Iraq Petroleum Company Archive

The Archive is an important source of record for the history of the Iraqi oil industry up to nationalisation. It is also a source of record for social, topographical and political developments in Iraq during this period. In addition it charts the emergence of the oil industry, and social, topographical and political developments in parts of the Arabian peninsula and Levant.

The archive includes Board minutes, agreements, management files and reports, letter books, Group memoranda, accounts, photographs, maps, plans, Company magazines, and public relations material. The part of the photographic collection which is at BP Archive contains images relating to Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, and Aden.

The Iraq Petroleum Company Limited was incorporated in 1911 as the African and Eastern Concessions Limited. It's name was changed to Turkish Petroleum Company Limited in 1912, and to Iraq Petroleum Company Limited in 1929.

By the San Remo Oil Agreement of 1920 the shareholding in the Company was arranged as Anglo-Persian Oil Company Limited (47.5 per cent), Shell (22.5 per cent), Compagnie Franaise des Petroles (25 per cent), C. S. Gulbenkian (5 per cent). A concession was obtained in 1925 and oil was first struck by the Company in 1927.

In 1928 the "Red Line" Agreement was signed after much debate between the groups. It rearranged the shareholding as follows: Anglo-Persian Oil Company Limited (23.75 per cent), Shell (23.75 per cent), Compagnie Francaise des Petroles (23.75 per cent), the Near East Development Corporation (23.75 per cent), and Gulbenkian (5 per cent). The Concession Agreement was revised in 1931. The 1928 Red Line Agreement was superseded by a Revised Group Agreement in 1948. The wholly owned subsidiaries of Basrah Petroleum Company Limited and Mosul Petroleum Company Limited obtained further concessions in 1938 and 1942 respectively. Pipelines to the Mediterranean were completed in the 1930s and 1940s. The Company also acquired significant interests in Middle Eastern concessions outside Iraq.

In 1961 the revolutionary regime of General Kassem promulgated Law 80 which deprived the IPC of over 99.5 per cent of its concessional areas in Iraq, leaving only producing oilfields. In 1971 Law 69 nationalised the remaining interests.

Reference: Iraq Petroleum Company Archive

The Archive is arranged by subject and document type.

The BP Archive is open to 1954, access to post-1954 materials held in the BP Archive at this time is not available. An appointment is required to view the collection, please contact staff for more information.

This collection was acquired in a series of deposits from 1982 from the Iraq Petroleum Company.

A paper shelf list is available for public use in the searchroom.

Copying of material is permitted at the discretion of BP Archive.

Further deposits are expected.

A further photographic collection relating to the United Arab Emirates is outsourced. For more information please contact BP Archive staff.

The repository also holds the papers of the BP Archive, two other jointly owned subsidiary companies: Kuwait Oil Company Archive, and the Shell-Mex and BP Limited Archive; and the papers of the wholly owned subsidiary the Burmah Oil Company Archive.

The repository holds a significant collection of books relating to the oil industry.