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Coll 30/87(2) Part I 'Qatar: Oil Concession.' [‎494r] (1004/1310)

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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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9
,i 0) Tile sti all retain for himself the right to grant—in consultation with
the Company to another Company or Companies operating petroleum areas within
territories adjoining the Kuwait borders the right to lay down pipelines and to
permit such Company or Companies to construct and erect within the Kuwait
territory and across same, the necessary buildings and machinery required for the
transport m transit or passage over Kuwait territory of crude oil to a suitable
crude on ^ ° f ■ Wait considered convenient for the loading of the said
Article LO. —The Shaikh shall give to the Company and its employees and
property all the protection in his power from theft, highway robbery, assault, wilful
damage and destruction, and the Company may appoint in consultation with the
fehaikh and itself pay trustworthy guards who shall at all times be Kuwait subjects
unless the Shaikh permits otherwise to assist in protecting the property of the
Company and its employees. The Company shall erect at its own expense suitable
shall d^ide ^ accommodatlon of such g aard s at such places as the Company
Article 11—(A) Before the expiration of the period specified in Article 1 hereof
rm 8 Agreement shall come to an end either by surrender as provided in paragraph
( j of this Article or in Article 12 or in one of the three following cases :—
(a) If the Company shall fail to fulfil its obligations under Article 2 hereof
^ in respect of geological exploration or drilling.
(b) If the Company shall fail within six (6) mouths after any anniversary of
the date of signature of this Agreement to make to the Shaikh 'any
payments agreed to be due under Article 3.
(c) If the Company shall be in default under the arbitration provisions of
Article 18.
. 0 an y a hove-mentioned cases the Shaikh shall be entitled to terminate
tins Agreement and all the property of the Company within the State of Kuwait
shall become the property of the Shaikh.
(B) In the event of the Company failing to make the declaration provided in
Article 3 within 12 years of the date of signature of this Agreement the Company
shall at its option either pay to the Shaikh the minimum annual payment provided
m Article 3 (c) or surrender all rights under this Agreement.
Article 12.—(A) The Company shall have the right at any time after it has
drilled toe 4,000 feet provided in Article 2 (B) (i) or after the expiry of two years
10 m the date of signature of this Agreement—whichever shall be the later date—
1 -l Shaikh one year s notice in advance to terminate this Agreement and
the Company shall on expiry of such notice have no further liabilities except to
make payment of all monies which may be due to the Shaikh up to the date of
termination.
(B) Should this Agreement be terminated by the Company under this
Article 12, then ;—
(а) If such termination occurs within 35 years from the date of signature of
this Agreement all lands granted by the Shaikh and any lands or buildings
which the Company may have bought and any houses or buildings
constructed by and other immovable property of the Company within the
State of Kuwait shall be handed over to the Shaikh free of cost.
Producing wells or borings at the time of such termination shall be
handed over in reasonably good order and repair,
but
(б) If such termination occurs after 35 years from the date of signature of this
Agreement all the movable and immovable property of the Company in
the State of Kuwait shall be handed over to the Shaikh free of cost.
Producing wells or borings at the time of such termination shall be
handed over in reasonably good order and repair.
Article 13.—On the expiry of this Agreement at the end of the period of
75 years provided in Article 1 or of any extension or renewal of that period all the
movable and immovable property of the Company in the State of Kuwait shall be

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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.' [‎494r] (1004/1310), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3806A, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100047810669.0x000005> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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