7.1 A Reminder

Perhaps I should at this stage remind readers that I have not tried to write a complete history – that would fill many books; my objective is to tell the story of those days as reported by company personnel. I reproduce material on the oil industry files which, very largely, has not yet been reproduced elsewhere and so is not otherwise available to the reader. I cannot vouch for the accuracy of these accounts; they were written by witnesses to events which they recorded as they saw and understood them. Although they were mostly British men and were promoting the best interests of the company, there is a thread running through the whole account of sympathetic respect for the rulers of the Sheikhdoms and their people.

7.2 Bedouin Know No Borders

The subject of borders is divided into two sections. There are the inter-sheikhdom borders; we would say the inter-emirate borders today, and since 1971. Then there are the international borders and the border that concerned the company most was that between Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia.

The inter-sheikhdom border that features largest in the company records is that between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. However, after the two ‘dry holes’ were drilled at Ra's Sadr and at Jebel Ali the geophysicists moved away from the disputed border area and after the early 1950s that political problem did not much concern the oil industry. That was until July 1966 when BP was drilling out at sea for oil in Dubai waters and Shaikh Shakhbut revived the old dispute. This was finally settled by Sheikhs Zayed bin Sultan and Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed in two agreements. The first dated 18 February 1968 concerned the boundary at sea, and the second dated 18 February 1969 concerned the boundary on land. These two agreements laid the matter to rest. Although there have been minor disputes among the other emirates since then, the borders between the individual emirates are of lesser significance today for most of the population.

In earlier times, before the arrival of PD(TC), borders were of little relevance to a society where coastal ports, and oases or water wells in the desert were important. The intervening vast areas of desert were sparsely inhabited by tribes seeking grazing for their animals. They were aware that there were limits on where they might go, but such limits were loosely defined.

6.1 Alarm

Let me start this chapter by reminding readers that in IPC language the word ‘Groups’ refers to the major oil companies who are the IPC, and therefore also PD(TC), shareholders and owners. How often did one hear the word ‘Groups’ repeated in the corridors of the offices of IPC? The word was expressed with such varying sentiments. Respect, apprehension, frustration, bemused tolerance and plain incredulity! All too often there were some Group representatives who had received little exposure to the Arab countries and were ignorant of the customs, the culture and the way life in these lands. Among such people there were those who were keen to learn and there were those who would never learn.

So now we go back to the story.

The IPC were sitting tight within their Red Line stretched to the limit of their abilities and resources. They held rights over large areas which were to a great extent unexplored. Now there were other companies who were casting their eyes in the direction of the Gulf, encouraged by the still modest successes, and yet quite unaware of the enormous reserves of oil and gas that were waiting to be discovered by the drill.

Lermitte raised the alarm when he reported that Weightman, now retired from the diplomatic service, accompanied by Wood of Superior Oil had on 10 March 1949 arrived in Abu Dhabi. They had come hoping to negotiate with Sheikh Shakhbut for an oil concession in the Abu Dhabi waters, in spite of their being requested not to do so by the Political Agent.

Weightman and Wood arrived in an amphibious aircraft which landed on the water at Khor Baghal, between Abu Dhabi and Sadiyat islands. During the course of the day Weightman took Sheikh Shakhbut for a short flight over the islands. The aircraft departed the next day only to return with a supply of fresh water and to cause a sensation by landing on the open sea in front of Abu Dhabi island. A few days later Lermitte wrote to Skliros that the negotiator (Weightman) had offered Sheikh Shakhbut one lac of rupees, but the Ruler had said that he would prefer to deal with PD(TC). See Chapter 4.16.

We can see from the above message that Sheikh Shakhbut was still favourably disposed towards PD(TC), but much can happen in a very short time!

12.1 First an Important Matter, the Flag

On 10 June 1951 a Mr. C.T. Barber in London wrote to Lermitte to tell him that Messrs Airwork's aircraft were flying a Saudi Arabian flag when they landed on the Trucial Coast. When they were told that this was inappropriate they had asked for the design of the flags of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Barber wrote:

Lermitte replied that according to Article 3 of the General Treaty of 1820 the ‘friendly Arabs shall carry by land and sea a red flag, with or without letters in it, at their option, and this shall be in a border of white, the breadth of the white in the border being equal to the breadth of the red’. He wrote that, however, this had been discontinued and the shaikhs had adopted a simplified form. Lermitte sought the assistance of the Political Agent who told him that no official designs had been registered. Lermitte wrote that at the spudding in ceremonies for Ra's Sadr and Jebel Ali the company used red flags with a white border next to the mast, and no objections were raised.

