Agreement between Ruler of Qatar and Petroleum Development (Qatar) Limited concerning oil royalties

This file relates to the concession agreement between Petroleum Development (Qatar) Limited (PDQ), Petroleum Concessions Limited (PCL) and the Ruler of Qatar Sheikh Ali Bin Abdulla Al Thani and the issue of oil royalties. It contains correspondence concerning:

• The signing of the agreement and letters between PDQ and the Ruler on the Ruler’s petrol allowance, the exclusivity of the concession agreement, the proposed income tax decree and PDQ’s agreement to pay a lump sum to cover the period before the agreement’s date of enforcement of 1 September 1952
• The dissemination of signed copies of the agreement in Arabic and English
• Discussions on the Ruler’s local currency requirements in Indian rupees; the advice that the Ruler open a sterling account in London with the Eastern Bank Limited and draw rupees from the branch in Doha; the disagreement between PDQ and Abdulla Darwish on the company’s promise of rupees to cover local expenditure including what constitutes the Ruler’s ‘reasonable requirements’ and whether rupees should be paid in a lump sum or linked to the rate of oil production; the clarification that the Ruler just desires to not be disadvantaged by fluctuating exchange rates, with comparison to the agreement arrived at between Qatar and Shell; and the British Residency in Bahrain’s proposals to solve the disagreement
• A report from C T E Ewart-Biggs on the signing of the agreement and the solution arrived at over the guarantee clause; and the forwarding of this report by W R Hay to the Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden
• Notification of HMG’s approval of the agreement.