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.' [‎9v] (23/574)

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

8
exempt and free during the period of this Agreenaent from all present or hiture
harbour duties, import duties, export duties, taxes, imposts and charges ol any kind
whether State or local, toils, and land surface rent of whatever nature ; and m
consideration thereof the Company shall m addition to the payments provided for
in Article 3 pay to the Shaikh on each anniversary of the date of signature o± tins
Agreement four annas (annas 4) per ton (2,240 lbs.) of petroleum on vhich io}a ty
is payable.
(B) The importation by the Company of firearms and other weapons is pro
hibited except with the written permission of the Shaikh.
(C) If the Company should sell in Kuwait any material or goods previously
imported into Kuwait for the purposes of its operations hereunder and no longer
required by the Company, the Company shall pay to the Shaikh m respect of such
material or goods sold the equivalent of import duty thereon at the rate in force at
the time of sale. The duty shad be computed on the price leceived on sale.
(D) Necessary customs officials at harbours constructed _ by the Company or
additional customs officials required at any other ports utilised b\ the Company
shall be appointed by the Shaikh in consultation with the Company and then-
salaries which shall not exceed the usual salaries of such officials shall lae paid by
the Company which shall also provide at its own expense suitable buildings for the
accommodation of customs officials at harbours which it has constructed.
e
Article 8.—(A) The Company shall have the right to purchase at current
market rates fuel, water, food, building and constructional materials and other
supplies of every kind in connection with its operations hereunder.
(B) The Company shall employ subjects of the Shaikh as far as possible for all
work for which they are suited under the supervision of the Company’s skilled
employees, but if the local supply of labour should in the judgment of the Company
be inadequate or unsuitable the Company shall have the right with the approval of
the Shaikh which shall not be unreasonably withheld to import labour preference
being given to labourers from the neighbouring Arab countries who will obey the
local laws. The Company shall also have the right to import skilled and technical
employees. Any employee imported by the Company who shall by misconduct
cause a breach of peace or public disturbance shall at the request of the Shaikh be
dismissed and shall if it is within the power of the Company to do so be sent out of
Kuwait. The Company shall pay to the workmen it employs a fair wage, such
wage to be decided and stated by the Company at the time the workmen are
engaged.
(C) The Company shall provide free of charge medical service for its employees,
and the Shaikh and his family shall have the right to such medical service and
necessary medical supplies free of charge.
Article 9.—The Shaikh grants to the Company 7 ' free of cost the unrestricted use
and occupation of and surJace rights over all uncultivated land belonging to the
Shaikh which the Company may need for the purposes of its operations and in
particular the Company shall have the right to select in consultation with the
Shaikh an area or areas of land chosen by r the Company outside the present town
wall of Kuwait with exclusive surface rights upon which to erect oil refineries,
storage, terminal and shipping facilities and any other works required for the
Company’s operations; and the Company may with the cognisance of the Shaikh
buy or lease for such purposes any lands, houses or buildings with the consent
of and on conditions to be arranged with the proprietors thereof but the terms of
such purchase or lease shall not be in excess of those ordinarily current in their
respective localities.
(A) r lhe Company' shall acquire only such land, houses and buildings as are
necessary for its operations under this Agreement. The Company shall inform the
Shaikh frcm time to time of the land, houses and buildings which it requires to
occupy for its operations ; and land, houses and buildings previously 7 acquired by
the Company from the Shaikh but found no longer necessary 7 for its operations-
shall be returned by the Company to the Shaikh free of charge.

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.' [‎9v] (23/574), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3808, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100047795841.0x000018> [accessed 28 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_100047795841.0x000018">Coll 30/89 'Oil: Koweit Oil Agreement between the Koweit Oil Company and His Majestys Government.' [&lrm;9v] (23/574)</a>
<a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100047795841.0x000018">
	<img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000648.0x000178/IOR_L_PS_12_3808_0023.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