RUMANIA’S OIL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 5 December 1940, Page 6

RUMANIA’S OIL

DRAWN FOR GERMANY’S NEEDS MILLIONS OF TONS USED THIS YEAR RISING IMPORTS FORECAST I U P.A.-By Electric Telegraph-Copyrightj Received sth Dec., 9.40 a.m. BUDAPEST, 4th December. The Budapest correspondent of the Associated Press states that American oilmen estimate that Germany has drawn millions of tons of oil from Rumania in 1940 despite ice, floods and earthquakes and they forecast rising imports. Some refineries have been damaged but fully stocked shipments are being made from stores until the refineries resume. The only effect on Axis military plans may be the consumption of reserves which could otherwise be held for campaigns in the Balkans and Middle East. HUNGARY’S WARM FRIENDSHIP FOR AXIS POWERS WHO MADE NEW FRONTIER (Received sth December, 9.40 a.m.) BUDAPEST, 4th December. Count Teleki, Prime Minister, in the Chamber of Deputies protested against recent speeches by General Antonescu. Rumanian Prime Minister, and Horia Sima, the Rumanian Nazi leader, about Rumania’s claims to Translyvania. “Hungary cannot employ the same tone as Rumania because she feels warm lriednship for the Axis powers who made the new frontier,” he said. CLAIMED AS DETERIORATING OIL POSITION OF AXIS POWERS BRITISH MINISTER’S SURVEY [British Official Wireless] • Received sth December. 1.30 p.m.) RUGBY, 4th December. Speaking of oil as a key commodity both in peace and war. Dr. Hugh Dalton. Minister of Economic Warfare, explained how his Ministry co-operated with the R.A.F. in indicating military targets for bombing operations. “From my point of view Bari, with its crude oil stocks, is the number one target in Italy compared with industrial objectives like Milan and Turin,” he said. Emphasising that the Axis countries will find themselves in a difficult situation regarding oil supplies in a period of months rather than years—if the R.A.F. continued its good work and we maintained domination of the Eastern Mediterranean—Dr. Dalton referred to the “distribution minimum” below which it was unsafe for Germany and Italy to go. Supplies in bulk might be available to the Axis partners in different countries at widely scattered points, but not at the right place at the right moment. At the end of the last war Germany still had millions of tons of oil in the aggregate, but not available at the points where it was most needed, and at the present time a much higher distributional minimum was necessary owing to the large territory occupied by Germany and the inci'ease i:i mechanisation. There was no doubt that in a comparatively few months the margin would become uncomfortably narrow. Dealing with Rumanian oil supplies Dr. Dalton said that Rumania was unpb’c to export her total available oil to j Germany owing to transport difficulties | by road, rail and water, and the last i problem would be still more acute ! when the Danube was frozen for the I months of December and January. The j situation might be eased if sea transport to Italy was possible, but the Bri- ! tish were preventing that in the Eastern Mediterranean. Those people who advised the British to bomb Rumanian oil wells should realise that the oil was not of the best quality when coming out of the ground, and the R.A.F. was doing far more effective work by bombing refineries where Germany had taken the trouble to make the oil suitable for military i and commercial use. Transport difficulties and Russia’s own needs for oil for her mechanised industry made assistance from that country likely to be small. Germany j was expected to cut down the amount j of oil allowed to be used in the occuj pied territories to the greatest degree, but. Dr. Dalton said he had taken that | factor into account in his estimate of the growing deterioration of the oil 1 position of the Axis Powers. !