The Standard, which, since the Armistice, had been impatiently waiting for the time when restrictions upon trade in France would be removed, no longer had any illusions about the desire of the Commission to expel it from that country. Although the Standard had resumed its freedom from the conclusion of hostilities, it had none the less continued its supplies of oil to France, and knowing the Treasury was in difficulties, had accepted 5 per cent. bonds in payment. Now, in self-defence, it declared that it refused all credit.
The Oil Commission, in thus breaking free, had taken precautions against being caught unprovided. Three days after the rupture with the Standard, on November 25th, it obtained a credit of £2,000,000 from the Royal Dutch, which was increased on January 5, 1920, to £5,000,000. The Standard Oil was ejected and the great Franco-British trust established in its place, thanks to this long-date contract.
But shortly after the fall of the Clemenceau Cabinet, this success came near to being undone. No new commissioner had been appointed in place of Henry Bérenger: a high official of the Exchequer was given the title of Director-General. The politics of oil, when we needed a real Petroleum Department, as in Britain, were reduced to the common level of current events.
For more than a month (February-March, 1920), what remained of the Petrol Commission was left at a loose end, only indispensable deliveries were made. A state of anarchy ruled. The stocks, which had, until then, been laid in four months in advance, fell to almost nothing. The Standard Oil took advantage of this to regain its footing.
In spite of its promises, the Royal Dutch did not succeed in delivering sufficient quantities of oil. By March 13, 1920, the reserves had fallen below the danger-line, to less than 75,000 tons. The Director-General, anxious about supplies, decided to resort to the Americans. And as the powers of the Petrol Commission had been legally extinct since April 26th, and its provisional monopoly at an end since April 21st, he established the system of authorizing imports, and granted licences to several companies which had made contracts with the Standard Oil. Would the Standard Oil succeed in re-entering France?
It was not given the time, for the San Remo Agreement had just been signed (April 24, 1920). A few days later, the French Government resumed control of oil, and M. Laurent Eynac, the new Commissioner, taking the view that what had happened during the interregnum had no legal existence, hastened to annul the licences to import granted to the Standard.
The great American trust found once more in France, as it had so often found since the War in other parts of the world, the "closed door."
II. Diplomatic Negotiations