Soon afterwards Lermitte was able to report that the Dubai flag was an oblong flag, the length being approximately three times the breadth; about five sixth of the flag being red and the remaining one sixth white, that part nearest the mast being white. Ajman and Umm al-Quwain adopted the same flag as Dubai.

Sharjah and Ra's al-Khaimah chose a white flag with a red square in the middle. The breadth of the white border being the same as the breadth of the red in the centre. By mid-October Lermitte was informed that the Abu Dhabi flag was plain red. But this was changed shortly afterwards to a red oblong flag with a white oblong next to the mast and reaching down to equal to one third the distance down the mast, and one third of the distance along the top.

12.2 A Very Unsatisfactory Situation

Sheikh Shakhbut embarked on a short tour of Bainunah and he started by visiting the PD(TC) operations on 24/25 March 1953, spending the night at the Tarif camp. The company was drilling the well Murban No.1, and he came for a belated celebration of the ‘spudding in’.

Appendix 112: Lermitte to London 10/5/’52

An Appreciation of the Political Aspects by the Company's Operations in the Trucial Shaikhdoms, with particular reference to Abu Dhabi

Shortly after the completion of our drilling operations at Ras Sadr, the Ruler of Abu Dhabi asked to be informed of the Company's future plans for operating in his territory. Only the vaguest forecast of our intentions could be given to the Ruler, and he made a strongly worded protest against our withdrawal from Abu Dhabi with no immediate plans to return there. This complaint was first made prior to the activity preparatory to the Abu Dhabi/Saudi Arabian frontier talks, and the opportunity was taking of pointing out to the Ruler that due to the lack of interest which he had taken in the western part of what we considered to be his territory, the Saudis had succeeded in having it enveloped in a Restricted Zone, and that the Company had at least temporarily, lost the use of this considerable area in which to operate. This criticism of the Al bu Falah has been voiced many times in the past, and was by no means new to the Ruler, and since the creation of the Restricted Zone he had become increasingly sensitive to his short coming in this respect. However, he was left with a strong argument, which he promptly used. The Company has withdrawn from Abu Dhabi territory after having drilled only one exploratory well, he stated, and if it cannot give him an assurance that it would operate in his territory in the near future, then the Company should abandon its concession for that part of Abu Dhabi which is not in the Restricted Zone.

It is now nearly 18 months since our operations at Ras Sadr came to an end, and with the Ruler's increasing impatience over our inactivity comes many reiterations of his demand that the Company should give up its concession.

Although no drilling obligations are contained in the clauses of our Trucial Coast concessions (with one exception of Sharjah, postponement1 of which has been arranged until 1957) the Rulers have for a long time past tried to hold us to what would, perhaps, legally be described as “The Spirit of the Concession”. They consider that the Company has a moral obligation to explore and develop the resources of their territories.

9.1 First a Word from Henderson

The reader should here please take good note of the following written by Henderson on 29 September 1952:

We should remember Henderson's observation as it helps to explain the behaviour of some of the sheikhs which observers at the time found difficult to understand, or were even very critical of. We should also bear in mind that both the governments of Britain and Saudi Arabia were seeking a peaceful resolution to the dispute – and had many other issues outstanding elsewhere between the two.

The situation on the Trucial Coast was very different from the scene we view in the UAE today. To emphasise this distinction I continue to refer to the Trucial Coast or the sheikhdoms. Similarly I refer to Buraimi as the collective name for the group of oases.

The difference between now and then is starkly demonstrated in the note that Codrai wrote in June 1952:

9.2 Buraimi. After Bird

I wrote in Chapter 3 about Bird's experiences living at Buraimi in the Jahili fort. He first arrived there on 1 March 1948 and he was based there from time to time until he returned to London in June 1949. Jackson had also stayed at Jahili which in those days was very different from the structure that we see there today. The main tower was typical of such towers that one saw elsewhere in those days on the Trucial Coast.

