IOR/R/15/1/663

The volume contains letters, telegrams and memoranda relating to oil production in Bahrain, being undertaken by the Bahrain Petroleum Company (hereafter BAPCO). The volume is a direct continuation of ‘File 86/2 XIV (C 67) Bahrain Oil’ (IOR/R/15/1/662). The principal correspondents in the volume are the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard Fowle until August 1939, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Geoffrey Prior thereafter), the Political Agent in Bahrain, (Captain Tom Hickinbotham until October 1937, Hugh Weightman from October 1937 to October 1940, and Major Reginald Alban thereafter), and various local representatives of BAPCO.

The subjects covered by the volume are:

• Preferences (or preferred markets) for Bahrain oil, with Australia and New Zealand proposed, and British opposition to the principle of preferences, on the grounds that oil production in Britain’s empire is too small (folios 4-11);
• Changes to the appointment of BAPCO’s Chief Local Representative, with numerous incumbents of the post: John Black, C. Deacon, Dr Kennedy and Milton Lipp.

Most of the volume’s correspondence refers to the impact of the Second World War upon Bahrain and BAPCO activities:

• Discussion amongst British officials over the possible pre-emption of Bahrain oil (folios 38, 52-53), and BAPCO’s willingness to cooperate with the British Government (folio 49);
• Discussion of the strategic importance of Bahrain’s oil, the release of BAPCO employees for military service, and defence of BAPCO facilities (folios 57-59);
• An enquiry from the Air Ministry regarding Bahrain’s ability to produce aviation fuel and at what rate, with a detailed technical response from BAPCO staff (folios 75, 77-78);
• The Political Agent’s preference for Milford Lipp as Chief Local Representative, because communications have been ‘expeditiously disposed of’ under Lipp’s authority (folios 81-91, 106-08); Lipp’s status as a U.S. citizen, leading to an agreement signed by Shaikh Ḥamad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah and BAPCO, permitting the appointment of a non-British citizen as Chief Local Representative for the duration of the war (folios 93, 113);
• Lipp’s suggestion that the Company’s geological plans and records be moved to a secure location (New York), to prevent them falling into enemy hands, a proposal agreed to by all parties concerned (folios 96-103);
• A drop in oil production in Bahrain in 1941 (folios 109, 116-16A), as a result of reduced demand due to petrol rationing to supply areas such as India, and a shortage of available tankers (folios 119-20); explanation of the drop in royalties to Shaikh Hamad; a subsequent increase in production at the end of 1941 (folios 124-30).

The volume also includes a press cutting from the Iraq Times, dated 9 November 1937, which remarks on the superior quality of Bahrain’s oil (folio 12), and a copy of BAPCO’s accounts for the first half of 1938 (folios 36-37).