660M.116/16
The Chargé in Lithuania (Kuykendall) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 3.]
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the Department’s instruction No. 51 of September 7, 1935, (File No. 660M.116/15) with regard to the attitude of the Lithuanian Government towards imports of American petroleum products and to report the results of recent negotiations between the Lithuanian authorities and the representatives of American oil interests.
The Legation has been informed by the local representative of the Vacuum Oil Company that on September 13, 1935, the company was granted a license for the importation of 20 metric tons of American lubricating oils which had been partially processed in Great Britain. It was stated that there is reason to believe that the Company and the Government have come to an agreement in principle and that no further difficulties will be encountered.
The local representative of the Standard Oil Company today informed the Legation that his company had been granted a license on September 6, 1935, for the importation of 160 metric tons of American lubricating oils. It was stated that no instructions have been received from the New York and Hamburg offices of the company in connection with its further purchase of Soviet gasoline and gas oil, to which reference was made in the penultimate paragraph of the Legation’s despatch No. 299 of August 20, 1935, but that it is believed there will be no alternative but to replenish its stocks from this source when [Page 576] present supplies, estimated sufficient for one month, are exhausted. It is stated however that the Company has received an informal assurance from a responsible official that licenses for the import of gasoline of American origin will be granted early in 1936.
Respectfully yours,