Prelude
A country with very few resources, Qatar experienced the hardship of austere living conditions, harsh climate and famine that killed hundreds of people and forced others to migrate to neighboring areas in search for food.
Oil discovery transformed Qatar to a new era of better living conditions that brought home its citizens to work in the oil industry. British information sources indicate that 1755 out of 2667 work force in the oil industry were Qatari citizens, i.e., 66% of the total number of workers.
Exploration
Early exploration took place in May 1935 as part of an agreement between the English-Persian Corporation and the Sheikh of Qatar at that time Abdullah Bin Jassem Al-Thani to explore oil for a term of 75 years. The agreement was executed by a corporation, later known as Qatar Oil Associated Corporation. Exploration, however, was adjourned due to border problems with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, but eventually started in 1938 extensively.
Oil was discovered in Qatar in 1940 in Dukhan Field in the west coast of the peninsula at 5685 feet deep. Production average was 5000 barrels a day. Qatar was the fourth after Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to begin production. Exploration was suspended again during World War II, and resumed in 1946.
Exportation
In 1949, Qatar started to export oil through Mesaieed port on the East Coast. The first exported quantity was 80,000 tons on board President Liner on 31/12/1949 for a price of 5.9 million Indian rupees received in 1951. Qatar developed its production speedily; and in 1951, it reached 46,500 barrels a day compared to only 34,000 a day before that time.
The State of Qatar became number 11 among oil exporting countries in 1952, with a production of 67,700 barrels a day, i.e., 0.5% of world production.
Consequently, oil revenue increased to 4.2 million US dollars in 1951, and 12 US million dollars in 1952.
The Development of Oil Investment
The second stage of oil investment in Qatar started in November 1952 after assigning an agreement with the Dutch Corporation Shell, which was named later Qatar Shell Limited Corporation, for the exploration of oil in Qatar regional waters. The agreement was signed by Sheikh Ali Bin Abdullah Al-Thani.
Offshore production started in 1966 in the first discovered field Al-Idd Al-Sharqi , which was discovered in 1960, followed by Maydan Mahzam in 1963, then Abu Al-Hanine field which is the largest in production and reservoir. The products of these fields are shipped to the nearby island of Halul where they are exported. This led to the increase of Qatar's production to 233,000 barrels a day in 1965.
In 1970, Qatar Shell Limited and Qatar Oil Limited gave up large areas of their work fields which made the government look for other plants. Qatar-Japan Oil Company signed an agreement for onshore exploration, and Winter Shell Corporation for offshore exploration. When borders between Qatar and Abu Dhabi Emirate were redrawn, joint work between the two states began in Al-Bunduq Field.
In 1971, Qatar won its independence and consequently assumed full authority over 
all decisions related to oil in the State. On 9/2/1977, it nationalized all oil companies, and handed over petrol investment to two main companies, Qatar Shell Limited and Qatar Oil Limited. In 1974, Qatar established the General Petroleum Corporation, known as Qatar Petroleum now, to shoulder the responsibility of oil investment under the authority of Finance and Petrol Ministry at that time.
The discovery of North Gas Field by Winter Shell in 1971 marked a new stage of development as it is the largest single field in the world for natural non-associated gas. The government worked out a three-stage plan for its development:
First stage
It aimed at producing about 800 million cubic feet of natural gas for local use and 50,000 barrels of condensates. This stage ended with a cost of 1300 million dollars and production started in 1992.
Second stage
It was characterized by the establishment of factories for liquefying gas in Ras Laffan Industrial City in the northeast of the peninsula. This stage started since 1984 when Qatar Gas Company was established to produce about 6 million tons of liquefied gas annually to be exported to Japan. Actual production, however, started in 1996. This was followed by the establishment of Ras Laffan Company for Natural Gas in 1993 with a production capacity of 10 million tons of natural liquefied gas to be exported to Asian markets, specifically, to South Korea.
Third stage
This stage marked the development of North Gas Field by laying pipelines to pump gas to neighboring countries like the Gulf states, Turkey and Pakistan and others.
Qatar government continues its activity in the domain of oil exploration by offering licenses for foreign corporations to survey the region for oil. In 1985, it issued licenses to Sohaio Company for offshore exploration within the area of 12,000 sq km to be followed by the American AMOCO for onshore exploration within the area of 8,000 sq km outside the work field of the Qatar General Petrol Corporation. The two companies terminated their contracts without any noteworthy discoveries.
Agreements with Oil and Gas International Corporations
Al-Idd Al-Sharqi Northern Dome/ Qatar Petrol Occidental
The average production of this field was 95,000 barrels a day in 2000.
Al-Idd Al-Sharqi/ Southern Dome
The average production in this field was about 10,000 barrels a day in 2000
Al-Shahenn/ Qatar Maersk for Petrol
The average production of this field was about 101,000 barrels a day in 1998 to rise to 112,000 barrels a day in 2000.
Al-Rayyan/ ARCO Qatar
The average production in this field was 19,000 barrels a day in 1997, and in 2000, it was 18,000 barrels a day. The daily production now in this field is about 12,000 barrels a day.
Al-Khaleej/ Qatar ELF for Petrol Corporation
The average production in this field was 10,000 barrels a day in 1997; today, it exceeds 21,000 barrels a day.
Qatar Petrol/ Japanese Companies for the Development of KarKara and Construction Field
The first well started production in 1998 as part of early assessment of the field after which the second well in Arab "C" was chosen.
