890b.6363 Gulf Oil
Corporation/150
The Chargé in Great Britain (Atherton) to the
Secretary of State
No. 365
London, September 17, 1932.
[Received
September 30.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to my
telegram No. 272, September 17, 1932,16 regarding the applications of the Eastern
and General Syndicate and the Anglo-Persian Oil Company for an oil
concession in Koweit, and to forward herewith a copy of the Foreign
Office note received in reply to my note of September 6, 1932.
Respectfully yours,
[Page 18]
[Enclosure]
The British Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs (Simon) to the American Chargé (Atherton)
No. E 4582/121/91
[London,] 16 September,
1932.
Sir: I have the honour to inform you
that your note No. 231 of the 6th September regarding the
applications of the Eastern and General Syndicate and the
Anglo-Persian Oil Company for an oil concession in Koweit has
been considered by the Departments of His Majesty’s Government
in the United Kingdom concerned.
- 2.
- It appears from that note that the United States company
interested in the application made by the Eastern and
General Syndicate have represented the situation as being as
follows. They state that the Eastern and General Syndicate
have not yet learnt from the Colonial Office what
alterations would be required in the draft concession
submitted to the Sheikh by them, in order to render it
satisfactory from the point of view of safeguarding the
interests of His Majesty’s Government. They contend that
this fact precludes the Sheikh of Koweit from giving
consideration to the Syndicate’s application, but that there
is nothing to prevent the Sheikh from taking a decision upon
the application for a concession submitted by the
Anglo-Persian Oil Company. They complain that the Syndicate
are thus placed at a disadvantage in their efforts to obtain
the desired concession. These contentions appear to be based
upon a misunderstanding of the present position in the
matter.
- 3.
- As you are aware from my note No. E 1733/121/91 of the 9th
April, His Majesty’s Government decided that they could not
advise the Sheikh to give preferential treatment to the
Syndicate, and that any applications which might be
forthcoming for a concession, should be compared in order to
see which appeared to be to the best interests of the Sheikh
and his principality. The Anglo-Persian Oil Company
submitted to the Sheikh last month a draft of a concession;
but a copy of this draft concession has only very recently
been received by His Majesty’s Government and some time must
elapse before a thorough comparison of its terms with those
of the draft concession submitted by the Eastern and General
Syndicate can be completed. The results of that examination
will then be communicated to the Sheikh in order that he may
reach a conclusion as to the respective merits of the two
offers from the point of view of his own interests and those
of his Sheikhdom. In the meanwhile, no expression of the
views of the Sheikh on either proposal has yet been received
by His Majesty’s Government, and he is not in a position,
[Page 19] as suggested in
your note under reply, to take a decision in favour of the
application of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, since, as was
stated in my note referred to above, he is bound by an
undertaking given by his predecessor to grant no oil
concession in his territories without the consent of His
Majesty’s Government.
- 4.
- It will thus be seen that the application of the Eastern
and General Syndicate is receiving consideration equally and
pari passu with that of the
Anglo-Persian Oil Company and that the question of the
provisions designed to safeguard the interests of His
Majesty’s Government, which would be required in any
concession not confined to a British company, does not arise
until the Sheikh has compared the two draft concessions in
the light of the comments of His Majesty’s Government. The
American interests concerned suffer no prejudice therefore
from their ignorance of the precise nature of these
provisions, and His Majesty’s Government for their part
consider it preferable not to communicate further with
either the Anglo-Persian Oil Company or the Syndicate
regarding the terms of their respective draft concessions,
until their own consideration of the draft concessions and
consultation with the Sheikh is complete.
I have [etc.]
(For the Secretary of State)
G. W.
Rendel
