Editing History of Qatar (section)

===Oil drilling===

The scramble for oil raised the stakes in regional territorial disputes and signified the need to establish territorial borders. The first move came in 1922 at a boundary conference in [[Uqair]] when prospector Major [[Frank Holmes (geologist)|Frank Holmes]] attempted to include Qatar in an oil concession he was discussing with Ibn Saud. Sir [[Percy Cox]], the British representative, saw through the ploy and drew a line on the map separating the Qatar Peninsula from the mainland.<ref>H.R.P. Dickson to the Political Resident, Bahrain, 4 July 1933, British Library India Office Records (IOR) PS/12/2/213-0</ref> The first oil survey took place in 1926 under the direction of [[George Martin Lees]], a geologist contracted to the [[Anglo-Persian Oil Company]] (APOC), but no oil was found. The oil issue rose again in 1933 after an oil strike in Bahrain. Lees had already noted that, in such an eventuality, Qatar should be investigated again.<ref>Report of G.M. Lees of 21 March 1926, BP Archive, Warwick University, Archive reference 135500.</ref> After lengthy negotiations on 17 May 1935, Abdullah bin Jassim signed a concession agreement with Anglo-Persian representatives for a period of 75 years in return for 400,000 rupees on signature and 150,000 [[rupee]]s per annum with royalties.<ref>Diary of a Visit to Qatar, C.C. Mylles, BP Archive, Warwick University, Archive Reference 135500.</ref> As part of the agreement, Great Britain made more specific promises of assistance than they had in earlier treaties.<ref name=cs/> APOC transferred the concession to the [[Iraq Petroleum Company|IPC]] subsidiary company Petroleum Development (Qatar) Ltd. to meet its obligations under the [[Red Line Agreement]].

[[File:Bahrain-Juzur Hawar.png|thumb|left|Hawar Islands (shown in red). Not to scale.]]
Bahrain claimed rule over a group of islands between the two countries in 1936. The largest island was [[Hawar Islands]], situated off the west coast of Qatar, where the Bahrainis had established a small military garrison. Britain accepted the Bahraini claim over Abdullah bin Jassim's objections, largely because the Bahraini sheikh's personal British adviser was able to phrase their case in a legal manner familiar to British officials. In 1937, the Bahrainis again laid claim to the deserted town of [[Zubarah]] after being involved in a dispute between Abdullah bin Jassim and the [[Na'im]] tribe. Abdullah bin Jassim sent a large, heavily armed force and defeated the Na'im. The British political resident in Bahrain supported Qatar's claim and warned Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa, the ruler of Bahrain, not to intervene militarily. Indignant over the loss of Zubarah, Hamad ibn Isa imposed a crushing [[embargo]] on trade and travel to Qatar.<ref name=cs/>

Drilling of the first oil well began in [[Dukhan]] in October 1938, and over a year later, the well struck oil in the [[Late Jurassic|Upper Jurassic]] limestone. Unlike the Bahraini strike, this was similar to Saudi Arabia's [[Dammam]] field discovered three years before.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.geoexpro.com/articles/2010/01/the-qatar-oil-discoveries|title=The Qatar Oil Discoveries" by Rasoul Sorkhabi|publisher=geoxpro.com|date=2010|access-date=1 February 2015|archive-date=5 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205055046/https://www.geoexpro.com/articles/2010/01/the-qatar-oil-discoveries|url-status=dead}}</ref> Production was halted between 1942 and 1947 because of [[World War II]] and its aftermath. The disruption of food supplies caused by the war prolonged a period of economic hardship in Qatar, which began in the 1920s with the collapse of the pearl trade and was exacerbated in the early 1930s with the onsets of the [[Great Depression]] and the Bahraini embargo. As was the case in previous times of privation, entire families and tribes moved to other parts of the [[Persian Gulf]], leaving many Qatari villages deserted. Abdullah bin Jassim went into debt and groomed his favored second son, [[Hamad bin Abdullah Al Thani]], to be his successor in preparation for his retirement. However, Hamad bin Abdullah's death in 1948 led to a succession crisis in which the main candidates were Abdullah bin Jassim's eldest son, [[Ali bin Abdullah Al Thani]], and Hamad bin Abdullah's teenage son, [[Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani]].<ref name=cs/>

[[File:Qatar, Al Jumailiyah (10), old oil installation.JPG|thumb|An old oil installation in north-west Qatar.]]
Oil exports and payments for offshore rights began in 1949 and marked a turning point in Qatar. The oil revenues would dramatically transform the economy and society and would also provide the focus for domestic disputes and foreign relations. This became apparent to Abdullah bin Jassim when several of his relatives threatened armed opposition if they did not receive increases in their allowances. Aged and anxious, Abdullah bin Jassim turned to the British. He promised to abdicate and agreed to an official British presence in Qatar in exchange for recognition and support of Ali bin Abdullah as ruler in 1949.<ref name=cs/>

Under British tutelage, the 1950s saw the development of government structures and public services. [[Ali bin Abdullah Al Thani|Ali bin Abdullah]] was at first reluctant to share power, which had centered in his household, with an infant bureaucracy run and staffed mainly by outsiders. Ali bin Abdullah's increasing financial difficulties and inability to control striking oil workers and difficult sheikhs led him to succumb to British pressure. The first official budget was drawn up by a British adviser in 1953. By 1954, there were forty-two Qatari government employees.<ref name=cs/>