800.6363/9–1544
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Petroleum Adviser (Rayner)
Michael Wright35 inquired regarding the present status of the oil agreement between this Government and the U.K., particularly as to when the hearings on the agreement would begin. I told him that, as he undoubtedly knew, the President had referred the agreement to the Senate for ratification and that the Senate had referred it to the Committee on Foreign Relations; that Senator Connally, Chairman of that Committee, had stated that hearings on the oil agreement would not take place until after the elections. I told Mr. Wright that I was hopeful that hearings would begin early in November.
Mr. Wright referred to an article which he had read in the New York Journal of Commerce which stated that discussions in connection with a multilateral agreement on oil had already begun with Venezuela, Russia and the Netherlands, and asked me if there was any truth in this report. I replied that there was not. He said that it was their feeling that consultation between the two Governments should precede any formal approach to representatives of other Governments leading to the formulation of a multilateral agreement. I stated that it was also my feeling that such consultation should precede any formal discussions.
He asked me as to when the members of the American half of the International Petroleum Commission would be appointed. I told him that that had not been decided, but I assumed that Secretary Hull would discuss the matter with the President in the near future. He requested that the British Government be advised as to the American membership of the International Petroleum Commission prior to the actual announcement of such membership. I told him that I would pass this request on to Secretary Hull. Mr. Wright stated that they would advise this Government of the British membership in advance of any public announcement.
- Counselor of the British Embassy.↩