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Coll 30/138 'Oil: Debai Political Agreement and Refinery Agreement.' [‎6v] (12/369)

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The record is made up of 1 file (183 folios). It was created in 2 Apr 1936-25 May 1937. 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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6
No. 2
PETROLEUM CONCESSIONS LIMITED.
Agreement made with the Shaikh of Dubai, on the 22nd May 1937, with Annexure.
In the Name of God the Merciful.
This is an Agreement made at Dubai, Arabia, on the Twenty-second day of
May 1937, corresponding to the Eleventh day of Rabi-Awwal 1356 between
His Excellency Shaikh Said Din Maktum Al-Hasher in the exercise of his powers
as Ruler of Dubai, Arabia, on his own behalf and on behalf of and in the name
of his heirs and successors in whom is or shall be vested for the time being the
responsibility for the control and government of the State of Dubai (hereinafter
called “ the Shaikh ”) of the one part and Petroleum Concessions Limited, a
Company registered in Great Britain under the Companies Act, 1929, its successors
and assigns (hereinafter called “ the Company ”) of the second part.
Article 1.— (a) 'the area to which this Agreement applies is the State of Dubai
including all islands and territorial waters appertaining thereto (hereinafter
referred to as “the State”) being all that territory included in the Shaikhdom of
Dubai.
The Shaikh agrees that when the territorial limits of the State of Dubai have
been determined the area covered by the Concession will be coterminous with the
limits so determined.
(6) But the Company shall refrain from working or entering for the present
into the area upon which the town named Hatta Al Jabaliyah is located until the
Shaikh grants the Company permission to do so.
(c) The area in the Dubai Khor surveyed by Imperial Airways Limited and all
concerned with that area is entirely excluded for the purposes of this Agreement.
Article 2. The period of this Agreement shall be 75 calendar years from the
date of signature.
The expression year, month and day used in this Agreement shall mean what
is consistent with the English solar calendar and not any other. Further, the
weights mentioned in this Agreement shall be reckoned on the English ton of
2M0 lbs.
Article 3. The Shaikh hereby grants to the Company the exclusive right to
explore search for drill for produce and win natural gas asphalt ozokerite crude
petroleum and their products and cognate substances (hereinafter referred to as
“ the substances ”) within the State, the exclusive ownership of all the substances
so produced and won, the right to refine transport sell for use within and without
the State or for export and to export or otherwise deal with or dispose of the
substances, and the right to import export pump ship or otherwise transport
the substances across or to any country or place at the Company’s discretion and the
right to do all things necessary for the purpose of these operations.
Article 4. If hereafter any neutral zone is created adjacent to the territory of
the State, wherein the Shaikh shall have a co-equal and joint interest, the Shaikh
hereby agrees to grant to the Company an oil concession over such neutral zone on
terms to be agreed between the Shaikh, the Company and the joint ruler of such
neutral zone.
Article 5. In consideration of the rights granted by the Shaikh by this
Agreement the Company shall pay to the Shaikh—
(a) on signature of the agreement Rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. 60,000 (Sixty thousand).
(b) Rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. 200,000 (Two hundred thousand) within a period of sixty (60)
days from the date upon which the Company declares in writing to the Shaikh
that substances have been discovered in commercial quantities. If the
Company should fail to declare so sooner, then the date of discovery of
substances in commercial quantities shall be that date upon which the Company
has completed and tested a well or wells capable of producing in accordance
with first-class oil practice not less than Two thousand (2,000) English tons of
clean substances per day for a period of Thirty (30) consecutive days.

About this item

Content

The file concerns the preparation and signing of two agreements relating to the Debai [Dubai] oil concession:

The papers include: comments by various British Government departments (including the Admiralty, Air Ministry, Petroleum Department and the Foreign Office); drafts of the agreements; correspondence from Petroleum Concessions Limited (PCL); correspondence concerning the insertion of a pre-emption clause in the political agreement setting out the British Government's right of pre-emption of all crude oil obtained under the concession in the event of a state of national emergency or war; signed copies of the two agreements, dated 5 February 1937 (folios 20-23); and 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. confidential print entitled 'Dubai Oil Concession and Connected Documents', containing copies of the political agreement, the commercial agreement between the Shaikh of Dubai and Petroleum Concessions Limited, dated 22 May 1937, and related correspondence.

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 (183 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 184; 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 in Latin script
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Coll 30/138 'Oil: Debai Political Agreement and Refinery Agreement.' [‎6v] (12/369), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3872, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100056260906.0x00000f> [accessed 10 June 2026]

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