Study urges S.A. oil squeeze if it keeps supplying Rhodesia

Press, 3 November 1978, Page 6

Study urges S.A. oil squeeze if it keeps supplying Rhodesia

NZPA-Reuter London A secret study prepared for the Commonwealth Secretariat urges that oil sanctions be imposed against South Africa if that country refuses to stop supplying Rhodesia. On the eve of talks in London on proposals for Rhodesian sanctions, a copy of the study has been made available. Entitled "Oil Sanctions against Rhodesia — Proposals for Action,” the document says: "It is now clear that any attempt to tighten oil sanctions against Rhodesia must involve confronting South Africa in this issue. South Africa has to be told that it faces a-choice: either to give effective guarantees that oil supplies to Rhodesia are cut or else oil sanctions will be imposed on South Africa.” The scheme incorporates a section headed the feasibility of an oil embargo against South Africa, and concludes that the operation under auspices of the United Nations Security Council would present no insurmountable problems. The Southern African Committee of the 38-nation Commonwealth, meeting in London, is to discuss the proposals that were pre-

pared oy two British authorities identified as Mr Martin Bailey and Mr Bernard Rivers. i Their document observes:! i “The escalating war inside I; Rhodesia and frequent mili-h tary incursions inside neigh- 1 bouring countries makes it .even more urgent that sanc-j Itions should be tightened! against the rebel regime. Oil! is the key to Rhodesia’s sur-! Ivival. Without the continued I i flow of oil, the rebel regime! (would collapse within a mat-! ter of months.” . The study by Bailey and (Rivers was commissioned by, the Secretary-General (Mr I iShridath Ramphal) who is; the Commonwealth’s top official. As their starting point, I, I the authors drew upon the: (findings of a British Govern-( ment investigator. Mri (Thomas H. Bingham, who! (disclosed in September that!: (two giant British oil coin-11 panies had, since Rhodesia! < seized its independence in < j 1965. supplied half of that i country’s oil. i Mr Bingham also revealed! i that the firms, the State-con-!; trolled British Petroleum 1

Company and the Shell Oil] Company, had been using! various complex swapping ( arrangements with the, knowledge of successive!

tsritisu governments from 1966 onwards. As of now, the document emphasises, all Rhodesia’s oil supplies, including those used by its armed forces, come via South Africa. The document, turning to the idea of an oil embargo against South Africa, says this would be the most cost-effective form of pressure which the international community could apply on South Africa to stop supplies of oil from reaching Rhodesia. Messrs Bailey and Rivers estimate that South Africa could survive for a maximum of two years if an effective oil embargo was imposed by the security council. They note also that Iran isj the only major oil-exporting; country which supplies the; South Africans. They emphasise also that no naval! blockade would be needed to, cut off South Africa’s oil) supply. The United Nations Secur-1 ity Council could require; measures to be introduced! so that any tanker which had delivered oil to South

Africa would be liable to being seized after such a delivery, the study said. It adds that oil supplies to South Africa could be moni-

tored by aircraft or satellite and possibly by watchdog naval patrols on the high seas.

Data collected by these ) methods of observation, the plan suggests, could be fed ) into a United Nations ciearI ing house which then would pass the information on the member States. Then tankers which had delivered oil to South Africa could be seized when next they entered a non-South African port. I The seized tankers, | according to the plan, would I either become United ! Nations property or be i blacklisted from entering the I ports of any United Nations ! member country. I Messrs Bailey and Rivers said that not only British ' Petroleum and Shell, but I three other oil multi-nat- ! ionals, had been involved )in sanctions-busting. They j named the American com- ' panies, Mobil and Caltex, and j the French company, Total. They noted also that ComI monwealth Heads of Government had already agreed in I principle that action should ! be taken to prevent oil prodj ucts from finding their way I to Rhodesia, even if that in-; I volved an embargo on crude-; 'oil sales to South Africa.