Kuwait Transformed Quotes

“In 1934, Ahmed al-Jaber (r. 1920–50) signed an oil concession agreement with the Kuwait Oil Company, an Anglo-American joint venture.76 Because the agreement was made in Ahmed’s name rather than on behalf of Kuwait (as was common in all Gulf oil concessions), royalties went directly into the hands of the ruler, to be utilized in whatever manner he chose. This arrangement completely transformed the role of the ruling family in Kuwait. The concession guaranteed Ahmed a steady and independent income even before oil was found in commercial quantities in 1938, thereby granting the Al Sabah economic autonomy. Ahmed used the oil income for his own personal gain rather than on the town. He bought large estates abroad and spent money on such luxuries as yachts and palaces.77 For town revenues, the ruler continued to depend on taxes. The”
― Farah Al-Nakib, Kuwait Transformed: A History of Oil and Urban Life