129. Editorial Note
In a personal and confidential letter to George Humphrey, July 22, in which the President was apparently thinking aloud on a number of domestic and international issues, Eisenhower described events in Iraq as follows:
“So far Iraq has not taken some of the mob-like actions that normally we could expect. They have not destroyed any of the pipelines or attempted to interfere with production of oil in the region. There is some slight indication that they may want to remain on good business relationships with the West, even though I suppose they will want to negotiate somewhat better contracts, probably in the pattern of the Standard of Indiana contract.” (Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, Eisenhower Diaries)
The reference to the “Standard of Indiana contract” is to the agreement for exploration of offshore oil in the Persian Gulf signed by Standard Oil of Indiana and ratified by the Iranian Government on June 1, 1958. By the terms of the agreement Iran received 75 percent of the net profits and Standard of Indiana received 25 percent. Standard Oil of Indiana also paid Iran a $25 million cash bonus for signing the agreement and made other less significant concessions to Iran, which made the agreement the most advantageous to a producing country signed to that date.