Office of the Historian

228. Letter From the Director of the Office of Defense Mobilization (Flemming) to the Secretary of the Interior (Seaton)1

Washington, July 31, 1956.

Dear Mr. Secretary: This letter has reference to the possibility that there may arise in the immediate future any of the three following contingencies relating to the availability of petroleum supplies affecting the defense mobilization interests or programs of the United States:

1.
Loss or stoppage of the Levant pipelines.
2.
Stoppage of the Suez Canal.
3.
Loss of both 1 and 2 above.

As you know, a Committee has been established under the Voluntary Agreement Relating to Foreign Petroleum Supply, as amended, to advise the Government of the United States on plans of action designed to prevent, eliminate or alleviate shortages of petroleum supplies in friendly foreign nations which threaten to affect adversely the defense mobilization interests or programs of the United States.

[Page 618]

I have discussed the present situation and the above contingencies with the Secretary of State and the Under Secretary of State, and, as a result of these discussions, I believe that an emergency exists outside the United States which requires action in the form of the development of plans designed to prevent, eliminate or alleviate shortages of petroleum supplies which threaten to affect adversely the defense mobilization interests or programs of the United States. Under the circumstances I feel that it would be appropriate for you to find that an emergency exists and to submit to the Committee a request for the preparation of plans of action to meet such contingencies if they should arise.

As you know, the voluntary agreement requires that the Attorney General be notified of any request to the Committee to prepare a plan of action. On advice of counsel, I am of the opinion that such notification may be followed immediately by the request to the Committee for the preparation of the plans. If you have doubt as to the regularity of this procedure, I recommend that in the interest of prompt action the Attorney General be requested to waive his right to any earlier notification.2

If I can be of any assistance to you in this matter please so advise me. I should appreciate being informed of its progress.

Sincerely yours,

Arthur S. Flemming3
  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 811.2553/7–3156. Secret.↩

  2. In a July 31 memorandum to Hoover, Don C. Bliss of the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary for Administration stated that Flemming and Wormser had consulted with the Attorney General and obtained his approval of the plan to reactivate the Foreign Petroleum Supply Committee (FPSC). The committee was composed of representatives of ODM, Interior, Treasury, State, and the oil industry. (Ibid., 880.2553/7–3156) It met in New York on August 1 and again on August 10 when it prepared and approved a plan of action that called for the establishment of a Middle East Emergency Committee (MEEC) composed of representatives of American petroleum companies engaged in foreign operations. The FPSC, responsible for appraising the oil requirements of all countries of the West and coordinating supplies, storage facilities, and tankers, met regularly from August through October. After the Anglo-French invasion of Egypt on October 30, its meetings were temporarily suspended. (Memorandum of telephone conversation by William M. Johnson, November 6; Ibid., 800.2553/11–656)

    The U.S. Senate held hearings in February 1957 on government and industry participation in emergency oil planning before and during the Suez Crisis. See U.S. Congress, Senate, Joint Hearings before Subcommittees of the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, 85th Congress, 1st Session (Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1957), Parts 1–4.

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  3. Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.↩