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.