'File 86/1 VI (D 97) Kuwait Oil'

The correspondence in the volume relates to three main areas of discussion:. The Kuwait Oil Company's negotiations with the Shaikh of Kuwait, Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ, for the granting of an oil concession in Kuwait. Included within the volume are copies of both the draft concession agreement, in Arabic and English, (folios 16-27) and copies of the political agreement between His Majesty's Government and the Kuwait Oil Company (folios 57-65, 71-80 and 83-84) as well as correspondence regarding particular clauses within both agreements. Also included are records of interviews between Harold Dickson, Political Agent Kuwait, and the Shaikh of Kuwait, 25-26 February 1934, discussing the Shaikh's thoughts on the draft concession presented to him (folios 28-35). The Kuwait Oil Company's negotiations were handled by Major Archibald Chisholm and Major Frank Holmes; The British Government's concerns over an oil concession for the Nejd-Kuwait Neutral Zone, and particularly the possibility of an American company receiving the concession from the Saudi Government. The correspondence is primarily between the Foreign Office, India Office and the British Legation at Jedda and seeks to determine what the position is between the Saudi Government and the two interested parties in the Neutral Zone concession: the Standard Oil Company of California and the Arabian Development Syndicate. Also included in the volume are records of two meetings held at the India Office between Sir Louis Kershaw, Deputy Under Secretary of State, and representatives of the Foreign Office, Admiralty, India Office and Petroleum Department to discuss the oil concession in the Neutral Zone, ways of attempting to ensure that British owned company secures the concession, and the difficulties of jurisdiction and protection of employees within the zone itself (folios 89-97 and 125-128); Correspondence between the Air Ministry, Air Officer Commanding , the Political Agent Kuwait and the Shaikh of Kuwait regarding the lease of three sites within Kuwait: two at Jahra and Subaihiya [Şubayḩīyah] for use as landing grounds and one at Shuwaikh for use as an air base. The correspondence includes details of how the three sites are to be used and the conditions which the Shaikh of Kuwait places on their lease; The volume also contains file notes (folios 220-225) which list each individual item of correspondence received and its date.

The contents of this volume have been arranged in chronological order. At the back of the file are several folios of file notes (folios 220-225) which list each item of correspondence in the volume, with dates, and provides folio numbers (described as page numbers in the notes) in the margin to enable them to be used as an index.

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