File 39: Oil Development

The nineteen files forming the 'Oil Development' subject files were produced by the Confidential Office at the Political Agency in Bahrain. The 'Oil Development' subject files mainly contain correspondence between the Political Resident at Bushire, the Political Agent at Bahrain, other British authorities, the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain, representatives of oil companies and local rulers. The topics covered include:. oil concessions in the Kuwait-Saudi Neutral zone; oil concessions in Western Arabia; offshore oil drilling in Qatar and territorial disputes with Bahrain; oil market and oil development in Bahrain; Trans-Arabian Pipeline; The 'Oil Development' subject files contain maps of the oil concession areas and pipelines in the Middle East, and of a proposed airstrip in Bahrain. A number of documents are in Arabic, mostly with English translation.

The 'Oil Development' subject files are based on a subject file system, with 'Oil Development' being allocated to File 39, followed by an oblique stroke and a file number for every successive file opened on the subject, from 39/2 to 39/24; these can be followed by a part number, for example 39/23 II. There are gaps in the sequence. There are also traces of another file system where some files were previously allocated to File 10 (these former references appear in brackets). This may be because those files were originally part of File 10 'Oils and Minerals', and they subsequently become part of a new subject heading.

Unrestricted