'Mosul Question, Lausanne 1922-1923 and after - Papers, despatches, speeches - Hotel de la Mer at Lausanne - Correspondence about oil' [‎213r] (423/501)

Frbruary 17, 1923.
OIL ENGINEERING AND FINANCE
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THE MESOPOTAMIAN OILFIELDS.
(By Our Special Correspondent.)
Of all the known oilfields of the world to-day, the
oilfields of Mesopotamia are from every point of view
the most interesting. In whatever form we may hear
or read about them they never fail to attract our in
stant attention. They have become synonymous with
ideas of fabulous productions and unlimited oil sup
plies, although, strictly speaking, development? not
justify these. What makes them really fascinating 10
the public is the knowledge that these fields have now
become the arena of a conflict of political and financial
interests of a magnitude never before engaged over a
single commercial enterprise. Interviews, reports and
articles dealing with these oilfields have only become
really frequent since the beginning of the Lausanne
Conference, especially in American newspapers, while
the French Press has not been altogether silent on the
subject, as is evidenced by the recent article in the
Mat’n.
The nature of the struggle which is now proceed
ing for these oilfields cannot possibly be known but
to the barest minority, and it is possible that few even
of these know everything there is to know.
After months of serious study of the subject, we
now propose to give as complete a history of this most
important subject as lies in our power. It is not from
the want of knowledge that we have not dealt, nithit
before in our columns. It is our legitimate and proper
boast that we know all that is essential affecting the
oil world in general; and while we do not pretend to a
complete inside knowledge of such an extremely com
plicated subject as that with which we now 7 propose
to deal, we feel that we have learned enough to present
a clear statement of facts to our readers in a form that
will not lead to confusion or misunderstanding.
We desire, at the outset, to point out that while
we shall refer to governments, corporations and per
sons, both British and foreign, we do not hold a brief,
nor wish it to be thought that w r e are stating a case,
for any of them. On such occasions as we may ven
ture an observation, it will be only when such an obser
vation folknvs logically on the stated facts. The only
brief we hold is for British interests.
From the documents w : e have examined it seems
that, following upon the remarkable developments in
the 70’s and 80’s of the Russian and Mid-European
oilfields, a certain Taksin Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , a travelled Turkish
gentleman, applied, about the year 1883, to the
Turkish Ministry of Mines for a Permit de Recherche
for petroleum over the entire area of the Province of
Mosul. This was duly granted and Taksin Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. ,
relying on court friendships and connections to main
tain his claim, spent the next three years trying to sell
his permit to French and English financial interests, in
which) he w 7 as unsuccessful In 1888 it came to the
ears of Agop Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , Director of the Privy Purse of the
late Sultan Abdul Hamid that oil had been found on
some of the landed properties that His Imperial
Majesty owned privately in the Province of Mosul.
Further enquiries brought to light the fact that Taksin
Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. had been granted a Permit de Recherche for oil
in this province, and that this permit had become
invalid. The facts were brought to the notice of the
Sultan and Agop Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. prepared an Imperial Firman A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’).
of Concession, giving the exclusive rights for the ex
ploitation of petroleu'm in the Province of Mosul to
the Sultan Abdul Hamid’s Privy Purse. This was
duly signed and promulgated on the 5th Redjeb, 1306
(1888).
The Permit de Recherche.
The concession for the oilfields in the Province
of Bagdad was signed and promulgated practicallv
in the same form on the 5th Djemiz ul Aker, 1316
(1898), the Director of the Privy Purse on this occa
sion being Channes Effendi.
Early in 1902, Taksin Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. brought an action
in the Turkish Civil Courts against the Sultan person
ally, whereby it was asked that the Court should find
that 'jthe Sultan’s Concession was illegal and that
Taksin’s permit was still in force. The case aroused
considerable interest and was not settled until it
reached the final Court of the Council of State. Taksin
lost his case because he did not carry out the conditions
upon which, according to the Turkish Mining Code, a
Permit de Recherche is issued. It will be instructive
to observe apon wha* terms a Turkish permit can be
held and on what Cx/nuLlons it can be changed into a
concession. The Turkish Mining Code gives a permit
for one year, and, if during that time the holder shall
have carried out, to the satisfaction of the Minister of
Mines, certain exploratory w^ork on the area covered,
this period can be prolonged for another year. If
further work or exploration has been carried out dur
ing this additional period, the Minister may, but
apparently is not obliged to, grant a Firman A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’). of Con
cession provided he is satisfied that the applicant is in
every way suitable, both technically and financially,
to hold such concession.
Following the result of this case, a third Firman A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’).
of Concession was issued in 1902 confirming the
original Mosul Concession granted in 1888. We have
seen certified copies of the three original Firmans of
Concessions above referred to, of which we have ob
tained photographs. In addition we have also the
official translations into English, which show the visa
of the Turkish Foreign Office. We reproduce copies
of the Turkish originals, as well as the English
translations.
It will be observed that mention is made in
these firmans of the Sultan’s private properties and
of the fact that oil had been discovered on them. We
note that the concessionaire is “ My Imperial Private
Treasury.” We have become accustomed to read
” Civil List,” instead of “ Imperial Private Treasury,”