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Coll 30/87(2) Part I 'Qatar: Oil Concession.' [‎302r] (624/1310)

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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. .

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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
December in the year 1934 corre
sponding to 16th day of Ramadham
1353 between His Excellency Shaikh
Sir Ahmed ai-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
exeicise of his powers as Ruler of Kuwait on his own behalf and in the name
of and 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.—The 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,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) Within 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.
fii) 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) The Company shall conduct its operations in a workmanlike manner and by
aunropriate scientific methods and shall take all reasonable measures to prevent the
inoress of water to anv 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. ^ reproduced.
(Signed)
(Signature of Shaikh of Kuwait.)
(Signed) H. R. P. Dickson, Lt.-Col.
3567

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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.' [‎302r] (624/1310), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3806A, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100047810667.0x000019> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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