A very successful partnership between Kuwait and Britain is being cemented as a joint Kuwaiti-British archaeological expedition has finished its second season in the es-Sabiyah area of Kuwait.

Some of Kuwait's archaeological monuments are already well known, such as the Bronze Age remains on the island of Failaka. However, the north end of Kuwait bay was relatively unknown territory until Dr Fahad al Wohaibi, Director of the Kuwait Museum, and a team of Kuwaiti archaeologists began to explore it.

Dr Fahad identified several archaeological sites and invited Dr Harriet Crawford from University College London's Institute of Archaeology to bring out a team of British specialists to help in mapping and excavating them.

Dr Crawford says, "Bringing a foreign team to Kuwait is an expensive business, although the National Museum generously provides accommodation and food for the team and pays for the workmen. This year the British team was offered sponsorship by Kuwait Shell Limited on the initiative of its General Manager, Dr Ken Taylor. Other funding of the British team comes from academic sources in the UK."

The expedition has two main aims: firstly to complete a survey of all the archaeological remains in and around the Jazirat Dubaidj at the north end of Kuwait bay; and secondly to excavate part of the most important site found by Dr Fahad, known as H3 and located on the north side of the Jazirat.

Dr Crawford says, "H3 itself is not a large site but its importance was realised because on the surface were pieces of a type of pottery which comes from south Mesopotamia and is known as Ubaid ware. This pottery was in use between 4,800 and 4,000BC. There were also flint tools, shell beads and the remains of a stone building, something which had not been found on any other site of this date in the Gulf region.

"We now know that there are at least five stone buildings on the site. Excavation of one of the two which were visible on the surface shows a structure of compartments which seems to have been built and rebuilt several times. Next season we hope to find out what the building was used for.

"The plan is to return to es-Sabiyah in the spring of 2001 for a third season and when that work is complete we hope to be able to write what may perhaps be the first chapter in the human history of Kuwait," she says.

Ken Taylor, General Manager of Kuwait Shell Limited, says, "Just as teamwork is revealing the past at es-Sabiyah, the same style of partnership between people also forms the way forward in our business activity."

In Ras Al Khaimah, in the UAE, a second archaeological dig at the site of the ancient city of Kush is in its fifth and final season.

Organised by the Department of antiquities and Museums of Ras Al- Khaimah, the team is sponsored by the National Bank of Ras Al-Khaimah, Shell Dubai, The British Museum and Durham University.

"The site is probably the oldest in the UAE," says Derek Kennet, Director of the Dig. "During the last five years we have been able to trace the history of the site from its origins some 1,600 years ago to its final abandonment 600 years ago.

"Among the many interesting finds to have been made are the oldest coffee bean in the world, a 1,000 year old ivory dice and a carnelian gem stone - very possibly 9th century Zoroastrian."

Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) is the first Exploration and Production company in the Middle East to achieve ISO 14001 certification of compliance for its Environmental Management System. The announcement of PDO's achievement was made at a ceremony which was held at Oman's Oil and Gas Exhibition Centre on the 26th January, under the auspices of His Excellency Dr Mohammed Al Rumhy, the Sultanate's Minister of Oil and Gas.

In celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the re-capture of Ar-Riyadh by the Founder of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, His Majesty King Abdulaziz Ibin Abdul Rahman Ibin Faisal Al Saud, Shell Companies in Saudi Arabia have, in collaboration with the King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives and the Al-Turath Establishment, published a magnificent photo biography entitled simply 'Abdulaziz'.

"Produced by Mr Humberto da Silveira, the book depicts some of the more important aspects of the life of King Abdulaziz and documents a number of political and social events in the life of His Majesty, God bless him," explains HH Prince Salman Ibin Abdulaziz, Chairman of the Board, King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives.

"The Centennial Anniversary of the Founding of Saudi Arabia is an occasion rich in significance," says HH Prince Sultan Ibin Salman Ibin Abdulaziz, President of Al-Turath. "One of its most important effects has been an outpouring of new information and documentation on the history of the Kingdom and the various stages along its road of development and prosperity."

Floris Ansingh, President of Shell Companies in Saudi Arabia, says, "This important book is a stunningly beautiful insight into the life of King Abdulaziz, and many of the remarkable photographs included in the book are in the public eye for the first time. Shell has been in Saudi Arabia for more than 50 years, and we are highly honoured to have been given the opportunity to support this landmark publication."

Last November, Shell Chemicals and the National Petrochemical Company (NPC) of Iran, and Elenac GmbH of Germany, signed an agreement to undertake a joint feasibility study to examine building a new olefins complex at Bandar Imam in Khuzestan Province in the southwest of Iran.

Olefins are used as feedstock in the production of ethylene. The study will examine the development of a world- scale ethylene plant and the parallel development of a polypropylene facility at Bandar Imam.

The agreement was signed by Phil Watts, Shell Group Managing Director for Exploration and Production and Gas Businesses, and Mohammad Reza NematZadeh, Head of the National Petrochemical Company of Iran in the presence of Bijan Zanganeh, Iran's Minister of Petroleum.