'File 39/24 Seabed concession, Qatar' [‎51r] (101/104)

British Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. ,
Doha,
17th December, 1950.
You will recall that we discussed my letter 20/71/50
of 23rd October when you were here at the beginning of Novem
ber. I am now writing about letters between the Ruler of Qatar
and Superior Oil Company.
2. When Smith of Superior was here recently I brought
up this question of minor agreements btween his Company and the
Ruler. He told me that there are three, copies of which should
have been sent by Sprague or G-arrett to you at the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. .
As you have not got these letters it looks as though Superior
are either not being as open as they pretend or consider the
matters trivial. Whatever the reason for their reticence
may be, I should like to have copies of the correspondence
because these matters are certainly of importance and should
be done through H.M.G.
The three letters are:-
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Prom Superior to the Ruler agreeing to certain -
’’conditions” before being allowed to put up *
Survey markers in Qatar on the land, - I
cannot comment until I have seen them.
2) Prom Superior to the Ruler expressing their
intention of giving "preference to the A1
Darwish" where contracts are concerned in
accondance with the wish of the Ruler. -
Smith said Superior had no intention of sticking i
to this general undertaking: he denied they
had promised to give preference to the Darwish: j
they desliked monopolies and w^ished to be fair
to all. In fact they have already hired a lau
nch from Mohammed A1 Mananas well as their
one from Abdullah Darwish, but for Rs. 3,000
per month while Abdullah Darwish draws Rs.4,000.
However, I do , at present, think that Superior
intend to avoid being in Darwish 1 s pocket if they
can.
3 ) Prom Superior to the Ruler about armed guards
for their Surveyers. - Again I cannot comment
until I see the text.
ii Smith said Garrett has copies of all these letters
and I have been waiting until he came here so that I could
tackle him myself. He has, however, not come and does not
seem to be coming for some time. I shall be veiy grateful
therefore if you could please ask Garrett for copies and let
me have one of each.
r I recommend that Garrett be told that in future we
wish to see all correspondence which is not stricl^tly routine
oil business".
C. J. Pelly, Esq., O.B.E.
H. M. Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. ,
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