IOR/R/15/1/684

The volume comprises correspondence between the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf , the Political Agent at Muscat, the Political Agent at Bahrain, the India Office (Roland Tennyson Peel, John Percival Gibson, Francis Anthony Kitchener Harrison) , the Secretary to the Government of India (Sir Aubrey Metcalfe), the Sultan of Muscat and Oman (Sayyid Sa‘īd bin Taymūr Āl Bū Sa‘īd) and Petroleum Development (Oman and Dhofar) Limited (Ernest Vincent Packer, John Skliros, H H Wheatley) regarding the oil concession agreements concluded with the Sultan of Muscat for Dhofar [Zufār] and Muscat territory. Copies of the two concessions can be found at folios 17-47.

Included in the volume is correspondence relating to the political agreement between His Majesty’s Government and Petroleum Development (Oman and Dhofar) Limited including its presentation to the Sultan of Muscat; the Sultan’s concerns about the document and negotiation with the India Office in order to agree a suitably amended version that satisfied all parties, including the decision by the India Office to have a separate pre-emption agreement. Copies of the Political Agreement and Pre-Emption Clause agreement can be found at folios 93-98 and 132-135.

Also discussed is the decision by Petroleum Development (Oman and Dhofar) Limited to take up in 1942 the option of an extension on their exploration agreement for two years owing to wartime conditions and further discussion regarding possible methods of extending the exploration agreement to the end of the war and a period beyond. The conclusion of the discussion being the decision by the Company to take up their concession rather than attempt to negotiate any further extension. Also discussed are concerns by the Sultan of Muscat that the Company did not really intend to explore and develop a concession in his territory and were only really interested in preventing other companies operating there. The concession with the Shaikh of Ajman [‘Ajmān] (Rāshid Bin Ḥumaid Al-Nu`aimī) is also discussed in this context as the exploration of that territory had also not commenced on the outbreak of World War II and extensions to the exploration agreement were therefore also required.

Further correspondence relates to the Oil Undertaking made in 1923 by Sultan Taimur bin Faisal [Sayyid Taymūr bin Fayṣal bin Turkī Āl Bū Sa‘īd], formerly Sultan of Muscat and father of Sayyid Said bin Taimur. The correspondence centres around the assertion made by Sultan Said bin Taimur that the undertaking was not binding on him as his father had written a letter to the political authorities in 1923 stating that any such undertaking would not be binding on his successors unless specifically stated in the contractual agreement. Further correspondence concludes that the letter written by Sayyid Taimur bin Faisal in 1923 was received by the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf but was never responded to by him or forwarded on to the India Office or Government of India and that they were therefore unaware of any such opinion or response and that as a result were prepared to consider a re-negotiation of the Sultan’s treaties and undertakings.

Also of interest within the volume are:

• discussions about the Muscat Arms Subsidy which was originally granted to Sayyid Faisal bin Turki [Fayṣal bin Turkī Āl Bū Sa‘īd] including the conditions under which it was granted and the lack of clarity in the terms and conditions of the subsidy’s contract;
• discussions regarding the Oman hinterland which the Company were interested in exploring but which was under the authority of the Imam of Muscat and the decision to wait until the following year to raise the question again as the Imam’s authority in that area was considered to be dwindling and the Sultan hoped then to be able to make arrangements with either the Imam of the tribes living there;
• a memorandum prepared in the Petroleum Department, June 1938, looking at areas where petroleum concessions were mostly likely to be, or had been already been obtained, on the Arabian Peninsula (Koweit [Kuwait], Koweit Neutral Zone, Bahrein [Bahrain], Qatar, Trucial Sheikhdom’s, Aden Protectorate, Saudi Arabia, The Yemen, Muscat, and Oman) and looking at Petroleum Concessions Limited's refinery agreement and pre-emption clause.

The agreements and correspondence with the Sultan of Muscat are in Arabic and English.A series of file notes which were maintained as a record of the correspondence in the volume can be found at folios 264-276.