Page 203 - Historical Summaries (Persian Gulf - Vol II) 1907-1953

of a signal station on the island. In 1951 when i
lan (,0 When the origin;)} agreement was signed tt^was decKied
wished to erect a radio beacon on the island the Political r??!1
that the Quoin Islands should be regarded as Muscat territory0111
approval obtained.^6) This recommendation was accepted anHVnd l,le Sultan?
accordingly. 1 and aPProval obtai S
ned
57. The Kuria Muria Islands, which are known locally as
Ghalfan, off the southern coast of Arabia were ceded to Oucen v.w • ^air Bin
Sultan Sa’id I.(8“) They are nominally part of the Aden Colonv hu?*1* ln 1854 by
administratively by the Political Resident.(h7) There are about fifty are dealt with
on Hallaniyah and the other islands are uninhabited. Hallaniyah• ers?ns living
time to time by one of Her Majesty’s ships with or without a Politic 7sAled fr om
board. On such occasions a few provisions are usually presented to th& • i ■ cer on
who are extremely poor but otherwise nothing is done for their welf f 111 ^ itants
they described themselves as Sultanate subjects and they probably T ' ° 1950
Murbat on the mainland from which place they obtain their supplies^ Th^ /rom
are now of no commercial or strategic value and in 1949 the Political R
suggested that they might be offered to the Sultan as an inducement to oart* •«!
Gwadur. The suggestion was not accepted as it was thought that there 1 'h
be an advantage in retaining them for use as a quid pro quo on «nmp TIu 11
occasion^88) 7 0me other
VIII.—Oil
(a) Muscat and Oman
58. The oil concession granted to the Anglo-Persian Oil Company in 19250
appears to have been abandoned owing to the disappointing results of geological
surveys.
59. At the end of 1935 the Sultan asked the Political Agent to find a British
company to prospect for oil in his territories. In the following year he was told
that a company had been found and would send a representative to visit him.
Nothing came of this for the time being and in January 1937 he apparently on his
own initiative sent some samples of oil seepages in Muscat to the Standard Oil
Company of California. Some correspondence between him and the company
followed and at the beginning of June the Political Resident was instructed to press
the Sultan to submit any communication he wished to make to the c°mPaJjf!
through official channels and to remind him of his obligations not to grant a
concession without consulting and without the approval of His Majl T;
Government.(,J0) No action was taken on this as by the time the ms. .
reached the Political Agent a representative of Petroleum Concessions un
arrived in Muscat and started negotiations with the Sultan. These we ver$ aj)
completed and an agreement was signed on June 24.f1) The agreemen an(j
the territory within the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, excep rts 0f the
Gwadur, but under Article 12 the company recognises that certain P his good
territory are not safe for its operations and the Sultan undertakes t0 enter
offices with a view to making it possible for representatives of the c agreement
such parts to inform the company as soon as they became sate. c0nipany
is for 75 years but it included an option of five years within w ^ sultan
were at liberty to terminate it. The company undertook period. 011
Rs. 100.000 on signature and Rs. 5,000 a month during the P a furthers11^
declaring their intention of taking up the concession they were P g^ QQO a ye
of Rs. 100,000 plus Rs. 84,000 a year for the first five years and K ^ of rs.3^
for subsequent years unless the royalty payable to the Sultan t ^ eXten
per ton of oil exceeded these amounts. In 1942 the option P_iaration in wr
for two years and on May 8, 1944, the company made a
taking up the concession.
(“) P.R. toF.O. 1401/22 of April 18. 1951 (EA 1402/11 of 1951).
("7j C.o/to F.O. 78865/50 of August 29. 1950 (EAf 1019/9 of 195°).
M F.O. to P.R. Despatch 43 (E 6677/1053/91 of June 3. 194;;.
(«•) Para. 74 at p. 58. P.G. 13. , 1937 (E 3343/12/91 of 1937).
(»0) I.O. toF.O. P.Z. 3918/37 of June 21
(•*) No. 1 V.O.A.C.
^ni ^
company to onl.r Into. any obligations which
by an exchange of letters to < Drafts of the documents were prepared
might devolve upon him as a li ^ ml His reactions are reported to have
and presented to the Sultan in t Qn account 0f what he regarded as
been “startingly postil The wj10ic matter was discussed with him in
*p:s
ss1aisss
to notification3being ZZ him
as^ronosed but said he would merely file'It and not acknowledge it. It is interesting
to note that later in the year one of the companies competing for the Gwadur 01
concession gave a written statement to him to the effect that any agreement between
them and him would be contingent upon the approval of His Majesty s Government
and that he suggested that the other company which was competing should be
instructed to do the same.f3) An associate of Petroleum Concessions Limited v.
called Petroleum Development (Oman and Dhofar) Limited was formed to operate
both the concession for Muscat and Oman and that for Dhofar which was obtained
at the same time and in September 1938 His Majesty’s Government entered into
two Political Agreements!94) with this company, one a General Agreement, of
which the Sultan had agreed to take cognisance in an exchange of letters, and the
other a Pre-emption Agreement which was not to be shown to the Sultan. The
exchange of letters with the Sultan took place in November 1938 and he accepted
the General Political Agreement and its implications so far as he was concerned
subject to one small amendment being made in its terms.!95) The agreement was
amended accordingly and the Political Resident was instructed to inform the
Sultan that His Majesty’s Government had no objection to the concession granted
by him.(9B)
61. In March 1951 after the abandonment of the Dhofar concession
(paragraph 64 below) the company operating the Muscat and Oman concession
changed its name to Petroleum Development (Oman) Ltd. In 1953 it appointed a
local representative to reside in Muscat.
62. Early surveys showed that there was little hope of finding oil in territory
under the Sultan’s full control, but from aerial surveys there appeared to be a good
prospect of finding it in the foothills to the west and south-west of the main Ha jar
range. The company’s efforts to obtain access to this area from the north have
already been described (paragraph 41 above). When these failed they began to
devhedefnrei po?-slblllty ?f approaching it from the south. In 1949 a scheme was
devised for landing on the southern coast of Arabia opposite Masirah Island with
been^t °f 2°° aJ\d Prenetrating the interior via the Huqf Wadi. This has since
^uqf S^herme though its scope was eventually limited to
area un an
sSisisSiSraS
:
, ;-
1
® 8Mif, 9W,
I lull! *s s
of 1939).
46639