Skip to item: of 675
Information about this record Back to top
Open in Universal viewer
Open in Mirador IIIF viewer

Coll 30/110(4) 'Trucial Coast Oil Concession: Muscat Oil Concession. Hinterland Exploration & Survey.' [‎199r] (399/675)

The record is made up of 1 file (336 folios). It was created in 18 Jan 1945-22 Mar 1948. 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.

Apply page layout

t
-
Conf identia^
Ho.C.517-14/1
nr
Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. ,
Muscat.
Dated 15th April, 19 46.
Prom
R. I .Hallows, iSsquire,
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. , Muscat,
To
TheHon’ble 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.
Pe— J
with 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. telegram No.6957, dated the 5th April,1946,
on the subject of the exploration of Muscat territory by P.C.L.
and to say that Mr. Baker, the Company’s chief geologist,and
of their Bahrain office, arrived at Muscat on the
10th for discussions with His Highness.
2. The object of their visit was to ascertain from His
Highness the areas to which surface parties could be given
access. Both had hoped that the political conditions in the
interior would have improved sufficiently to permit some
penetration of Oman. Apart from the coastal strip, Kis High
ness was, however, only able to agree to the exploration of
^rta___of the Dh abi rah argj^ the Baiad Beni 3u ^>11 and terri
tories south and west of it, and the province of Dhofar. The
Sultan also agreed to flights being made over the whole of
his terrj-tories provided, in the case of the interior, that air
crait flew reasonably high (i.e. beyond the range of a rifle).
3. Mr. Baker informed His Highness that for the 1946-47
season, he would consider recommending to his company geo-
logical work in the province of Dhofar by a land party and,
if experiments with new instruments for ‘>se in aircraft proved
successful, the geophysical examination of parts of the
interior from the air. Mr. Baker did not rule out the poss
ibility of a surface party being sent to the Batinah coast,
but pointed out that such an examination could not be expected
to yield much in the way of results as the party would be
unable to proceed far enough inland to observe the stratigraphy
of the foot-hills.
4. i may mention here that Mr. Baker appeared to consider —
taat from trie information at his disposal, the chances of find-
ing oil in either of the two eoncession areas were far from
good, and on one occasion expressed the view that it might not
be in His Highness* interest for the company to accelarate the
assessment of the value of their concessions. In view, however,
of the very limited exploration which the company uas so far
been able to undertake, I find it difficult to take this
statement seriously.
I have the honour to be.
Sir,
Your most obedient servant
Sd. R.I. HALLOwS
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. , Muscat
JKG

About this item

Content

The file concerns geological and geophysical surveys for oil and other minerals in the hinterland of Muscat and Oman (especially Dhofar Province, also referred to as Dhufar) and the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. (especially Sharjah) undertaken by the substantially British-owned Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC) and its subsidiaries Petroleum Concessions Limited, Petroleum Development ( Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. ) Limited, and Petroleum Development (Oman and Dhofar) Limited. The British Government were keen to assist IPC to resume exploration, which had been discontinued during the Second World War, in view of the political, strategic and economic importance of the Company's oil concessions in the area (folio 275).

The papers include: the extent to which certain tribal areas were under the control of local rulers; the need for demarcation of the boundaries of the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. states; list of concession and political agreements in force in 1945 in the various Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. states (folios 267-268); interest on the part of the Shaikh of Fujairah in entering into treaty relations with the British Government (folio 210); minutes of meetings 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. between British Government officials and oil company representatives; permission from the British Government to employ American personnel in survey work (folios 186-193); papers concerning a report by Sir Cyril Sankey Fox, formerly Director of the Geological Survey of India, for the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman entitled 'The Geology and Mineral and Other Resources of Dhufar Province and Other Parts of the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, South-East Arabia', March-May 1947 (folios 64-100), including correspondence from the author of the report; sketch map provided 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. , Muscat (Major Andrew Charles Stewart), which is said by him to have been marked by the Sultan of Muscat [Sa‘īd ibn Taymūr] to show the western boundary of Dhofar (folio 68); a request by Petroleum Development ( Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. ) Limited that geological factors be taken into account in determining the boundary between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, with sketch map (folios 57-58); Petroleum Concessions Limited 'Instructions to Field Party for Geological Reconnaissance of Southeastern Hadhramaut, the Mahra, and Dhofar' (folios 49-53); and minutes of Foreign Office meeting to discuss the south-eastern frontiers of Saudi Arabia, July 1947.

The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.

Extent and format
1 file (336 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside the front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 336; these numbers are written in pencil 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 327-335; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and have been crossed out. Finally, the second folio is listed as ‘1A’ rather than ‘2.’

Written in
English in Latin script
View the complete information for this record

Use and share this item

Share this item
Cite this item in your research

Coll 30/110(4) 'Trucial Coast Oil Concession: Muscat Oil Concession. Hinterland Exploration & Survey.' [‎199r] (399/675), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3838, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100046633456.0x000002> [accessed 18 October 2024]

Link to this item
Embed this item

Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.

<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100046633456.0x000002">Coll 30/110(4) 'Trucial Coast Oil Concession: Muscat Oil Concession. Hinterland Exploration & Survey.' [&lrm;199r] (399/675)</a>
<a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100046633456.0x000002">
	<img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000648.0x000196/IOR_L_PS_12_3838_0406.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" />
</a>
IIIF details

This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000648.0x000196/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images

Use and reuse
Download this image