OIL IN PERSIA.

Waikato Times, Volume 112, Issue 18806, 30 November 1932, Page 7

OIL IN PERSIA.

CONCESSION CANCELLED

DISPUTE OVER ROYALTIES.

BRITISH INTERESTS MENACED.

United Press Assn. —Elec. Tel. Copyright. LONDON, Nov. 29. A message from Teheran states that the Persian Government has notified the Anglo-Persian Oil Company of the annulment of the D’Arcy concession. It states that it is willing, however, to negotiate a new agreement. The company contends that the concession contains no provision for cancellation. The concession, which covers 500,000 square miles, was secured by Mr William Knox D’Arcy, who went to Persia after making a fortune in the gold mines of Western Australia and in Mount Morgan, Queensland. The Times says the Persian Government’s action is the climax to several years’ dispute over royalties arising from the slump in oil and the restriction of the output. The paper emphasises the fact that the British Government is directly affected by the decision apart from its duty to proteot this legitimate British interest in Persia. In 1913, when the company needed fresh capital and it seemed possible that the control of the oilfield —of the highest importance to the British Admiralty—might pass into foreign hands, the Asquith Government agreed to provide additional capital. At the beginning of this year the British Government held £7,500,000 worth of the company’s ordinary shares, or more than half the £13,425,000 worth issued. Itis understood that the Cabinet's decision will be made immediately the terms of the war debts Nolc to America have been settled. SYDNEY, Nov. 29. The Anglo-Persian Oil Company holds 374,999 shares in the Commonwealth Oil Refineries, the other 375,001 being held by the Commonwealth Government.

The Anglo-Persian Oil Company, Limited, was registered in London in 1909 to work the concession originally obtained from the Persian Government by Mr D’Arcy. This concession was to run for 60 years from May 28, 1901. and gave the exclusive right to drill for, produce, pipe and carry away natural gas, petroleum, asphalt, etc., throughout the Persian Empire, except in the provinces of Azarbaijan, Gilan, Mazandaran, Astrabad and Khurasan, namely, an area of about 500,000 square miles. The production of oil from the Persian field for the years ending March 31, 1921-27, was:—l92l, 1,743,557 tons; 1922, 2.327,221; 1923, 2,959,028; 1924, 3,714,216; 1925, 4,333,933; 1926. 4,556,157; 1927, 4,806,667. All this oil was obtained from large flowing wells, others being held in reserve to meet the constant expansion of the company’s trade. Of the yearly not profits, 16 per cent Is payable to the Persian Government, which received on this account from 1921 to 1927 the following sums:— 1921, £585,290; 1922, £593,429; 1923, £533,251; 1924, £377,575; 1925, £824,086; 1926, £1,048,135; 1927, £1,341,963. The company employs in Persia 26,000 people, most of whom are Persians.