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Coll 30/87(2) Part II 'Qatar: Oil Concession - P.C.L.'s Operations.' [‎112r] (226/603)

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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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(E 1462/716/91)
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1 HI
In connection with the Hague Codification Conference
1930 very many divergent opinions were expressed on the
question of what may constitute an island and have
territorial waters*
Article 5 of the Draft Convention drawn up by M.
Schucking, Rapporteur of the Committee of Experts for the
Progressive Codification of International Law, implies that
any part of the sea bed not continuously submerged is an
island and has territorial waters.
In our reply to the Questionnaire issued by the
Preparatory Committee of the Conference, expressed the view
that M An island is a piece of territory surrounded by water
and in normal circumstances permanently above high water*
It does not include a piece of territory not capable of
effective occupation and use. H.M.G. considers that there
is no ground for claiming that a belt of territorial waters
exists round rocks and banks not constituting islands as
defined above, and would view with favour an international
agreement to this effect in order that there may be no doubt
as to the status of the waters round such rocks and banks
and round artificial structures raised upon them* n Other
members of the British Commonwealth of Rations expressed
views substantially similar to that of Great Britain, but the
majority of the other states in their replies to the
questionnaire were inclined to the opinion that any naturally
formed part of the earth’s surface projecting above the level
of the sea at low tide should be considered an island and
have territorial waters.
On the Replies, the Preparatory Committee made the
following observations:
’•Two main conceptions appear in the above replies.
According to one, an island must be above water at high tide.
According to the other, it is sufficient for it to be above
water at low tide.
A compromise may be contemplated. It will consist in
allowing an island (i.e., an isolated island) to have its own
territorial waters only if it is above water at high tide,
but in taking islands which are above low-water mark into
account when determining the base line for the territorial
waters of another island or the mainland, if such islands be
within those waters .* 1
The Committee also drew up the foliov/ing "Basis for
discussion" for the Conference:
"In order that an Island may have its own territorial
waters, it is necessary that it should be permanently above
the level of high tide.
In order that an island lying within the territorial
waters of another island or of the mainland may be taken into
account in determining the belt of such territorial waters,
it is sufficient for the island to be above water at low
tide."
In his memorandum of 21 June, 1937, (printed paper
N.3151/29/30) on the Conference, Mr. Pitzmaurice draws the
/following

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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.' [‎112r] (226/603), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3806B, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100056534850.0x00001c> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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