IOR/L/PS/12/2976

Correspondence, notes, and minutes regarding the political agreement connected to the oil concession agreement between the Sultan of Muscat and Oman and Petroleum Concessions Limited (PCL). Due to disagreement over the Sultan's obligations to British companies and the British Government when it comes to oil concessions, two political agreements were concluded: one involving the Sultan, PCL, and the British Government and in the form of an exchange of letters, the other between PCL and the British Government without the Sultan's knowledge. The majority of the papers form part of the discussion over the terms and wording of the agreements. This exchange is between officials at the Political Residency in the Persian Gulf, Political Agency at Muscat, Government of India (External Affairs Department), India Office, Foreign Office, Admiralty, Ministry of Fuel and Power (Petroleum Department), PCL, and Sultan Sa'id bin Taimur [Sa‘īd ibn Taymūr Āl Bū Sa‘īd]. Several drafts are included in the file and the originals of the final agreements, signed 27 September 1938, are found on folios 22-25.

The file also contains:

• copies and extracts of other agreements and exchanges that were used for reference and as templates, including that of Dubai (folios 272-75), Sharjah (folios 262-68), and Bahrain (folios 168-73)
• copies of the oil concession agreements for Dhofar and Muscat (folios 193-214)
• correspondence concerning the disagreement over the Sultan's obligations to the British government, including the question of the relevance of previous agreements
• correspondence relating to PCL's request for extensions to their Ajman and Oman agreements due to the disruption caused by the Second World War.