With regard to the Qatar- Saudi Arabia frontier, the Saudis had conceded in the summer of 1963 Qatar's interpretation of the western end of the line, namely that it would begin at or near Salwa. However, the Qataris had refused to give compensation by way of drawing the frontier north of Jaub al-Salamah, instead of south of it as agreed in 1952. As a consequence, the Saudis had withdrawn the concession they had offered at the southern end of the Gulf of Salwa. This was important since the start of the frontier affected the median line down the Gulf of Salwa for oil concession purposes. The Deputy Ruler of Qatar, Shaikh Khalifa al-Thani, informed the British political agent in Dauhah, P. McKearney, in July 1964 that he intended to visit Saudi Arabia to discuss the frontier with King Faisal. He would take as the basis of his discussion Faisal's letter of 1952 which argued that certain points lay within Qatar (i.e. the points put forward at Dammam by the British delegation). Shaikh Khalifa said that he would confine discussion with Faisal to the western stretch of frontier from Sauda Nathil, as the British government did not recognise any Saudi interest in the area to the east of the intersection of the Riyad Line with southern Qatar from Sauda Nathil. Khalifa returned from Taif on 19 July, satisfied with his talks with Faisal. They had agreed that the Bay of Salwa should be divided between Saudi Arabia and Qatar on the principle of the median line. Faisal agreed that the latter would be drawn from a point a few hundred metres offshore half-way between Salwa and Ghar al-Buraid and that the nearest point on land would be the western end of the Qatar-Saudi Arabia boundary. That line was substantially the same as that accepted by Faisal in January 1952, namely: Ghar al-Buraid – Mishabiyah – Khuwaimat – Qarn Abi Wail – Jaub al-Salamah – Sauda Nathil, with Iqlat Manasir – Khufus – Al Maharaf lying in the Abu Dhabi sector.

Sir William Luce, the political resident in the Gulf, was surprised, therefore, to learn in June 1965 from his political agent in Dauhah, R.H.M. Boyle, the details of an agreement on the Qatar-Saudi Arabia boundary line which had been initialled between the Deputy Ruler of Qatar, Shaikh Khalifa, and the Saudi minister of petroleum affairs and mineral resources, Ahmed Zaki Yamani (though it had yet to be ratified).