875.6363/28: Telegram
The Commissioner in Albania (Blake) to the Acting Secretary of State
[Received September 17—10:43 a.m.]
Sinclair Exploration Company now is actively negotiating for the oil concession in Albania. Government apparently disposed to accept 12½ per cent of output as royalty but exacts some measure of guarantee to ensure immediate exploitation and also attaches condition [Page 605] that the Sinclair Company will obtain for Albania a loan of from one to five million dollars to be secured by Albanian customs receipts. Please cable what attitude I should adopt toward this clause. The present amount of loan [garbled group] Albania possessing productive assets three times in excess of annual interest charges on amount of the loan to be obtained.
Sinclair representative promises his company will supply Department with copy of all his telegrams and otherwise will inform me of progress of negotiations. Under these circumstances to what extent shall I report by telegraph to the Department in connection with same?
W. H. Gallagher, representing Standard Oil Company of New York has arrived and proposes to open negotiations for the concession should result of his preliminary investigations prove satisfactory. Other companies represented at Tirana are Anglo-Persian and Shell as well as one French and one Italian group but both Government and Parliament will favor acceptance concession to an American company if requested.