890G.6363/8–2348: Airgram
The Ambassador in Iraq ( Wadsworth ) to the Secretary of State
Baghdad
, August 23,
1948.
A–241. Press reports that the Council of Ministers has approved of the formation of a Ministerial Committee under the presidency of Prime Minister Muzahem Pachachi with Finance Minister Ali Mumtaz al-Daftari and Economics Minister Abdul Wahab Mirjan, as members, to study existing oil conventions, and contact relative oil concessionaires for reconsideration of Iraq’s royalties.1
Wadsworth
- The Minister of Economics, on October 19, addressed notes to the Iraq Petroleum Company, the Mosul Petroleum Company, and the Basra Petroleum Company which requested reconsideration of the terms of their oil concessions. The notes asked for increased royalties, Iraqi participation in their capital structure and management, computation of royalties on the basis of free market quotations for gold, training of Iraqis to replace foreign personnel, and an increase in the volume of oil exports (despatch 210, November 8, from Baghdad, and despatch 417, November 15, from Lisbon, 890G.6363/11–848,/11–1548).↩