90. Editorial Note
The Conference on International Economic Cooperation met at the Ministerial level in Paris December 16–18, 1975, and established four commissions to deal with issues related to energy, raw materials, development, and finance. Participants agreed to schedule a meeting on January 26, 1976, of conference and commission co-chairmen to “prepare the work of the four commissions” within “the framework of the general guidelines” established at the October Prepcon (see Document 85). As for the energy commission, which, along with the other three, would hold its first meeting in Paris on February 11, 1976, the Department of State believed that it should concentrate on two areas: 1) analyzing “the relationship of energy supply, demand, and prices to the development of the global economy in an effort to seek to narrow the differences in perceptions of this relationship among the participants”; and 2) promoting “cooperative endeavors among producers and consumers to develop new energy supplies, to accelerate and smooth the integration of the producing countries into the global economy, and to facilitate the transfer of energy-related technology and expertise to the non-oil developing countries to help relieve their energy burdens.” Stephen Bosworth, Director of the Office of Fuels and Energy, would head the U.S. delegation as the industrial country co-chairman of the energy commission. (Telegram 9962 to all diplomatic posts, January 16; National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy Files, D760018–0154)
On December 19, 1975, the International Energy Agency Governing Board met in Paris and concluded an agreement on a Long-[Page 327]Term Energy Cooperation Program, which included “a minimum safeguard price of $7.00 FOB” for Persian Gulf oil in addition to a “commitment to implement it” in a way that was “acceptable” to the United States. The agreement also included a “provision for large joint projects, improved international access to energy investments, and all other elements of an overall package that we have considered essential.” Until the Governing Board convened in January to “conclude the definitive agreement,” had the status of a “Governing Board recommendation to governments,” but it was “understood and accepted” that negotiations had ended. (Telegram 33322 from USOECD Paris, December 20; ibid., [no film number]) Telegram 33526 from USOECD Paris, December 23, contains the complete text of the draft. (Ibid., D750445–0901) See footnote 2, Document 94.