Skip to item: of 574
Information about this record Back to top
Open in Universal viewer
Open in Mirador IIIF viewer

Coll 30/89 'Oil: Koweit Oil Agreement between the Koweit Oil Company and His Majestys Government.' [‎8r] (20/574)

The record is made up of 1 volume (283 folios). It was created in 3 Jan 1934-29 Mar 1935. 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

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. .
Confidential.
Memo. No. 432 A
II.—Commercial Agreement between the Sheikh of Koweit and
the Kuwait Oil Company, dated 23rd December 1934.
IN THE NAME OF GOD THE MERCIFUL.
THIS IS AN AGREEMENT
made at Kuwait on the 23rd day of 1 ^ ne ~—;—-— -
December in the year 1934 corre- (Signature of Shaikh of Kuwait.)
spending to 16th day of Ramadham
1353 between His Excellency Shaikh ] g net ) . . R. P. Dickson, Lt.-Col.
Sir Ahmed al-Jabir as-Subah, Knight
Commander of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire and Companion
of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India, the Shaikh of Kuwait in the
exercise of his powers as Ruler of Kuwait on his own behalf and in the name
of ana on behalf of his heirs and successors in whom is or shall be vested for
the time being the responsibility for the control and government of the State
of Kuwait (hereinafter called “the Shaikh”) and the Kuwait Oil Company
Limited a Company registered, in Great Britain under the Companies Act, 1929, its
successors and assigns (hereinafter called “the Company”).
Article 1.—J he Shaikh hereby grants to the Company the exclusive right to
explore search drill for produce and win natural gas asphalt ozokerite crude
petroleum and their products and cognate substances (hereinafter referred to as
“petroleum ’) within the State of Kuwait including all islands and territorial
waters appertaining to Kuwait as shown generally on the map annexed hereto, ii: ' the
exclusive ownership of all^ petroleum produced and won by the Company within
the State of Kuwait the right to refine transport sell for use within the State of
Kuwait or for export and export or otherwise deal with or dispose of any and all
such petroleum and the right to do all things necessary for the purposes of those
operations. The Company undertakes however that it will not carry on any of its
operations within areas occupied by or devoted to the purposes of mosques sacred
buildings or graveyards or carry on any of its operations except the sale of
petroleum housing of staff and employees and administrative work within the
present town wall of Kuwait.
The period of this Agreement shall be 75 years from the date of signature.
-Article 2. (A) \\ ithm nine months from the date of signature of this Agreement
the Company shall commence geological exploration.
(B) The Company shall drill for petroleum to the following total aggregate
depths and within the following periods of time at such and so many places as the
Company may decide :—
(i) 4,000 feet prior to the 4th anniversary of the date of signature of this
Agreement.
(ii) 12,000 feet prior to the 10th anniversary of the date of signature of this
Agreement.
(iii) 30,000 feet prior to the 20th anniversary of the date of signature of this
Agreement.
(C) I he Company shall conduct its operations in a workmanlike manner and by
appropriate scientific methods and shall take all reasonable measures to prevent the
ingress of water to any petroleum-bearing strata and shall duly close any unpro
ductive holes drilled by it and subsequently abandoned. The Company shall keep
the Shaikh and^ his London Representative informed generally as to the progress
and result of its drilling operations but such information shall be treated as
confidential.
3567
A3

About this item

Content

The file concerns the political agreement between the British Government and the Kuwait Oil Company made in the event of the company obtaining an oil concession from the Shaikh of Kuwait [Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ]. The company was equally owned by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) and the Gulf Oil Corporation of the United States, but the agreement provided that the Kuwait Oil Company should be a British company.

The file covers: minutes of meetings at 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. between British Government officials and representatives of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, and later the Kuwait Oil Company; the personnel of the Kuwait Oil Company, including British emphasis on the need for the employees of the company to be British subjects, or subjects of the Shaikh of Kuwait; the requirements of the Admiralty; drafts of, comments on, and full text (folios 6-7) of the political agreement (signed on 5 March 1934: signed copy, folios 26-27); discussion of the pre-emption clause in the agreement (designed to meet the British Government's oil needs in the event of a state of national emergency or war); discussion of requirements for landing grounds and air facilities in Kuwait, including correspondence from the Air Ministry; the recommendation of 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. that APOC should be required to give an assurance that actual oil exploitation should be in British hands only, and that the American interest of the group should be purely financial (folios 174-175); discussion of communications requirements (telegraph, wireless, and telephone); the need to persuade the Shaikh of Kuwait of the strength of the new company, to diminish the risk of his turning towards the Standard Oil Company of California (folio 101); APOC agreement to inform HM Government of any intention to transfer any part of its 50% holding in the Kuwait Oil Company to another company (folios 83-90); the Admiralty's desire that the political agreement should not be communicated to the Shaikh of Kuwait until the commercial agreement was signed, in case Standard Oil used it to advance their claims to the concession (folio 16); and text of the commercial agreement between the Shaikh of Kuwait and the Kuwait Oil Company (folios 8-11).

The file also contains papers relating to the Qatar oil concession. Most of the correspondence is from John Charles Walton 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. , and other British Government officials; the file also includes correspondence from the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.

Kuwait generally appears in the papers in the form Koweit.

One document is dated 1914 (folios 91-93).

The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.

Extent and format
1 volume (283 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 285; 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. 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

Coll 30/89 'Oil: Koweit Oil Agreement between the Koweit Oil Company and His Majestys Government.' [‎8r] (20/574), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3808, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100047795841.0x000015> [accessed 29 March 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_100047795841.0x000015">Coll 30/89 'Oil: Koweit Oil Agreement between the Koweit Oil Company and His Majestys Government.' [&lrm;8r] (20/574)</a>
<a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100047795841.0x000015">
	<img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000648.0x000178/IOR_L_PS_12_3808_0020.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_100000000648.0x000178/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images

Use and reuse
Download this image