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Coll 30/87(2) Part I 'Qatar: Oil Concession.' [‎363r] (744/1310)

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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. B. 444
Oil Concession granted by Shaikh of Qatar to the Anglo-Persian
Oil Co., Ltd., dated 17th May 1935.
THIS AGREEMENT was made on the Seventeenth day of May 1935,
corresponding to the Fourteenth day of Safar 1354, BETWEEN His
Excellency Shaikh Abdullah bin Qasim al Thani, Ruler of Qatar (who is
hereinafter called “ the Shaikh,” and this expression, whenever the contract
requires, shall include his successors and assigns), on the one part, and
Charles Clark Mylles, on behalf of the Anglo-Persian Oil Co., Ltd. (which
will hereinafter be called as “the Compan} T ,” and this expression shall,
whenever it is required by the contract, include its assigns), on the other part.
Agreement is hereby concluded between the Shaikh and the Company a&
follows :—
Article First .—The Shaikh grants to the Company, in virtue of this Agreement,
and under the following conditions, the sole right, throughout the principality of
Qatr, to explore, to prospect, to drill for and to extract and to ship and to export
and the right to refine and sell petroleum and natural gases, ozokerite, asphalt and
everything which is extracted therefrom, which shall hereinafter be called “ the
Substances.” If the Company discovers, in the course of its investigation and
general activities, any minerals other than the Substances mentioued in the first
article, e.g. gold or iron oxide or any other minerals, it shall not be justified to
appropriate the same, but must inform the Shaikh of their discovery ; and the
Shaikh shall have full right to, and absolute control over, those minerals which
have been extracted and he shall be free in granting concessions for the extracting
of those minerals to any Company or Companies or to dispose of those minerals in
any manner he considers to be consistent to his interests.
Article Second .—Subject to the conditions of Article 7 below, the Company can
operate in any part of the State of Qatr as is defined below, but it will not operate
on places such as religious lands, cemeteries, lands occupied by religious buildings
or by essential enterprise by their owners as may exist on the date of the signature
of this Agreement or any customary extensions of such religious lands or cemeteries
or buildings as may be pointed out by the Shaikh. The State of Qatr means the
whole area over which the Shaikh rides and which is marked on the north of the
line drawn on the map attached to this Agreement.
The period of this Agreement shall be seventy-five years from the date of its
signature.
Article Third .—The Company shall explore the State of Qatr minutely by any
method which is best in its opinion to enable it to ascertain the probable existence
of the Substances.
And for the purpose of carrying out its work in accordance with this Agreement,
the Company shall employ all customary and proper means and shall carry out the
examination by methods agreeable to the modern Scientific knowledge^ I he
Companv shall inform His Excellency the Shaikh of all its operations in this
connection from time to time.
The Company undertakes to keep drawings and maps and accurate records of
the wells drilled and such-like data, whether they be topographical, geological or
drilling, as it is customary to keep, and such information as these shall be open to
inspection by the Shaikh or his authorised representative.
Article Fourth .—In consideration of the rights granted by His Excellency the
Shaikh to the Company in accordance with this Agreement, the Company shall pay
4558a 150 2.36 A

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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.' [‎363r] (744/1310), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3806A, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100047810667.0x000091> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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