118r:146v, 148r:151v, 154r:155v, 162r:164v, 170r:174v, 176r:177v, 179r:180v, 184r:185v, 187r:189v, 191r:195v, 198r:206v, 210r:211v, 213r:228r, 229r:245v, 248r:249v, 252r:270v, 271ar:271av, 272r:273v, 275r:278v, 280r:281v, 284r:290v, 292r:299v, 301r:302v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence