IOR/R/15/2/865

The volume contains correspondence relating to the work of Petroleum Development (Qatar) Limited, a subsidiary of Petroleum Concessions Limited, in Qatar. The correspondence is principally between the Political Agent in Bahrain, the Political Residency in Bahrain [Persian Gulf Political Residency], representatives of Petroleum Concessions Limited (at their offices in Bahrain and the United Kingdom) and Petroleum Development (Qatar) Limited, the Foreign Office, the India Office, the Government of India, the Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf, the Staff Liaison Officer (RAF) in Bahrain, and the ruler of Qatar, Abdulla bin Qasim al Thani [‘Abdullāh bin Qāsim Āl Thānī].

The papers contained in the file cover the following matters:

• use of certain radio frequencies by Petroleum Development (Qatar) Limited;
• jurisdiction of the Shaikh of Qatar over non-Qatari and non-British subjects in his country;
• employment of foreign nationals, including Iranian drivers and mechanics, Palestinian welders and other technicians, and Hungarians and Romanians;
• employment of the Lebanese firm Contracting and Trading Company to recruit skilled labour;
• use of the telegraphic address PETROQAT QATAR by Petroleum Development (Qatar) Limited;
• the provision of meat for workers in the field;
• the extent of the Qatar concession, specifically if it covers its waters and islands;
• interference in the erection of navigational buoys by Su'aad bin Abdur Rehman Al-Thani, Shaikh of Wakrah;
• advance payment of concession royalties to Shaikh ‘Abdullāh of Qatar;
• the Shaikh of Bahrain's claims on Zubarah.

Folios 155-66 are internal office notes.