MCCONE WON'T SELL OIL STOCK

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80M01009A000701110010-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 8, 2013
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: January 24, 1962
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2013/05/08 :CIA-RDP80M01009A000701110010-9
Y LCC >aT:ISIIIIhLOII lfl Cl'Y'3'~lsO~dCOAIIQY THl \\'A5111':CG'fON POST if~edncsdnp, l?,n. 24, 17/2 ~~.'L
By Dreto Penrsore.
Senators who questioned
Bohn AlcCone, new Central In?
tclligcncc Chief, last week
FCCmed nlnat COnCCrrlcd nbOnl
his position nsr- -?,,,::,-.--~
one of 171c big- !r" \ ;
holders inf'
Standard Oil(
o f California.' t ~ . f~'.
In the back ,~ ..
of their minds -- ~ t
was tlic lotto- }
epee this might ~? \ }~, t
h avc nn Mc? iVj
C o n c's CIA pcm?son
recomm c n d a-
tions regarding Arabian oil,
Israel, and one of.Nic world's
key trouble sPOts~ihe 1\car
L?'ast.
Senators who listened do Mc?
Cone's cool, quiet denials that
his 51,000,000 personal invest-
ment in Standard of Cali~or?
nln would influence his d ci-
sions, did not know that only
one night before she had had
dinner with Ted Peterson,
long-time head of ~ Slandatd
of California.
Pctcrson'had come to \Vash-'
ington for the express purpose
of using phis personal influence
and charm on any Senators
who might be opposed to Mr
Cone's confirmation; and con-
ferred wiUr MCCono on Uhe
eve of the Senate hearing.
This in itself would indicate
how important 4rhe oil com-
pany considers McCone's ap-
polntmcnt to Chc key Post of
Central Intc~lfgence. Chair?
man Dick Russell of Georgia
also confirmed its importance
I,y declaring solemnly ?hat Mc-
Cone's job was "second only
to Che Presidency in;Jts im?
?portancc."
Bu[ Russell showed Aits nn?
noymtcc lvhen 'Senator s
wanted to question McConc
by ~poinlcdly reading hts per-
sonal mail during the critical
questioning. Then he studied
a rnatot-arms design and tried
to interest Scn. i?fargaret
Chase Smith fn it.
The lady from 712ainc, how-
ever, was not ?o be deterred.
Shc brought out that -1cConc
owned 51,000,000 worth of
stock in Standard Oil of Cali-
fornia, one of Uhc four found-
ers of the Arabi~an?Amcrican
Oil Co.
"It 1s clear;' she Pressed,
"prat the Central Intelligence
Agency must-make some cval?
uations, mcommendaLions and
reports Lo the President rc?
gardltrg the Middle East. Do
you sec any possibility of con?
^ict of interest on these ma-
ters as CIA director when you
have such large holdings in
these oil companies?"
"The amount of my holding
to Standard Oil of. Ca'litornia
that you mentioned is approxt-
mately correct," \4cCone ad?
milted. "It might be a little
larger Chan the figum you
mentioned. But quite aside,
my~opinion i5 that the holding
of stock in an oil company
or in several oil companies
would have no effect whatso-
CVCr On my actlVltlea 'a5 diree'
for of Central Intelligence."
Sen. Russell. had said that
it would not be necessary for
ntcCone to sell his oil stock:Statc Department is av nmaz?
or his shipping company stock.ling record of oi]?company in-
Whcn Scn. Bartlett bought~tcrvcntion on the side of the
uP the subject, MassachusettsiArab states. It includes:
blucblood Scn. Lcvcrett Sol?
tonstali fidgeted with frrlta-
tion.
Mrs. Smith has already
asked that one," Saltonstall
whispered fussily. "She has al-
ready asked those questions."
Arnmco's Record
'But Bartlett considerately
poured~DfcConc another glass
of water and went on with his
questioning. '
"Do you know," he inquired
softly, 'it Standard of Cali-
fornia is a member of the
Arabian-American Oil Co.?"
"Yes, it is;' acknowledged
the CIA nominee.
,n.o ,mu,u ,nay uus cumpa ny, Alaine, ?~states: ?TO induce tltC
operating in the Middle F.ast,~grant of aid to the Saudi Ara?
has' at various times 'inter- bian~govcrnmcnt, the :lraitian?
vened nr parllcipeted or (nter?IAmcrlcan Oll Co. offered 'tn
fcred In the operations of II
t
h
U
d S
governments in those areas;'
observed Bartlett. "tVOUId you
have any' commcnC to make
upon that?" - '
'In my trips to the A~tiddle
East;' McConr replied coolly,
"I have observed that the
Arameo people handled their
relationship with the govern~
menu of~Arabia and Bahrein
Island in a very satis[a~tory
way, and so reported to mc. I
don't know o[ any, interfer-
ence." ~^ '
The Senators, perhaps in
deference to Russell's" scowls
and Saltonstall's fidgeting, did
not press MCCono further. But
in the files, of the Senate in-
vestigating committee and the
]. An advmmC nt $:00,000,?
000 in oil royalties to Ring
Saud to financc'thc 1056 arms
buildup against Isr:,ci.
2: A Scnatc report that the
$9,000,000 United States base
In Saudi Arabia was built a?ith?
nut congressional aufhorira-
lion in order to help out the
Arabian-American Oil Co. in
its relations with'Fing Saurl.
3. A Scnatc invcs(igal.ing
Committee report Utat Aramcn
overcharged the United States
Xavy ,$67,000.000 nn wm'limr.
oil in order to help Saudi
Arabia.
sc
nUc
o t
e
tates at
prices based on fuel oil at 90
cents a barrel.
"\Vhen the United Stairs
Inecded nil because of its war
demands, notwithstanding
these prior proposals: Uic coin~
Panics offered the Sa~;v fuel
oil ab $1.05 a barrel on a takc-
it-or-Icavo-it basis. The Katy
was forced to L?uy the oil on
these terms.
"The oil companirs:' con?
cjudes the Scnatc report, "ex?
Plotted the Government by ex-
acting high Prires; despite the
assistance granted Saudi Are-
hia at the enmpanirs' request
to Protect and Presrn?c the
companies' concessions."
Convdeht. )aG.^^. pelt arnelcatr. inc.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2013/05/08 :CIA-RDP80M01009A000701110010-9