This book is not a complete account of events many years ago on the Trucial Coast: that would be impossible. My chief aim is to make available to the people of the Emirates and to anyone else who is interested, the reports written by the first ‘oil men’ to come to the Trucial Coast, and which are contained in the company archives. Other people and historians may disagree with their analysis of events, but in the absence of more documentation it is difficult to challenge their accounts or in some cases to be sure of the truth. Before we pass judgement we must consider the geographical, political, social and religious environment that prevailed on the Trucial Coast in those distant days.

Events are recorded by individuals, whether they are historians, journalists, engineers, lawyers or any other person. They write down their account of what they have seen, and often this and another person's account may be rather different. There are the published, and as yet unpublished, reports contained in the British Government archives. These were written by officials who lived in the towns of the Gulf, discussed with the sheikhs and other leading people and reported back to London. Also the reader can find in the book shops many personal descriptions of events which people have themselves published in books and articles, or have passed on in conversation.

There are the reports written by some commercial organisations and for many years the chief of these was the oil company. As in my first volume, ‚From Pearls to Oil‘, this book makes use of the archives of the London based Iraq Petroleum Company and its associated companies. The first associated company was Petroleum Concessions Limited, PCL and I have employed this name in the book ‚From Pearls to Oil‘. The IPC used this name for activities throughout the Middle East, excluding Iraq. In this book I have used the name Petroleum Development (Trucial Coast), PD(TC) the same company, but for operations only on the Trucial Coast. Later, after the discovery of oil in commercial quantities in 1960 this company operating in Abu Dhabi was named Abu Dhabi Petroleum Company. After 1979 the company was renamed Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations.

Fortunately some of the reports written by PCL/PD(TC) men working on the Trucial Coast have been preserved and I have based my narrative on these. I have quoted from them and I have included many of them in appendices to this book.

Appendix 86: Stockwell's Report on First Visit to Abu Dhabi

Mr. M. R.Bridgeman

VISIT TO ABU DHABI

1. I arrived in Bahrain on Sunday, 18th May [1952], and was joined by Leigh Morgan on Monday, 19th May. On Monday I called on Sir Rupert Hay, the Political Resident, and informed him of the object of my visit. He was surprised to be told that A.I.O.C. was interested in all three offshore areas as he had been informed by the Foreign Office that we were not interested in Qatar – and, indeed, I learned later that the Ruler of Qatar had been pressed by the Political Officer to conclude an agreement with Shell as rapidly as possible. The Political Resident expressed then, and at a later meeting, his misgivings about the haste with which the Superior concessions were again being sought.

2. We left for Jebel Ali via Dukhan on Tuesday, 20th May. I had asked Abdulla Darwish to meet me in Dukhan and learned from him that Shell had the previous day signed Heads of Agreement.

3. PD(TC) had made all the arrangements necessary for my journey from Jebel Ali to Abu Dhabi, where we arrived in the early afternoon. I went to see the Sheikh immediately and arranged to meet him again later in the evening. At the second meeting I explained the purpose of my visit and, after some talk, obtained an understanding that amounted to a first refusal of the Concession.

4. At a second business meeting on Wednesday, 21st May, I began to explain our proposals and secured the Sheikh's acceptance to the area of the Abu Dhabi Continental Shelf and, so far as his rights extended, of the shelf of any Neutral Zone that might hereafter be created. He immediately enquired what payment term we proposed and, when I attempted to explain the virtues of a tonnage royalty basis, said that he would accept nothing but the Superior terms. He was clearly most anxious to sign an agreement immediately (I had been told he was short of money) and was not prepared to depart one inch from his stand.

Appendix 37: Codrai and the Geologists

Early this year I accompanied a small party of geologists on a reconnaissance to the fringe of the Oman Mountains at Ras al Khaima, one of the seven independent Trucial Coast shaikhdoms.

The members of the party were Doctor R. G. S. Hudson, palaeontologist from London Geological Office, Mr. R. V. Browne, Divisional Geologist, Qatar, and Mr. Z. R. Beydoun, a field geologist.

Apart from geological information to be obtained from a close-up examination of these mountains, the trip had other interests for me: for although I had travelled round this peninsula by sea, and up both sides of it by land, I had not previously had the opportunity of meeting the people of these hills, particularly the Shihu, an isolated tribe about whom little is known.

