Page 260 - Records of Bahrain (7) (ii)_Neat

650 Records oj Bahrain

described in Foreign Office Despatch No. 132
(titt.1033/0) oX' August 28, 1081.
3. As a result of comprehensive soismic work and
a very limited amount of structure drilling the Bahrain

Petroleum Company are satisfied that the only areas of
interest in what is claimed by Bahrain nP its seabed
are the area south-east of Fasht bu Sa'aCa odd the
Fasht al Adham. The former as you know contains an

interesting geological structure and there is a fairly
good chance that oil would be found there. It is
however in the area in dispute between .Saudi Arabia and
Bahrain. Thu Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco) are
equally av/aro of the structure and no doubt so arc the

.Saudi Government also. As a result of the standstill
arrangement of 1950 the Bahrain Petroleum Company have
not beoo ablo to continue their oxploration in this area
" but they are .sufficiently certain of the interesting

nature of the structure to wish to drill an exploratory
v/ell there if political circumstances allowed. This
would l)e an expensive undertaking as the bust area is
probably in fairly deep water, but the Company would
regard it os a good risk to take from the commercial poin t
of view. Fasht al A-iham is about 10 miles oast of Sitra
between Bahrain and Qatar. The structure which has

been detected there is considerably smaller than that near
Fasht bu /Ja'ofa and the presence of oil is quite
uncurtain. If it were not for the insistence of the
Fulor that something should be done the Company v/ould
not regard further work there os a worthwhile commercial
_ /undertaking,