CHAPTER XX. Great Britain and the Oil-Fields of the French Colonial Empire

GREAT BRITAIN AND THE OIL-FIELDS OF THE FRENCH COLONIAL EMPIRE

As early as July 10, 1914, M. Clémentel had appealed to the French Government to prevent foreign Powers from laying their hands upon the oil deposits of Northern Africa. "At a time when Britain is pursuing in Persia a policy which is well known to you, and when oil concessions are, at bottom, the chief cause of the troubles in Mexico," he exclaimed, "the French Government cannot permit its representatives in Algeria, or in Morocco, to give deposits of oil to all comers."

The Government paid no attention to this, for, two years later, Lord Cowdray (Pearson) had obtained a concession of 730,000 hectares for prospecting, and 101,000 for immediate exploitation. These extensive territories were bounded on the east by the railway from Ténès to Orléansville, on the south by the railway from Orléansville to Relizane and thence to Saint-Lucien, on the west by the lines from Saint-Lucien to Saint-Barbe and from Trelat to Oran, and on the north by the sea between Oran and Ténès. And when, on November 9, 1916, M. Ernest Outrey submitted to the Chamber documents demonstrating how the French Government had proceeded to hand over the oil riches of Algeria without consulting Parliament, M. Marcel Sembat, the Minister for Public Works, deemed the following reply a complete justification:

"If you are dealing with lands where the presence of oil is doubtful and where, according to technical experts, you would have to spend many millions upon prospecting, and if a company says to you 'Here are our guarantees; we have competent technicians, and we are prepared, under Government control, to spend four million francs upon prospecting,' what are you to do?"

When the Pearson firm addressed its request for a concession to the French Government, on January 18, 1915, the Minister, in forwarding it to the Governor of Algeria, did not hesitate to write that "the question would have to be submitted to Parliament."

But he was not long in changing his opinion, and, in order to dispense with Parliament, it was decided to deal with the request "by decree enacted by the Council of State."

On August 18, 1916, before any final decision had been taken upon the matter, M. Marcel Sembat instructed the Governor of Algeria "to give the petitioning company every facility for the sale of oil obtained as a result of the investigations which it may undertake." And, on October 11th, M. Lutaud forwarded to him the following letter from the Prefect of Oran, which pointed out an ingenious method of evading the law upon concessions:

"In conclusion, M. Dussert (Engineer-in-Chief for Mines at Algiers) proposes, if the Administration should decide not to present a Bill to Parliament, a different solution from that contemplated by the Minister for Public Works. He suggests that an immense mining concession, covering the whole of Dahra, the Bel-Hacel range, and the forest of Mouley-Smaïl, should be granted to Algeria, leaving the colony, from the date of this concession, to give the oil company a three years' lease, renewable for two years, which could be made permanent as soon as the company had selected the lands which it wished to retain."

There followed a report by M. Dussert upon the petition: "This petition is formulated upon entirely abnormal conditions; the boundaries to which it would apply would enclose an area fifteen times as great as the concessions which are usually granted."

What the English desired above everything was to get a grip on these vast lands so as to keep off their American rivals, should important sources of oil be found there later on. The production of oil in Algeria is still insignificant, though it increased almost tenfold between 1914 and 1917. Henceforward, the majority of companies operating there, the Société co-intéressée des Pétroles algériens, the Société algérienne des Pétroles de Tiliouanet, the Société d'Études, de Recherches et d'Exploitation des Pétroles en Algérie, are invariably British. Lord Murray has even been ingenious enough to have inserted in the articles of association of the last-mentioned company a clause which nullifies all the precautions taken by the legislature: two-thirds of the directors are to be French, as the law requires; the managing director is to be French; but "the Board may in addition by special resolution confer powers upon such persons as it deems fit and for such purpose or purposes as it may determine." This little paragraph alone changes the whole aspect of these articles of association, which, on the surface, appear to conform so closely with the requirements of Parliament. The company will entrust its interests to whomsoever it wishes.

But Britain has not been content with seizing the deposits in Algeria. She has also installed herself in Madagascar. Since June, 1921, the Royal Dutch has been making a minute inspection of the fields of Sakalava.

And if the hope to which M. Launay gave expression at the Academy of Sciences is realized, and oil is found in Indo-China, Laos, Tonkin, and Annam, the Royal Dutch-Shell will probably waste no time in gaining possession of deposits so near its base.

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