Oil

This file relates to oil concessions in the Trucial States. It contains correspondence concerning:

• Interest of Cities Service Oil Company and Continental Oil Company in Trucial Coast concessions, especially in Sharjah (1, 4)
• Need for political agreements between HMG and the companies negotiating concessions with the Rulers of the Trucial States. Petroleum Development (Trucial Coast) Limited (PDTC) and Dubai Marine Areas Limited's (DUMA) new concession agreements with the Ruler of Dubai are not covered by existing political agreements (2-3)
• Candidates for the position of oil advisor to the Ruler of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Shakhbut Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, including Anis Qasim and Nadeem Al Pachachi with the latter deemed more desirable; suspicions that the Foreign Office is consulting Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC) but not BP; the difficulty in sending secret material to the Political Agency in Abu Dhabi; and the possibility of Bill Ballantyne of Ballantyne & Miller advising the Ruler on legal matters and in drawing up oil concessions (5, 8, 16-17, 19)
• Newspaper cuttings [enclosed] suggesting oil discoveries in Abu Dhabi could turn it into a second Kuwait (6, 13)
• Appointment of C D C Willy as chief local representative for Abu Dhabi Marine Areas Limited and DUMA, after Dr A J Horan's return to Kuwait Oil Company Limited (7)
• Enquiry by Wendell Phillips as to whether the concessions in the Trucial States relinquished by IPC are still available; John W Mecom's firm interest in securing a gas and oil concession in Sharjah; and the interest of Paolo Schmidt di Friedbert of the Montecatini company in Italy (9, 11, 14, 18)
• Interest in the Sharjah concession from two West German firms, Gewerkschaft Elwerath and Gelsenberg Benzin AG, via Najib Najjar. It includes information on the two firms (10, 15)
• Chart [enclosed] showing the rough boundaries of the seabed areas of the Trucial States (20)