3.1 PD(TC) to Have a Man at Buraimi/Al ‘Ain

The IPC associated company, (later named Qatar Petroleum Company, QPC), had found oil in Qatar in 1939 and, after a long delay caused by the Second World War, was preparing to start exports in 1949. The discovery of oil in Qatar meant that the chances of finding oil on the Trucial Coast including in Abu Dhabi territory had improved considerably, but the oil exploration geologists still had their eyes turned towards the mountains and rock outcrops of the Sultanate of Oman.

They had examined the small amount of geology visible on the surface of the earth on the Trucial Coast and knew that the way forward for Abu Dhabi and the rest of the sheikhdoms was to bring in the geophysicists and hopefully then the drillers.

Across the border in the Sultanate of Oman there are mountains, fine rock exposures and, for the geologists, a lot of ‘very good’ geology. But, although the company had a concession agreement with the Sultan dating from 1937, they had still not received permission from the Sultan to allow the geologists enjoy more than a brief look at a very limited area.

Unfortunately the Sultan was unable to assert his authority over many of his subjects in the interior of his land and so he could not guarantee the safety of strangers who would be regarded with suspicion or even hostility by the people.

The company had a separate agreement covering Dhofar, the southern province of Oman, where political conditions were very different, and the Sultan was able to assert his authority. They had already arranged for geologists M. Morton and R. Wetzel to go there early in 1948 to conduct a survey. The capital town of Dhofar is Salalah, on the Indian Ocean coast more than a thousand kilometres to the south from Buraimi; it was the Sultan's favourite retreat. There the mountains lying between the coast and the Rub al Khali (Empty Quarter) desert benefit from the summer rains brought by the monsoon. The climate, at least in the coastal area and on the nearby hills, is altogether more pleasant than at Muscat.

Unfortunately in the rest of Oman, the larger part of the country, the Sultan ruled over a divided land where much of the interior and away from the coast, was in the hands of the Imam and his supporters.