Coll 30/87(2) Part II 'Qatar: Oil Concession - P.C.L.'s Operations.' [‎35r] (70/603)

CONFIDENTIAL
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EXPRESS
L E T T E R V
From
To
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. , Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , Bahrain.
H.M’s Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relatioj
<» a Lon <
No.299-S Hr^ H
ated BAHRAIN, the 2nd February, 1948.
Reference paragraph 3 of my Express Letter No.l46-S dated
fcxi sucAivS the 16t h J^nuaryje gar ding the division of the sea bed between
Bahrain and Qatar. The following are my comments on the Shaikh of
Bahrain’s letters
Reference paragraph 3 in which it is contended that during
the discussions regarding an oil concession for the n additional area”
in 1938-39 the political authorities tacitly accepted the red line
. shown on the map vide enclosures forwarded under Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. Express
Letter No.C-331 dated 7th Ma y 1938, as the Bahrain boundary, this
point is dealt with in paragraphs 26, 28(e) and 29(e) of Galloway’s
f.Expres s Letter Nq .CZ 14 50 dated the, 31st December 1_946 which formed
an enclosure to my letterNo7X26^B~mt^cr^HF~1.8th January 194? and
has been accepted there and in paragraph 7 of my letter as one of
the arguments for allotting Dibal and Jaradeh to Bahrain. At the
time of the negotiations for the “additional area” P.C.L. were inform*
”As your Company understands, there is a possibility that
the Shaikh of Qatar might wish to advance claims to certain of the
islands, reefs or shaals, and if he should do so such claims would
have to be considered by His Majesty's Government with a view to
reaching a decision.
It should also be clearly understood that any decision
subsequently taken with regard to the sovereignty or ownership of any
of the islands, reefs or shoals included in the proposed concession
areas will only hold good to the'extent that His Majesty's Government
are in a position to take and enforce a decision, i.e. as between
one protected State and another, and cannot be held to preclude His
Majesty’s Government from admitting the sovereignty of any foreign
power which may hereafter put forward a claim to the islands, reefs,
or shoals if His Majesty's Government in their sole discretion think
it expedient to admit that claim.”
A proposal was made that a warning on similar lines should
be given to the Bahrain Government vide paragraph 3 of 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.
telegram No.869 dated 4th May, 1938. . Fowle objected to any suggest
ion being made that the claims of a foreign power might be admitted
and proposed that a communication should be made to the Shaikh of
Bahrain that claims by foreign powers or other Shaikhs to parts of
the concessional areas must be considered and decided by His Majesty^
Government on their merits and asked for His Majesty’s Government’s
instructions as soon as possible vide paragraph 8 of his Express
-Lette r No.C.331 dated 7th May, 1938. Unfortunately so far as my
records show no Instructions were received from His Majesty’s Govern
ment and no cogimunication was made to the Shaikh. His Majesty’s
p.°S'
Government's attitude however at the time was clea;r and logical and
as no agreement was ever reached between the Bahrain Government and
P.C.L. covering the area in the map already referred to and subsequent
ly confirmed by a Political Agreement between the Company and His
Majesty’s Government. I think we are justified in holding that the
mere fact that negotiations were allowed to take place covering the
area claimed by the Shaikh of Bahrain did not finally commit His
Majesty's Government to a recognition of that claim. The limits of
the ’’additional area” are nowhere defined in the concession subse
quently granted for it to the Bahrain Petroleum Company
2. With reference to paragraph 4 of the Shaikh’s letter in
which it is claimed that Dibal and Jaradeh are the terminus of one
long continuous shoal and that the whole of the shoal should there
fore be allotted to Bahrain the fact is that Dibal and Jaradeh are
intermediate points situated on a salient from a shoal that stretches