Skip to item: of 430
Information about this record Back to top
Open in Universal viewer
Open in Mirador IIIF viewer

'11/5 Negotiations with Ibn Saud regarding Boundaries of Saudi Arabia' [‎99r] (197/430)

This item is part of

The record is made up of 1 file (212 folios). It was created in Mar 1944-4 Sep 1949. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

Transcription

This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.

Apply page layout

(E 4974/605/91)
r.O'iFIDBNTIAL
/ 6 ^
FOREIGN OFFICE,
4th May, 1948 &
Dear Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. ,
Will you please refer to our telegram No.28 of the 19th
April about the seismic survey of Petroleum Concessions Ltd in
^atar.
We now enclose for your information a copy of Mr. LongriggB
letter of the 19th April about the actual operations of this
Company.
A copy of this letter with its enclosure is being sent to
Chancery, Jedda.
Yours ever,
EASTERN DEPARTMENT
#
The Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. ,
Bahrain.
•oCo-
fiOPY
214, Oxford Street,
Oxford Circus, London, W.l
19th April, 1948
Dear Bernard,
Our conversation in your office on Friday last, 16th April.
I have been finding out the extent of our actual operations in the
southern parts of the Qatar Peninsula. The boundary specified in
the map attached to the Concessions. v/as marked on the ground, in
1940, by concrete pillars - or at least the western half of it;
cur people have always been most careful not to go south of this.
The recent geophysical (seismic) parties who have been exploring
there in’the 1947/48 season have, I find, covered the whole of the
western half rifht up to our Concession boundary, and after a
period of great activity they have now withdrawn and are unlikely
to return in the near future. Nor is there any early prospect of
drilling in the south-western corner.
The only continuing activity which we have in the area
which you showed me as included in Ibn Saud’s 1935 claimed line, is
the extraction of gypsum which we have been takeing for some time
past from a point fairly far south in the area shown in your pap
as Jebel Nakhsh; nobody seems to have raised any objection to
this.
That therefore is the present situation with which I promis
ed to acquaint you. I am sending a copy of this letter to
Dr. Nuttal.
Yours sincerely,
(Sgd.) Stephen Longrigg.
Bernard Burrows, Esquire,
foreign Office,
Downing Street,
London, S.W. 1 .
’LB 1

About this item

Content

The file comprises correspondence, memoranda, maps, and other papers relating to questions over the position of Saudi Arabia’s south-eastern frontier adjoining Qatar and the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. shaikhdoms, notably Abu Dhabi. Negotiations over the frontier had long been deferred by British Government officials, as a result of the Ruler of Saudi Arabia ‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd’s [Ibn Saud] firm stance in negotiations before the Second World War. However, the need for a resolution became increasingly apparent as a result of ongoing oil exploration in Saudi Arabia by the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco), and exploration in Qatar and Abu Dhabi by Petroleum Concessions Limited (PCL). The principal correspondents in the file include: representatives of the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. , Foreign Office, Ministry of Fuel and Power; the British Legation at Jedda; the 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. at Bahrain; and the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .

The file includes:

  • correspondence, dating from 1944 and 1945, between British Government officials in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. and Foreign Office, discussing the previous difficulties encountered in negotiating Saudi Arabia’s south-eastern frontiers with Ibn Saud, and the agreement that further negotiations be left until after the event of Ibn Saud’s death (ff 2-29);
  • correspondence from late 1945 through 1947, between Government officials on the possible establishment of a neutral zone between Aramco’s concession area in Saudi Arabia, and PCL’s concession area in Qatar. Also, there is some discussion of Aramco’s proposals to begin seabed exploration off the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia (ff 36-59);
  • PCL’s request for permission to conduct seismic surveys at the southernmost limit of their concession area in Qatar (ff 76-95);
  • reports of Aramco survey parties making incursions into PCL’s concession areas in Qatar and Abu Dhabi (ff 104-127);
  • Government criticism of PCL’s delay in exploiting its concession areas in Qatar and Abu Dhabi (f 133);
  • preparations in August 1949 for the reopening of frontier negotiations with the Saudi Government in Jedda. Papers include: a copy of a confidential memorandum with map, dated 2 February 1948, on the south-eastern frontier of Saudi Arabia, prepared by J E Cable of the Eastern Department of the Foreign Office (ff 164-169; copy also at ff 87-91); three further confidential memoranda with maps, prepared by the Eastern Department in 1940, outlining past and present negotiations on the position of the south-eastern frontiers of Saudi Arabia (ff 170-180, ff 181-185, ff 186-188); proposals to send representatives from Qatar and Abu Dhabi to the Jedda negotiations (ff 190-203).
Extent and format
1 file (212 folios)
Arrangement

The file’s contents are arranged in approximate chronological order, from the earliest item at the front to the latest at the end. The file notes at the end of the file (ff 204-212) mirror the chronological arrangement.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover and terminates at the inside back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. This file has the following foliation anomaly: 111A. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 4-203; these numbers are also written in pencil, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence, but they are not circled. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

Written in
English in Latin script
View the complete information for this record

Use and share this item

Share this item
Cite this item in your research

'11/5 Negotiations with Ibn Saud regarding Boundaries of Saudi Arabia' [‎99r] (197/430), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/465, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100028545187.0x0000c6> [accessed 23 April 2024]

Link to this item
Embed this item

Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.

<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100028545187.0x0000c6">'11/5 Negotiations with Ibn Saud regarding Boundaries of Saudi Arabia' [&lrm;99r] (197/430)</a>
<a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100028545187.0x0000c6">
	<img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000241.0x000280/IOR_R_15_2_465_0197.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" />
</a>
IIIF details

This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000241.0x000280/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images

Use and reuse
Download this image