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Coll 6/48 'Oil: Concessions in Saudi Arabia. (Hasa)' [99v] (198/1153)
The record is made up of 1 file (574 folios). It was created in 8 Dec 1923-11 Jul 1945. It was written in English. 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.
6
of the crude oil found will permit of the manufacture of such products on a com
mercial basis by the use of ordinary refining methods, and provided further that
the amount of oil developed is sufficient for the purpose. It is understood that the
ordinary requirements of the Government shall not include resale inside or outside
of the country. Upon the completion of the necessary preliminary arrangements,
and as soon as the Company has obtained the G-overnment’s consent to the
proposed location, the Company shall proceed with the erection of such plant.
During each year following the date of completion of this plant, the Company
shall offer free to the Government, in bulk, 200,000 American gallons of gasoline,
and 100.000 gallons of kerosene, it being understood that the facilities provided
by the Government for accepting these deliveries shall not impede or endanger
the Company’s operations.
Article 20.
The Company, at its own expense, will employ the necessary number of
guards and guides to protect its representatives, its camps and installations. The
Government promise to co-operate fully in supplying the best soldiers and men
available for this responsibility, and in furnishing every reasonable protection,
at rates not exceeding those customarily paid by the Government or others for
similar services, it being understood that the expense for such services shall be
paid by the Company through the Government.
Article 21.
In return for the obligations assumed by the Company under this contract,
and for the payments required from the Company hereunder, the Company and
enterprise shall be exempt from all direct and indirect taxes, imposts, charges,
fees and duties (including, of course, import and export duties), it being under
stood that this privilege shall not extend to the sale of products within the
country, nor shall it extend to the personal requirements of the individual
employees of the Company. Any material imported free of duty may not be sold
within the country without first paying the corresponding import duty.
Article 22.
It is understood, of course, that the Company has the right to use all means
and facilities it may deem necessary or advisable in order to exercise the rights
granted under this contract, so as to carry out the purposes of this enterprise,
including among other things the right to construct and use roads, camps,
buildings, structures and all systems of communication, to install and operate
machinery, equipment and facilities in connexion with the drilling of wells, or
in connexion with the transportation, storage, treatment, manufacture, dealing
with, or exportation of petroleum and its derivatives, or in connexion with the
camps, buildings and quarters of the personnel of the company; to construct and
use storage reservoirs, tanks and receptacles; to construct and operate wharves,
piers, sealoading lines and all other terminal and port facilities; and to use all
forms of transportation of personnel, or equipment, and of petroleum and its
derivatives. It is understood, however, that the use of aeroplanes within the
country shall be subject to a separate agreement.
The Company shall also have the right to develop, carry away and use water.
It likewise shall have the right to carry away and use any water belonging to the
Government, for the operations of the enterprise, but so as not to prejudice irriga
tion or to deprive any lands, houses or watering places for cattle, of a reasonable
supply of water from time to time. The Company may also take for use, but only
to the extent necessary for the purpose of the enterprise, other natural products
belonging to the Government, such as surface soil, timber, stone, lime, gypsum
stone and similar substances.
Government officials and agents, in pursuance of official business, shall have
the right to use such communications and transportation facilities as the
Company may establish, provided that such use shall not obstruct or interfere
with the C ompany s operations hereunder, and shall not impose upon the
Company any substantial burden of expense.
In times of national emergency the use of the Company’s transportation and
communication facilities by the Government shall entitle the Company to fair
About this item
- Content
This file relates to oil concessions in Saudi Arabia, particularly the Hasa [Al Hasa] concession between the Government of Saudi Arabia and the Standard Oil Company of California (SoCal). It includes discussion of the following:
- Oil negotiations in Saudi Arabia during March and April 1933, and the reported involvement of Major Frank Holmes in negotiations relating to the Kuwait (also spelled Koweit in the file) [Saudi-Kuwaiti] neutral zone.
- Details of an agreement for the oil concession relating to the Hasa region of Saudi Arabia, made between the Government of Saudi Arabia and SoCal (signed on 27 May 1933), and assigned by SoCal to its subsidiary, the California Arabian Standard Oil Company (Casoc).
- British concerns regarding a request made by Casoc via the United States Embassy for its aeroplane to be permitted to fly over Kuwait and Bahrain, as part of a survey of the region relating to its oil concession.
- Reports that Casoc may be interested in exhanging the southern half of its Hasa concession for land further west, and the effect that this might have on Britain's negotiations with Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd].
- Reports of the discovery of oil in Hasa in 1935, and the discovery of commercial quantities of oil there in March 1938.
- Reports that Casoc is considering the possibility of laying a pipeline from Hasa to Bahrain.
- Casoc's oil rights in the Kuwait neutral zone.
- The progress of operations carried out in Hasa by Casoc, including the status of its wells at Dhahran.
- An account of a visit made by 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. at Bahrain (Hugh Weightman) to Casoc's site at Dhahran as well as to other areas in the region, in May 1939.
- Details of a loan from Casoc to the Government of Saudi Arabia.
- Reports of Casoc having taken the decision to construct a refinery at Ras Tanura.
The file features the following principal correspondents: the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; 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. , Bahrain; 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. , Kuwait; the Secretary of State for the Colonies; His Majesty's Chargé d’Affaires, Jedda; the His Majesty's Minister at Jedda; officials of the Foreign Office, 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. , the War Office, the Air Ministry, and the Petroleum Department; representatives of Casoc.
In addition to correspondence the file includes the following:
- Copies of the oil agreement and a supplementary agreement between the Government of Saudi Arabia and the Standard Oil Company of California, dated 1933 and 1939 respectively.
- Extracts from Bahrain and Kuwait intelligence reports.
- The minutes of an interdepartmental meeting held at the Colonial Office on 26 April 1933, concerning British interests in oil in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (notably Kuwait, Bahrain, Hasa in Saudi Arabia, and the Kuwaiti neutral zone).
- Draft and final copies of a War Office report entitled 'Brief Summary of the Oil Situation in the Middle East, November 1934'.
The date range of the volume is 1923-1945 but only a handful of items date from before 1933. These include copies of the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. 's correspondence with the Secretary of State for the Colonies and the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India respectively, which date from 1923 to 1926 and concern the possibility of oil development both in Qatar and on the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. .
The file includes three dividers which give a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. These are placed at the back of the correspondence (folios 2-4).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (574 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 575; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Coll 6/48 'Oil: Concessions in Saudi Arabia. (Hasa)' [99v] (198/1153), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2115, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100040749881.0x000001> [accessed 1 April 2025]
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/2115
- Title
- Coll 6/48 'Oil: Concessions in Saudi Arabia. (Hasa)'
- Pages
- 7r:11r, 11v:14v, 61v:64v, 97v:101v, 148r:149v, 235r:243v, 250r:251v, 423r:439v, 458v:462v
- Author
- Unknown
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