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Coll 30/87(2) Part II 'Qatar: Oil Concession - P.C.L.'s Operations.' [‎24r] (48/603)

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The record is made up of 1 file (296 folios). It was created in 6 Jan 1945-13 Apr 1948. 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. .

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‘..'THJ/' ...
-2'
to your Office as that within the rt Belgrave Line** should be so iSW
are questions to which the Coiupany can find no answer* *&lso, Isay should
some of these Islands, Islets, Shoals and Shallows which have been made
^ use of by these Islanders, the Subjects of the Sheikhs of Bahrain, and re
garded as coming within the Bahrain Archipelago, be treated as enclaves or
quasi-enclaves, i.e. as territories wholly or partially surrounded by foreign
dominions? This appears to be the case of the Hawar Group of Isles etc. and
of Dibal and laradeh to the north of that Group: by no system of reasoning
can the Company reconcile the proposal of H.M. Government with the rights and
interests both of this Sheikhdom/(which the Company has so sincerely at
heart and which it has done so much to protect and improve) and which the
Company is so desirous of furthering, and of the Company itself. In fact,
the proposed boundary line would hem in the Archipelago from the waters of
the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. to an extent contrary to established Custom and necessity.
Furthermore, by proposing to divide the Sitrah Channel by a line run
ning from the open sea to the North Sitrah Light is to do at least four things
adversely affecting the interests of this Company, namely:-
(1) To hand to a neighbouring Sheikh a right over and under a
channel peculiar to the Bahrein Island itself and therefore
to the Company and to which that Sheikh could otherwise
have no possible claim;
(2) To introduce the possibility of serious interference with
the Company’s exclusive rights in regard to the production,
refining etc. of petroleum and its products within the
Sheikhdom of Bahrein;
(3) To create a cause for provocation to the Bahrein Islanders
which would lead to disturbances inimical to the interests
of the Company; and

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Content

The file concerns the operations of Petroleum Concessions Limited (PCL) (and its subsidiary Petroleum Development (Qatar) Limited) in Qatar. Of particular importance in the file is the issue of the division of the sea bed for drilling operations between PCL's concession, and that of the Bahrain Petroleum Company Limited (BAPCO) in Bahrain.

The file contains discussion of the issue by 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. , the Foreign Office, the Ministry of Fuel and Power, 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. , and the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , Bahrain.

The papers cover: the resumption of drilling operations in Qatar after their suspension during the Second World War; payment of royalties; the Hawar Islands; the granting of permission to use wireless sets; the response of British officials to a United States Government request to PCL for information on petroleum resources in Qatar and the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. , October-November 1946; aerial surveys of the Bahrain-Qatar Unallotted Area; the application of US President Harry S Truman's continental shelf doctrine to the issue (e.g. folios 141, 110); maps of the area; Admiralty comments on the need for all parties to be aware that the sea bed only was concerned, and that the waters above, and free navigation, were in no way affected (folio 46); correspondence from the oil companies involved; and the reactions of local rulers to the negotiations.

The file also contains five maps.

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 file (296 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 last folio with 296; 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. Foliation anomaly: 268a.

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English in Latin script
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Coll 30/87(2) Part II 'Qatar: Oil Concession - P.C.L.'s Operations.' [‎24r] (48/603), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3806B, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100056534849.0x000032> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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