Page 253 - The Origins of the United Arab Emirates_Neat

Notes 219

US Minister in London that the British Government would not insist
on a British nationality clause in the Kuwait concession. Cad man
did not object when told of the policy, and on 13 April 1932 the
Cabinet formally approved it. (CAB 23/71, 21(32)2, 13 Apr 1932.)
12. Known as Abu-Naft ( The Father of Oil) in Arabia. No account of
the history of oil concessions is complete without reference to the
mining engineer from New Zealand who, with almost supernatural
insight, foresaw the great potential of Arabia long before anyone else.
It was mainly owing to his personal efforts that the large oil companies
began to show an interest in the area. In 1920 he registered in London
the Eastern and General Syndicate—a company that would buy oil
concessions from Arabia and sell them to the larger companies. In
1922 he attended the ‘Uqayr Conference between the British Government
and I bn Sa‘ud (its aim was to define the borders of Iraq and Jordan
with Ncjd) and personally impressed I bn Sa‘ud, who granted him
a concession in 1923 despite Percy Cox’s obvious dislike of him. Holmes
was a controversial figure: the British authorities always viewed him
with distaste and suspicion, probably one of the main reasons that
the great wealth of Arabian oil eluded him. He was popular primarily
with the Arabs. ‘His intimate relationships with the shaikhs and rulers
were the envy of the few Englishmen in the area, who could find
no explanation for the success of a man who refused to bother with
learning the simplest Arabic phrases’ (Wayne Mincau, The Go-Devils
(London, 1958) p. 182). An account of his relationship with Ibn
Sa‘ud is included in Philby, Arabian Oil Ventures, which notes, interestingly
(p. 70), that Holmes and his 1923 concession from Ibn Sa‘ud is entirely
ignored in Olaf Caroc’s account (Wells of Power) of the history of
oil in south-west Asia. It was Holmes who, through the Eastern and
General, first obtained an option to explore the Neutral Zone of Kuwait
in 1924, and Bahrain in 1925. Holmes also acted as representative
in Kuwait of the Gulf Oil Corporation, which finally shared the conces­
sion for the shaykhdom.
13. L/P&S/12/3835, Holmes to Political Resident, 28 May 1935. Enclosed
in PZ4126/35, Political Resident to India Office, 5 June 1935.
14. Ibid., PZ7762/35, Holmes to India Office, 24 Oct 1935.
15. Ibid., PZ6577/35, proceedings of Senior Naval Officer, 1-31 July 1935
(extract).
16. Ibid., PZ7948/35, Political Resident to India Office, 4 Nov 1935.
17. Recorded ibid., Political Resident to India Office, 3 Oct 1935.
18. Contained ibid., draft letter to Skliros, 12 Dec 1935.
19. 'Flic problem is succinctly put forward in Sir Rupert Hay, ‘The Persian
Gulf States and their Boundary Problems’, Geographical Journal, exx
(«954)-
20. L/P&S/12/3835, PZ1254/36, notes of conclusions of meeting, 21 Feb
'936.
21. Sir George W. Rendel, Head of Eastern Department of the Foreign
Office, 1930-3.
22. L/P&S/12/3835, PZ4606/36, Political Resident to India Office, 2 June
*936.
23. Ibid., PZ946/36, Skliros to India Office, 6 Feb 1936.