IOR/L/PS/12/3805

The file concerns discussions between the British Government and the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) over the drafting of an agreement to obtain an oil concession in Qatar (also spelled Katr and Qatr) for the company. The British Government was keen that the concession should be obtained by a British company.

The papers cover: discussion and drafts of the commercial agreement between APOC and the Shaikh of Qatar [‘Abdullāh bin Jāsim Āl Thānī]; drafts of the political agreement between HM Government and APOC; minutes of meetings at the India Office between British Government officials and representatives of APOC; the attitude of the Shaikh of Qatar; the risk of the Shaikh granting the concession to the California Arabian Standard Oil Company (folio 293); the need to keep exploitation of oil in Qatar in British hands, in order to ensure greater political control and avoid international complications arising from the safety of foreign nationals (folio 265); the particular difficulties involved in developing an oil industry in Qatar (e.g. folio 262); the question of the development of air facilities in Qatar, including correspondence from the Air Ministry (e.g. folios 236-237); the involvement of the Admiralty in the discussions (e.g. folios 209-210); the modelling of the Qatar oil concession on that of Koweit [Kuwait] (e.g. folios 194-197); the possibility of constructing an oil refinery in Qatar (e.g. folio 104); the potential effect on APOC of customs and import dues in Qatar (e.g. folios 68-69); British political representation in Qatar (folios 59-60); the southern limit of the proposed Qatar oil concession; and the potential for disputes with Ibn Saud [Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd], arising from the definition of Qatar's boundary with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (e.g. folios 20-21).

The main correspondents are senior officials at the India Office (especially John Gilbert Laithwaite), and representatives of APOC.

The Arabic language content of the papers consists of two place names on a map entitled 'Sketch Map of Qatar Peninsula' on folio 14.

The file also contains a small number of papers dated 1914-16.

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.