Page 332 - UAE Truncal States
P. 332

The External fn/luenccs

          Trucial Const PD (TC) decided to start drilling at one of the more
          promising locations which was not in an area under dispute, neither
          claimed by Saudi Arabia nor the shaikhs of the hinterland tribes. The
          site of this first well, which was spudded in February 1950, was at
          Ra’s al Sadr in Abu Dhabi territory, about half-way between Abu
          Dhabi town and Dubai. Preparation of the site entailed the con­
          struction of a jetty, a road and a landing strip, importation of the
          drilling equipment, building materials and a power generation plant.
          The well was abandoned as a dry hole al the then record depth for the
           Gulf of 13,000 feet. The second well was drilled at Jabal 'Ali in Dubai
           territory, and the entire back-up organisation had to be transferred
           from Abu Dhabi to Dubai. More wells were drilled in various
           locations in Abu Dhabi and one in Sharjah; camps were set up, and
           the total investment over this decade of unsuccessful exploration
           amounted to many million pounds Sterling, until the announcement
           was made on 28 October 1960 that oil had been found in commercial
           quantities at Murban in Abu Dhabi.
             The financial commitment of the companies in this area went hand
           in hand with an ever more intensive personal involvement. In
           previous decades it was the Residency Agent who alone dealt with
           the Rulers on the Gulf Coast, and, as required, with their relatives
           and the leading merchants, making rather infrequent visits to the
           remoter shaikhdoms. Now the Arabic-speaking representatives of
           the oil companies were seen in some of the Rulers’ majlis almost
           every day, regulating a multitude of details concerning the day-to-
           day requirements of the company. At the same time hundreds of local
           inhabitants were recruited, and during training and employment
           they came into contact with the Europeans and Americans working
           with them.80 It was as desirable for the company to develop some
           continuity in their workforce and to train the labourers as it was for
           the local population to move forward through education, better
           health, and new contacts with the outside world. Comparisons with
           nearby Qatar, which had had such contacts since the 1940s and was
           already benefiting from the income from its oil exports during the
           1950s, further whetted the appetite of the people of the Trucial Coast
           for a general improvement in their living conditions.
           The political representation
           During the 1930s the mutual trust between the British authorities in
           the Gulf and the local Rulers and their people had declined to a very
           low level. The Government of India, being in great need of landing

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