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Coll 6/91 'Saudi Arabia. Policy of H.M.G. Qn. of credits and guarantee of assistance to Ibn Saud.' [255r] (510/680)
The record is made up of 1 file (338 folios). It was created in 24 Oct 1939-1 Jan 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
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THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OP HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT
Printed for the use of the Foreign Office.
^CONFIDENTIAL.
(15791)
■
SAUDI ARABIA.
Copy No.
ANNUAL REPORT, ECONOMIC (B), FOR 1939.
[E 8087/161/25]
Sir R. Bullard to Viscount Halifax.—{Received December 22.)
(No. 171 E.)
My Lord, Jedda, December 4, 1939.
IN accordance with the instructions contained in paragraph 6 of the
enclosure to Foreign Office circular of the 7th March, 1939, I have the honour to
forward herewith the Annual Report, Economic (B), for this post.
2. I am forwarding a copy of this despatch and of the enclosed report to
the Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in the Department of
Overseas Trade.
I have, &c.
R. W. BULLARD.
Enclosure.
A nnual Report, Economic (B), for 1939.
IN spite of the shadow of war, the economic condition of Saudi Arabia has
developed on the lines foreshadowed in Annual Report, Economic (A), for
1938-39. The oil pipe-line was opened on the 1st May, and a new oil concession,
giving to the California Arabian Standard Oil Company rights of oil develop
ment over most, though not all, of the unallotted territory east of the Hejaz, was
signed on the 31st May; it gave to the American company the Saudi oil rights
in the Iraq and the Koweit neutral zones, and the area available for exploitation
in Central and Eastern Arabia was increased. For this concession the companv
had to pay £140,000 gold, with an annual rental of £20,000 gold and increased
free deliveries of petrol; the royalties continue at the rate of As. gold per ton;
and an extra £100,000 gold is to be payable when oil is discovered in commercial
quantities in the extra areas allotted to the company by this concession. The
concessionary company is displaying great activity throughout vast areas of
hitherto unknown country; the principal area at present is the prolific high-
pressure field at Dhahran, which is now producing about 10,000 barrels of oil
per day, and may eventually produce as much as three times that amount. Test
borings are also being made in the promising district of Abu Hadriya. At
Ma aqala, only 140 miles from Riyadh, drilling for water is going on and drilling
for oil may soon begin, though the long distance from the sea will complicate
problems of transport. Ras Tanura is becoming an admirable oil port, with
storage tanks and a loading terminal; a refinery on a small scale is beino- erected
to get rid of excessive quantities of sulphuretted hydrogen in the crude oil
Prospectors have been as far afield as the Rub’a ul Khali, Hail and Bureida
Indications have been received that the California Arabian Standard Oil
Company were casting eyes on the unallotted area of Bahrein, though this
question has been disposed of for the present by the allotment of these areas to
the Bahrein Petroleum Company. The income derived by the King from an
10675—11 [20614]
About this item
- Content
This file concerns British policy towards Saudi Arabia during the Second World War (the abbreviation 'Qn' in the title stands for 'Question'). The correspondence discusses the question of providing financial or material assistance to Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd], as well as the United States' growing economic and strategic interests in Saudi Arabia.
The file features the following principal correspondents: His Majesty's Minister at Jedda (Sir Reader Bullard, Hugh Stonehewer Bird, and Stanley R Jordan successively); the Secretary of State for India (Leo Amery); the Viceroy of India (Archibald Percival Wavell); the Chancellor of the Exchequer (John Anderson); 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 Treasury, the Government of India's Finance and External Affairs Departments, and the United States Embassy in London.
Related matters of discussion include the following:
- The idea (initially discussed in correspondence dating from 1939) of an alliance or a bloc of Arab states (chiefly comprised of Saudi Arabia and the Yemen), which would support the Allied cause.
- The Italo-German reaction to Ibn Saud's refusal to receive German diplomat Dr Fritz Konrad Ferdinand Grobba, a decision that was applauded by the British.
- Italian influence in the Middle East.
- Anglo-French co-operation in the Middle East.
- Details of the Saudi Government's finances (i.e. expenditure and revenue) during the early war years.
- Arrangements for loans and payments from the British to the Saudi Government, as well as details of royalties and loans paid to the Saudi Government by the California Arabian Standard Oil Company (Casoc).
- Proposals for an irrigation and agricultural mission to Saudi Arabia, headed by a United States agricultural expert.
- Conversations between Ibn Saud and United States General Patrick Hurley during the latter's visit to Riyadh in May 1943.
- The Government of India's decision in 1942 not to allow pilgrim ships to sail from India to Saudi Arabia, because of a risk of the ships being attacked.
- Ibn Saud's requests in 1944 for the British Government to send to Saudi Arabia financial and military advisers, preferably Sunni Moslems [Muslims].
- The proposed appointment of Ibn Saud's requested financial adviser, which is delayed and eventually abandoned, following the United States' suggestion that the position be given to a United States adviser, because of the United States' 'preponderant interest' in the Saudi economy.
The file includes two dividers which give a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. These are placed at the back of the correspondence (folio 2).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (338 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 (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 339; 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. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 262-286; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. 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 6/91 'Saudi Arabia. Policy of H.M.G. Qn. of credits and guarantee of assistance to Ibn Saud.' [255r] (510/680), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2163, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100046518048.0x000071> [accessed 25 June 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/2163
- Title
- Coll 6/91 'Saudi Arabia. Policy of H.M.G. Qn. of credits and guarantee of assistance to Ibn Saud.'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:36v, 39r:57v, 59r:110v, 113r:182v, 184r:189v, 191r:310r, 311v:339v, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence