Russian Oil

The Soviet government has been vexed ever since Great Britain's Home Secretary Sir Joynson-Hicks raided their London quarters (TIME, May 23). How to retaliate, how to make harsh gestures has been their aim. Recently they reconfirmed a concession that William Averell Harriman had wheedled from them for mining manganese (TiME, June 20). The British had been, supposedly, using their astute offices to thwart that concession. Giving it to Mr. Harriman, the Soviets intended as a slap at Great Britain.

If that gesture was a slap, last week's was a fisticuff. The Soviets last week granted to Standard Oil interests right to sell Russian oil for which British companies, notably Royal Dutch-Shell, had long been striving. The Standard Oil rights included: 1) two years' monopoly of selling Russian oil in Egypt; 2) 500,000 tons of raw naphtha for sale in Mediterranean countries; 3) 500,000 tons of fuel oil for Standard Oil ship filling stations at Constantinople, Port Said and Colombo; 4) six years' rights to get oil for its tanker fleet from Russian Naphtha Syndicate tank stations at Marseilles, Genoa, Constantinople and Baku.

In return the U. S. companies hold themselve ready to lend Soviet syndicates $50,000,000 to $75,000,000.