Dukhan Highway, a four-lane motorway that runs for approximately 66 kilometres (41 miles), connects the city with Doha.

[6] The original settlement was built as an oil camp for personnel of the Qatar Petroleum Company (today QatarEnergy).

The city entered a new stage of development when the Dukhan power station was commissioned in 1958, and when natural gas was found in the Khuff Reservoir the following year at an average depth of 3,000 metres (10,000 ft).

PWI helped to enhance oil recovery and maintain reservoir pressure in the Dukhan field.

Meanwhile, the Fahahil compression station began operations in 1992, to pressurise the Khuff reservoir with surplus North Field gas and help stabilise production.

Progress continued throughout the late 1990s and early years of this decade, with several major enhancements – including the two-stage Arab D project to develop the production of gas and condensates, inaugurated by the Emir of Qatar in 1998.

[7] The Dukhan gas lift project was planned in 1999 to help maintain crude oil production.

[16] Several issues limited the growth of the camp in its early years, such as lack of private ownership and its remoteness from the capital city.

[17] The camp comprised eight residential zones, several administrative buildings, stores, workshops, and cultural facilities.

[18] Mike Morton remarked that in 1958, the oil camp had a club with tennis, billiards, hockey, football and cricket facilities, as well as a restaurant, a bar and a library.

As an initiative to provide housing for Bedouins in the region, in the 1950s the government delegated Dukhan with the task of creating other settlements in the area.

[21] The modern-day city of Dukhan evolved from the main oil camp and ensuing offshoot settlements that were established during the 20th century.

The five-year development project was supposed to include a new school however, this plan was scrapped due to budget cuts brought about by falling oil prices.

[24] The top of the Rus Formation from the Lower Eocene period outcrops more than 25 metres (82 ft) in this area.

[26] The eastern portion comprises a lowland covered with rock fragments, consisting of wadis and vegetation-rich depressions (known as rawdas).

[36] The Dukhan anticline, with its thin lengthened structure and moderately steep dips stands out from the greater part of the neighboring folds.

Some camels unknowingly consume residue and waste material left over from oil extraction and become sick.

It was reported in 1992 that oftentimes, camels crossing the roads around Dukhan were the cause of fatal motor accidents, particularly at night.

[41] Common flora in the area used for livestock grazing include zygophyllum qatarense,[27] vachellia tortilis,[27] blue-stem grass (Hyparrhenia hirta),[42] and gazelle's horn (Lotus halophilus), which grows in depressions.

[43] Near Jebel Dukhan, plants found here include athl (Tamarix aucheriana)[44] Arabian primrose (Arnebia decumbens),[45] shabraq (Ononis reclinata),[46] qartam barie (Carthamnus eriocephalus),[47] and ghebayra (Herniaria hirsuta).

[50] Desert thumbs (Cynomorium coccineum)[51] and marsh fleabane (Pluchea dioscoridis) commonly grow around the sewage water treatment plant.

[52] Other common vegetation found in Dukhan include buck's horn plantain (Plantago coronopus),[53] eyelash plant (Blepharis ciliaris),[54] jebira (Bassia muricata) on compressed gypsum soils,[55] reeds (Phragmites australis) in wet areas,[56] halaq (Astragalus annularis),[57] raqrouq (Helianthemum kahiricum),[58] lebena (Euphorbia peplus),[59] tiny bristle grass (Rostraria pumila) in lawns and gardens,[60] kebaisha (Erodium glaucophyllum),[61] samah (Mesembryanthemum cryptanthum),[62] woolly-winged milkwort (Polygala erioptera)[63] and marak (Leptadenia pyrotechnica) near the coast.

[64] The buffer zone of the Al Reem Biosphere Reserve starts at a point slightly north of the city.

Dukhan Souq, a 25.6 square metres (276 sq ft) marketplace, is located near the Khatiya area.

The only other form of transport to the capital at this time was by boat through Zekrit jetty, located 11 kilometres (7 mi) away from the camp.

[81] The Directorate Industrial Security, a subsidiary of QatarEnergy, is the primary occupational safety agency in the Dukhan.

[86] In 1960, the largest Paleolithic flint chipping site at that time was discovered 5 km (3.1 mi) south of Dukhan, around 150 m (500 ft) from the shore.

It covered 2.5 acres and contained an assortment of Stone Age implements such as arrowheads, blades, scrapers and hand axes.

[87] Camping grounds and flint tools were discovered in Ras Uwainat Ali, 10 km (6.2 mi) north of Dukhan.

[89] When free elections of the Central Municipal Council first took place in Qatar in 1999,[90] Dukhan was designated the seat of constituency no.