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Coll 30/87(2) Part I 'Qatar: Oil Concession.' [‎108r] (238/1310)

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The record is made up of 4 volumes (639 folios). It was created in 14 Jan 1935-8 Nov 1944. It was written in English and Arabic. 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

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(Received under Bahrain Printed Letter No a/noi
dated the 14th September 1942) *
Translation of letter dieted 8th Shaban 1361 (21/8/42) from
41 ^ Thani * of Qatar' to the /
Political ^ent, Bahrain*
.0
•v •
tiP''
i \«
2&l~l Refer once your letter Ko.C/lE03, «rf 194S, dated loth
August 1942.
Your Honour doubtlessly remember the conversation which
took place between us concerning this matter on the 2rui and
3rd JUly 1942. V^hm you referred to Article IB of the agreement
I explained to you that if we were to observe the said article .*
we would not find anything in it now bearing on the suspension
of the Company’s operations* As you have noticed the said
Article refers to the !1 feres laajeure” that might take place in
Qatar but says nothing about whet may happen in other places.
You will sea that no ’force majeurc* has taken place in Qatar
necessitating the suspension of the Company* s operations. It
can be known from the agreement itself what is to be done should
the Company stop their operations and thus act in contravention witli
the provisions of Article 15 of the agreement. then you yourself,
during our conversation! perused the provisions of the said Article
and asked mo not to demand a rigid application owing to the present
circumstances 1 could not © tick to the terms of the Article but
acquiesced in your request and fell in with your wishes in the
matter of according facilities leaving aside the provisions of the
above article* But I explained to you that I will lodB »ny things
©a account of this and stipulated that the things which I mentioned
in my conversation should be granted and then I confi , .in my
letter of 2€th Jamah thmni 1361 (9/0/42)* You promised to take
up the matter with the Company end do your best in getting them*
I thank you for discussing the matter with the Company md have
no doubt that 1 will easily get all the things X mentioned in view
of the great facilities which 1 have afforded to the Company and
^ cooperation with them which has facilitated their work*
’During our conversation X informed you that among the MmUtama
and facilities which I afforded to the Company was that X allowed

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Content

The file concerns the signing of the agreement between the British Government, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) (later the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company), and the Shaikh of Qatar, Abdullah bin Qasim al Thani [‘Abdullāh bin Jāsim Āl Thānī] to award the company an exclusive oil concession in Qatar (also spelled Qatr and Katr). The file also concerns preliminary oil explorations in Qatar, and the subsequent suspension of operations on the orders of the British Government.

The papers cover: discussion, drafts and text of the commercial agreement between the Shaikh of Qatar and APOC (signed 17 May 1935); discussion, draft and text of the political agreement between HM Government and APOC (signed 5 June 1935); the use by the Shaikh of modern, Egyptian Arabic to make comments on the draft (folios 624-625); British support for the proposal that disputes between foreign employees of the company and inhabitants of Qatar should not be submitted to the Shara [Sharia] courts (folio 604); intelligence on the activities of the Standard Oil Company [California-Arabia Standard Oil Company] (e.g. folio 443); British emphasis that military protection would be afforded to the Shaikh of Qatar on condition that he awarded the oil concession to APOC, and the assumption by Britain of responsibility for the protection of Qatar (e.g. folios 400-403); the transfer of the concession from the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company to Petroleum Development (Qatar) Limited (e.g. folios 335-357); the payment of salaries to the Shaikh's representatives (e.g. folios 294-295); water drilling operations by the company (e.g. folios 237-241); references to Qatar's disputed border with Saudi Arabia; reports of preliminary drilling results and first discoveries of oil (1939-41); employment of foreign personnel by Petroleum Concessions Limited in Qatar (folios 180-182); the suspension of drilling operations on the orders of HM Government in 1942 as a result of war conditions, including correspondence on the subject between British officials and the Shaikh of Qatar, 1942-43; note that the suspension had been ordered because the British military authorities were unable to spare sufficient personnel to ensure the destruction of the oil wells, should the military situation demand it (folio 41); correspondence dated 1944 concerning a proposed increase in world oil refining capacity; and further correspondence dated 1944 concerning the boundary between Qatar and Bahrain at Hawar Island.

The main correspondents are senior officials 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. , representatives of the oil companies concerned, 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 Arabic language content of the file consists of approximately 30 folios of correspondence, largely between British officials and the Ruler of Qatar.

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
4 volumes (639 folios)
Arrangement

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

Physical characteristics

Foliation: this file consists of four physical volumes. The foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover of volume one (ff 1-161) and terminates at the inside back cover of volume four (ff 486-647); 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 and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script
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Coll 30/87(2) Part I 'Qatar: Oil Concession.' [‎108r] (238/1310), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3806A, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100047810665.0x000027> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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