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Coll 30/87(2) Part II 'Qatar: Oil Concession - P.C.L.'s Operations.' [‎184r] (370/603)

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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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page 6. ^
PX J30t
' t* 1
/
is to divide the sea-bed by a median line cf. the last'^
sentence of paragraph 3 of my predecessors teleg r am No, 366,
dated the 7th June, 1940, but to make exceptions to this rule
where Bahrain has definitely established her sovereignty over
islands or shoals on the Qatar side of the line. Bahrain*s
share of the sea-bed in the vicinity of these islands should
however be reduced to a minimum.
11. It remains to be considered whether either of the
Oil Companies or the Shaikhs concerned should be consulted
before a decision is reached. I see no prospect of obtaining
the agreement of the Shaikhs, relations between whom are already
strained over the question of Zubarah 18th-century town located 105 km from Doha. . The Shaikh of Bahrain
would never accept a decision which ignores his claim to that
place and clearly recognises its inclusion in the Shaikhdom
of Qatar while the Shaikh of Qatar would never acquiesce in
the allotment of the Hawar islands and the Dibal and Jaradah
shoals to Bahrain. In view of the knov/n attitude of the
Shaikhs I consider it unfair to consult the Companies neither
of which could be expected to prejudice its position by con
curring in a proposal which it knows to be unpalatable to the
Shaikh upon whom it is dependent for its concession. Inciden
tally Petroleum Concessions Limited has not yet obtained a
concession for the Qatar shoals and islands.
12 . I would suggest therefore that an announcement
should be made that pending a proper survey of the waters
concerned His Majesty*s Government regards the line described
in paragraph 9 as the boundary so far as the sea-bed is con
cerned between Bahrain and Qatar and that to the east of this
line it recognises the sovereignty of Bahrain over the Hawar
islands (excluding Janan) and the Dibal and Jaradah shoals
down to the spring-tide low water level only. In the case
of the Hawar islands, the sea-bed between them inside a line
drawn round the outermost islands at low water level will also
be recognised as
• • • •

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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.' [‎184r] (370/603), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3806B, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100056534850.0x0000ac> [accessed 10 May 2024]

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