On the day we established our first camp fighting broke out between the people of As Shamm and Bakha, to the north-east of Ras al Khaimah. Although this troubled area was several miles from the place where we wished to operate, the security of the whole area was seriously affected by the fighting, and we had to encamp, rather inconveniently, on the red sand dunes four miles away from the foothills, in an area where the Ruler of Ras al Khaimah had greater control.

The small sub-section of the Habus tribe, which inhabited the first wadi through which we had to pass were, like the rest of the people of these hills, alert and on the defensive, awaiting the outcome of the trouble. It took a great deal of time and patience to persuade them to allow us enter their wadi. During the negotiations for our entry, which were conducted mainly by the Ruler of Ras al Khaimah and his father, these people were difficult, suspicious and trying: yet once they had provided us with guards, and had given us permission to work in their territory, they immediately became hospitable and friendly. However, they were in a bad way; their wadi was dry, and their small flock of goats could no longer find grazing, so that with the best of intentions their hospitality could extend to little more than friendliness. The Ruler and I were solemnly entertained to a meal which consisted of a small pile of rice with two fried eggs on its summit.

Appendix 107: Locust Survey Trip to Liwa Jan. ‘52

Daily diary reports on reconnaissance to Liwa – January 1952

The idea of a camel recee to the Liwa area has always been very much in the minds of the members of the Unit in Oman, and when it was suggested to me in Asmara that it should be undertaken this year my enthusiasm overcame my judgement and as I as good as implied that it would be a simple matter; merely a question of physical endurance. I had in mind the talks I had with the Shaikh Zaid of Bureimi the previous year, when he told me that the trip would take about twenty days if I crossed the El Hamra sands. However, on reflection, and with the knowledge of the past two years the difficulties began to mount up. It must be remembered that two years ago we were confined to a very small area around the H.Q. in Sharjah, and when we did leave our base camp it was only with a very large armed escort. Granted the situation has changed and we have penetrated to Bureimi and beyond, but it would be unwise to assume that the area is now a settled one, or to imagine that trouble could not arise at any time. As, for example, the assassination of the Shaikh of Kalba by his cousin in 1951 typifies. Moreover, without the slightest provocation the badu will turn brigand and rob and kill.

With these things in mind I consulted the Political Resident, Persian Gulf, Sir Rupert Hay K.C.M.G., K.C.I.E., who agreed that the trip was possible. The Foreign Office was informed, as was the Saudi Arabian Government, of my proposed trip and agreed with my proposals. On account of this permission it only remained for me to make my local arrangements on the spot, and I decided to enlist the aid of Shaikh Zaid, brother of Shaikh Shakbut, Ruler of the Al Bu Falah, through whose territory we should be mostly travelling. On 12th December I visited Shaikh Shakbut in Abu Dhabi and outlined to him my route and what I hoped to accomplish. He seemed pleased that I should do the trip and offered every assistance, which meant he really wrote to his brother in Muwaijah (Bureimi) and told him to help us in every possible way. I thought of the change since 1949, when we were compelled to take twenty armed guards with us when we travelled 30 miles from Abu Dhabi.

Appendix 45: Bird to Lermitte 7/1/’49

Confidential Dubai

7th January 1949

Dear Lermitte,

You asked me to discuss with Wellings, amongst other things, the Dubai-Abu Dhabi boundary question and I had a long talk with him last night.

2. The position at present as I know it is as follows.

The politicals were given a ‘red line’ by the company which was thought to represent a suitable dividing line from a geological point of view. As a result of our seismic work it is probably no longer applicable. Wellings said he has told Stobert that it should be considered as cancelled. I do not know anything has been given to the politicals in writing to that effect but it obviously should be done.

3. The question then arises whether we should give then an amended line in due course. Wellings tells me that Jabal Ali is the northernmost dome on a long structure running southwest approximately parallel to the coast into Abu Dhabi territory. He says that under normal circumstances we would not drill one end of the structure first and that the first site will almost certainly be in Abu Dhabi territory. This is entirely satisfactory from our point of view and dispose of our fear that Dubai might receive the first fruits of our labours.

We return to the question whether we should give the politicals another line to work on.

