IOR/R/15/1/691

The volume comprises correspondence between the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Trenchard Craven Fowle); Political Agent at Bahrain (Hugh Weightman); the India Office (John Percival Gibson, John Charles Walton); the Shaikh of Bahrain (Shaikh Ḥamad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah); the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain (Charles Dalrymple Belgrave); the Bahrain Petroleum Company Limited (Hamilton R Ballantyne, Fred A Davies); and Petroleum Concessions Limited (John Skliros, Frank Holmes) regarding the Shaikh’s decision to resume negotiations for an oil concession over the unalloted area of Bahrain.

The correspondence discusses the Shaikh’s proposal of offering the majority of the unallotted area to the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO), and the Hawar Islands to Petroleum Concessions Limited (PCL). Various offers made by both companies are discussed along with concerns by the Shaikh’s family that increased oil production in Saudi Arabia, which was to be refined in Bahrain, could lead to a reduction in production and revenue for their state. The negotiations conclude with the Shaikh’s decision that the Bahrain Petroleum Company’s offer was the most financially advantageous for Bahrain. Also included in the volume are draft copies of a possible oil concession agreement produced by PCL and maps outlining possible concession areas.Other matters discussed in the volume include:

• The receipt of a counter-claim from the Government of Bahrain detailing their statement and evidence of ownership of the Hawar Islands, in response to the claim made by the Shaikh of Qatar.
• A visit paid by the Political Agent at Bahrain to Qatar including his visit to the PCL camp at Jebel Dukhan [Jabal Dukhān] and a meeting with the Shaikh of Qatar.

A series of file notes which were maintained as a record of the correspondence in the volume can be found at folios 248-254.