Coll 30/138 'Oil: Debai Political Agreement and Refinery Agreement.' [‎105r] (209/369)

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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.
Memo. B. 444
(06
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Oil Concession granted by Shaikh of Qatar to the Anglo-Persian
Oil Co., Ltd., dated 17th May 1935.
THIS AGREEMENT was made on the Seventeenth day of May 1935,
corresponding to the Fourteenth day of Safar 1354, BETWEEN Hjs
Excellency Shaikh Abdullah bin Qastm al Thani, Ruler of Qatar (who is
hereinafter called “ the Shaikh,” and this expression, whenever the contract
requires, shall include his successors and assigns), on the one part, and
Charles Clark Mylles, on behalf of the Anglo-Persian Oil Co., Ltd. (which
will hereinafter be called as ‘‘the Compan 3 r ,” and this expression shall,
whenever it is required by the contract, include its assigns), on the other part.
Agreement is hereby concluded between the Shaikh and the Company as
follows :—
Article First .—The Shaikh grants to the Company, in virtue of this Agreement,
and under the following conditions, the sole right, throughout the principality of
Qatr, to explore, to prospect, to drill for and to extract and to ship and to export
and the right to refine and sell petroleum and natural gases, ozokerite, asphalt and
everything which is extracted therefrom, which shall hereinafter be called “ the
Substances.” If the Company discovers, in the course of its investigation and
general activities, any minerals other than the Substances mentioned in the first
article, e.g. gold or iron oxide or any other minerals, it shall not be justified to
appropriate the same, but must inform the Shaikh of their discovery ; and the
Shaikh shall have full right to, and absolute control over, those minerals which
have been extracted and he shall be free in granting concessions for the extracting
of those minerals to any Company or Companies or to dispose of those minerals in
any manner he considers to he consistent to his interests.
Article Second .—Subject to the conditions of Article 7 below, the Company can
operate in any part of the State of Qatr as is defined below, but it will not operate
on places such as religious lands, cemeteries, lands occupied by religious buildings
or by essential enterprise by their owners as may exist on the date of the signature
of this Agreement or any customary extensions of such religious lands or cemeteries
or buildings as may be pointed out by the Shaikh. The State of Qatr means the
whole area over which the Shaikh rules and which is marked on the north of the
line drawn on the map attached to this Agreement.
The period of this Agreement shall be seventy-five years from the date of its
signature.
Article Third .—The Company shall explore the State of Qatr minutely by any
method which is best in its opinion to enable it to ascertain the probable existence
of the Substances.
And for the purpose of carrying out its work in accordance with this Agreement,
the Company shall employ all customary and proper means and shall carry out the
examination by methods agreeable to the modern Scientific knowledge. The
Company shall inform Mis Excellency the Shaikh of all its operations in this
connection from time to time.
The Company undertakes to keep drawings and maps and accurate records of
the wells drilled and such-like data, whether they be topographical, geological or
drilling, as it is customary to keep, and such information as these shall be open to
inspection by the Shaikh or his authorised representative.
Article Fourth .—In consideration of the rights granted by His Excellency the
Shaikh to the Company in accordance with this Agreement, the Company shall pay
4558a 150 2.36