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 As a result of our seismic work it is probably no longer applicable.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.