4. In principle it is most undesirable to divide a structure and the reasons are too obvious to need enumeration. There are precedents for our pressing that the boundary should be drawn so as not to divide the structure. I believe at the time of the 1937 Palestine partition H.M.G. accepted that principle and drew the line leaving the whole structure in one state.

5. Suppose for the sake of argument that the boundary is drawn leaving Jabal Ali in Dubai. If we do not drill Jabal Ali at an early stage of the drilling programme or if we never drill it, I believe the Dubai sheikhs are astute enough to put up a case claiming that they are entitled to a share of the royalty on oil won from Abu Dhabi's end of the structure. Remember they are surrounded by advisers some of whom are good and some bad and there is a very potent source of trouble for us quite near you with a possible link elsewhere.

My account for this volume ends in December 1955. Even though the discovery of oil in commercial quantities on the Trucial Coast was still several years away there were very significant changes taking place. These events would in due course lead to that discovery and thereafter the rapid transformation of the whole area.

The most significant events for both the Company PD(TC) and the people concerned the delineation of borders. Before the arrival of PD(TC) and the awareness that there could be valuable resources below the desert sand, there was no need for a precise description of the extent of a Ruler's authority. As I have described in Volume 1 the Rulers became well aware of the need to precisely describe the extent of their territories, and they initiated discussions. However they were unable to reach agreement without the intervention of a third party and so the British Government was, at times reluctantly, drawn into the disputes. HMG became the umpire to settle the borders between the individual sheikhdoms, or today emirates, and the agent to finally declare the boundary between Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia after the events at Hamasa on 25 October 1955.

PD(TC) was then released from restrictions which had severely limited the area where they could operate. They were particularly interested in the west of Abu Dhabi still believing that oil would be found in the same zones as further north in the Gulf. These zones, rocks of the same type and age, as the reader has observed, are in Abu Dhabi territory very deep down. The oil-bearing rocks which were later discovered further east are in another zone, higher in the earth. However the oil in that shallower zone is still much deeper underground than the oil in any other Gulf country.

1960 was the year that both ADMA (working offshore) and ADPC (in the desert) could tell the Ruler, Sheikh Shakhbut, that oil had been found in commercial quantities. Although ADMA started to export oil in 1962, and ADPC at the end of 1963 the quantities were relatively small, and the price was in the region of $2 per barrel. It was not until 1973 that revenues increased as the price was set to rise six-fold.

2.1 A Large Step Back in Time

H.R.P. Dixon, who lived in Kuwait from 1919 to when he died in 1959 and studied the Bedouin, wrote “Raiding is the breath of life to the Badawin. Prevent him from raiding and he becomes the most melancholy of men.” And “Desert raids do not as a rule entail much bloodshed.” Dixon was Political Agent in Kuwait for several years before working for the Kuwait Oil Company. Another Political Agent, Julian Walker, wrote “The Bedu, certain of his innate superiority over villages and townsmen, jealous of their independence, accepting no lord but Allah, often poor but unbelievably generous, dominated the desert.”

Dixon and Walker were writing of the days when many, if not most in some areas, men in the desert carried a rifle. It was a symbol of his manhood and useful for hunting; it was fired on occasions of celebration and ready to be used in self-defence. Many of the rifles were old and had suffered over the years, indeed according to some reports they were as great a danger to the owner as to his foe. Even in 1963 when I gave a lift for a short distance in the desert in my Land Rover to two men returning to the Liwa, they both carried rifles. When the oil company, PD(TC) first sent men from London to the Trucial Coast, the British Government (HMG) His (Her) Majesty's Government and the rulers were all concerned about the safety of the geologists and surveyors and security for their equipment. In those days poverty among some of the tribes and the people living in the desert encouraged some of the less law-abiding among them to practise the ancient ‘sport’ of raiding (gazzu). The possibility of company personnel meeting a raiding party or falling victims to this activity, or suffering material loss was neither acceptable to HMG nor to the rulers. Among the most active, daring, and notorious, were some men from the Awamir who are reported to have even entered Dubai town from time to time. The Awamir is a very large tribe and in those days their people were found in several lands including the Trucial Coast. Some men from other tribes too, such as the Bani Kaab and the Bani Kitab were also active, if only for the purpose of revenge.