Early Rivalries for the Mesopotamian Oil Concession 1900–12

In Mesopotamia, as in Persia, certain areas had for thousands of years been known to contain oil springs and seepages, but, apart from primitive local uses, there was no developed industry.1 European interest in the possibility of exploiting Mesopotamian oil commercially had been manifested since the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Individuals and expeditions visited the area, and even before the turn of the century numerous reports had been made on its oil potential. As early as 1871 a German expedition reported favourably on the prospects,2 while in the 1890s several reports were made,3 either to the home governments or to learned societies, or, as in the case of C. S. Gulbenkian,4 to the Turkish Government. The Ottoman administration was thus forced to become aware of this possible rich source of of revenue,5 and at the suggestion of Agop Pasha, Director of the Privy Purse, Sultan Abdul Hamid issued firmans in 1888 and 1898 (renewed in 1902) that placed the revenue of the oil properties of the Mosul and Baghdad vilayets (provinces) under the control of the Sultan ’s Civil List. Thenceforth any negotiations for oil concessions in these areas had to be conducted directly with the Civil List authorities. Legal rights to any concession could be obtained by a concession seeker only through an official contract, an imperial firman, or by a permis de recherche.