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The Preliminary Oil Concessions: 111

on the board of directors; this latter fact was the raison d'etre
of the new company, which could then create affiliates in the
different countries where it developed concessions. Under the Red
Line Agreement, the APOC could not operate concessions in Qatar
and the Trucial Coast except in conjunction with its partners in
the I PC; therefore, after the formation of the new subsidiary, the
APOC transferred to Petroleum Concessions its rights in the options
obtained by D’Arcy. For a while, then, the situation was confused:
the options of Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Dubai were transferred
to Petroleum Concessions, with whose representative the respective
rulers had to deal, while D’Arcy’s representative was on the Trucial
Coast trying to obtain exploratory options from Abu Dhabi, Ajman
and Umm al-Qaiwain. Matters were further complicated by the
decision of Petroleum Concessions to appoint Frank Holmes as
its Trucial Coast representative. Holmes had a strong personal anti­
pathy towards Hajji Williamson, the D’Arcy representative. Both
men were very individualistic and forceful, and their mutual jealousy
and dislike was exacerbated by the friction between their respective
positions and by their rivalry to win the confidence and friendship
of the rulers.
Generally speaking, the rulers were eager for the exploitation
of oil. They were stimulated by the example of Bahrain, whose
rise from bankruptcy to affluence was striking. They also saw the
financial advantage of a concession alone—as in Qatar, where the
annual income from it greatly relieved the economic depression
from which the entire Gulf region had suffered as a result of
the decline of the pearling industry. Of the six rulers, Shaykh
Shakhbut was probably the most eager for the exploration of his
shaykhdom. He was almost convinced of the existence there of
oil; he reported that bubbles of oil had been seen in the water
around some of the islands of Abu Dhabi and that a tarry deposit
had been washed up on the shores.15 Furthermore, Holmes had
already impressed him with the possibility of its existence. But
Shakhbut had a keen business sense, and was unwilling to negotiate
even an exploratory option without showing resistance and bargaining
for a better deal. He held off negotiations with Williamson, and
in November 1935 refused to deal with him unless he received
20 lakhs of rupees (i.c. two million) as a monthly payment.16
This made Fowlc suspicious that Shakhbut was in secret negotia­
tion with Holmes, who was in turn acting on behalf of a company
other than Petroleum Concessions. But the delay proved re­
warding to Shakhbut. When he finally, in January 1936, granted
D’Arcy a three-year option, he was given 3000 rupees a month,
as opposed to the 1000 rupees paid to the ruler of Dubai, and
the 750 paid to the ruler of Ras al-Khaimah. The ruler of Ajman