Evening star., 1947-10-05

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political issues local to the Middle
picture. The stakes are so tremen-
dous, in both dollars and in national
security, that any American foreign
policy which failed to give them full
cognizance would be deplorabIe il
not disastrous.
Unless a developing atomic age
changes the nature of all things, we
are living in a period in which oil i:
the essential fuel for our entire
complex machinery of peace or ot
war. Without oil in abundant guam
tity our peacetime economy would
slow down and perhaps eventually
stop altogether. Without oil in Ike
quantity in wartime we would be
powerless, faced with defeat just as
surely as were the Nazi powers when
they failed in their drive for Middle
East and Caucasus oil and when the
inadequate sources of their Balkan
satellites were bombed into non
production.
Two Major Oil Areas
The two greatest oil-producing
regions of the world today are
First, the expanse lying generally
between the Mediterranean, Red
Black and Caspian Seas and the
Persian Gulf and, second, the Carib-
bean area-including Southwestern
United States, Mexico, Central
America and northern portions of
South America. Other regions
the East Indies and portions of
Siberia, for example-are important
but not to the vast degree of
potentiality established by geolo-
gists in the first two named.
If the world is about to be divided,
as now seems threatened, into two
great blocs of power-one pro-
Communist and one -Commu-
nist-with little or no free exchange
between them, it is obvious that
control of the dominant supplies
of oil is essential to prosperity in,
peacetime and to security in war
time.
Since the reserves OF the Western
Hemisphere are more or less
securely within the sphere of in
fuence of the United States and
our good-neighbor nations, the
balance of oil power is that of the
Middle East.
On the books that, too, is well
within the British-American orbit,
but the workings of international
politics are such that the books
can swiftly be rewritten by force
or even by internal political up
fleavals.
British interests have been long
time holders of Middle East oil
rights and today still have
ma jority holding in the proven
reserves of this area. Their mar
gin over American interests is not
great, however, and the untested
ootentialities of the wholly owned
rights in Saudi Arabia
nay shift this balance. Eventually
/ vigorous competitive condition is
likely.
Division of Ownership
Principal concession owners in
the Middle East and their national
ties are as follows:
In Iran. with an estimated proven
reserve of 6,500,000,000 barrels and
great untested potentialities, Anglo
[ranian Oil CO. (British).
In Saudi Arabia, with estimated
proven reserves of 100000 900 bar
els and great potentialities,
Arabian Oil Co. Omitted
States.
In Iraq, with estimated proven
'eserves of 100000 barrels,
1915 per cent Anglo -Iranian and
1915 per cent Shell (British), 23.75
Der cent Compagnie Francaise
French, 23.75 per cent Near East
Development Omitted States) and s.
Yer cent C. S. Gulbenkian.
: In Kuwait, with estimated proven
'eserves of 9,OOO,OO0,OOO barrels, so
Yer cent Anglo-Iranian and so per
;ent Gulf Oil Corp. Omitted States ,
In Quatar, with estimated re-
erves of 1,oOO,ooo,0oO barrels, Iraq
Petroleum Co., divided as in case
# Iraq concession.
In Bahrein, with estimated re-
erves of 300,000000 barrels, Bahrein
Petroleum Co. UNITED States.
While present-day British rights
lave their foundation in conces-
ions obtained shortly after World
Var I, American interest in Middle
East oil shaped up more slowly and
lad its greatest advance when the
saudi Arabian concession was
,ranted In 1888 to a subsidiary of
he Standard Oil Co.. of California |
nd Texas Co. So great is the esti-
mated potential of this concession |
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