Page 74 - The Persian Gulf Historical Summaries (1907-1953) Vol III

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(a)

Letter dated December XI, 1952, from the Gulf Kuwait Company to the Under­
secretary of State for Foreign Affairs confirming the acceptance by the
Kuwait Oil Company of the terms of the Political Agreement (No. 4 above)

Wc have the honour to return, duly completed, one copy of the Political
Agreement concluded between Her Majesty’s Government and Gulf Kuwait
Company regarding the Oil Concession Agreement with the Shaikh of Kuwait.
in this connection we would inform you that the Kuwait Oil Company
Limited, which is registered in the United Kingdom, has been created within the
terms of Article 2 of the Political Agreement as an operating company for the
purposes of the Oil Concession Agreement, and that, in accordance with Article 17
of the Political Agreement, the Kuwait Oil Company Limited accepts and will
comply with the terms of the Political Agreement.

(b)

Letter dated April 1, 1953, from the Political Agent, Kuwait, to the Ruler of
Kuwait forwarding a copy of the Political Agreements (No. 3 and No. 4
above) and requesting the Ruler’s confirmation that the arrangements
contained in the 1934 Exchange of Letters (No. 2 (b) and (c)) will remain
in force under the new Political Agreement
In view of the company reorganisation which took place at the time of the
conclusion of the oil agreement between Your Highness and the D’Arcy Kuwait
Company Limited and Gulf Kuwait Company in December 1951, it has been
necessary to replace the Political Agreement signed in 1934 between His Majesty’s
Government and the Kuwait Oil Company Limited by a new agreement between
Her Majesty's Government and each of the two new companies. These new
agreements represent no fundamental change from the existing position but are
required as a result of the changed circumstances.
The new agreements, of which I now enclose copies, remain substantially
the same as the 1934 Agreement which it is intended that they should supersede.
Apart from the changes"in Articles 5 and 16, of which you have previously been
informed and which are considered more appropriate to the present situation,
and a few minor drafting or procedural changes, three new Articles have been
inserted. Articles 11 and 12 are designed to protect Your Highness’s interests
with regard to frontier delimitation, navigation, fishing and pearling and Article 15
is merely a recognition by the Company of the existence of the various agreements
between Your Highness and Her Majesty’s Government.
Your Highness will recall that the existing arrangements are set out in letters
exchanged between Your Highness’s predecessor, Shaikh Ahmad and the Political
Agent after the conclusion of the Political Agreement between His Majesty’s
Government and the Kuwait Oil Company in May 1934. When acknowledging
receipt of this letter I should be grateful if Your Highness would confirm your
understanding that, subject to the modification described below, these arrangements
will continue to apply to the new Political Agreements as to the 1934 Agreement
which it is intended that they should supersede. The modification, which is
required by the changed procedure, set out in Article 16, for dealing with breaches
by either Company of the terms of the Political Agreement, is that the reference
to Article 18 of the Commercial Agreement in paragraph 3 (a) of the letter from
the Political Agent to Shaikh Ahmad, dated 23rd May, 1934, should now be
replaced by a reference to Article 16 of the Political Agreement.