Spain's import of oil from USA during WW2

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Panzerkampfwagen
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Spain's import of oil from USA during WW2

#1

Post by Panzerkampfwagen » 20 Apr 2011, 16:27

Source: Inside Europe by Chester Wilmot Pg 60

During the time of the war, when Hitler was trying to bargain with Franco and Petain, to bring them on the axis side and declare war against Britain respectively, Spain had been importing oil from the united states. The quantity of import of oil had doubled gradually over the months, from peace time import quantities.

Wilmot claims that under diplomatic pressure from the U.K, America was now ready to only sent the amount of oil through the atlantic, as allowed by the Royal Navy. He claims that Churchill later insisted that only an amount of oil for current consumption and stocks for 2 and a half months would be allowed.

Wilmot does not mention any document reference to this information, but merely provides an oil export statistic of the USA at the bottom of the page.

1. Is there any document or reference that shows this is true? The UK might have used diplomacy to make America reduce the quantity of oil to Spain, fine, but how does one explain that when Spain is technically neutral [unlike German]( though pro-axis, which is known), and the ships are Spanish, how could Churchill or the Royal Navy restrict the flow of oil through the North Atlantic? Was the North atlantic too covered under the lend-lease act? :lol:
2. Since, the Spanish ships would have to come from America to spain through the North atlantic, were they too at risk from German U boats, because by now, i think the Germans were doing unrestricted submarine warfare? ( Considering that this may have affected diplomatic relations b/w Hitler and Franco)

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Re: Spain's import of oil from USA during WW2

#2

Post by Andy H » 22 Apr 2011, 17:32

Hi

Trade across the Atlantic continued throughout WW2 for neutral countries but they operated under the British/RN Navcert system. Every ship had to have a British issued Navcert, so that if stopped by the RN it could prove the origin, destination of the cargo and the content of that cargo. If a ship had no Navcert or there were inconsistency in the navcert, the ship woud be taken to a allied control port.

During 1941 the US State Dept made some unilateral decisions to cut oil exports to Spain which were below the agreed figure with the UK. The Americans had taken this decision based on intel/worries about Spanish tankers refuelling UBoats, the possibility of 0ctane 70 gasoline being turned into 87 Octane and the onward movement of gas from the US to Spain and then onward to Germany.

I asked a similar question regarding Food imports from the US to Vichy France some 4yrs ago, which may be of some use on your other questions

http://www.feldgrau.net/forum/viewtopic ... 39&start=0

Regards

Andy H


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Re: Spain's import of oil from USA during WW2

#3

Post by Mark McShane » 12 May 2011, 15:23

This may be of interest.
Attachments
Spain & Oil Stopped 28 Jan 1944.pdf
(60.58 KiB) Downloaded 167 times
Spain & Oil Stopped 29 Jan 1944.pdf
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Sid Guttridge
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Re: Spain's import of oil from USA during WW2

#4

Post by Sid Guttridge » 12 May 2011, 18:36

Hi ksugeeth,

British, and later US policy, was to allow Spain only as much oil as it had imported from before the Spanish Civil War (i.e. in 1935). Initially the oil seems to have come from the USA but, once the US was in the war and needed all its own production, it came from Venezuela via refineries in the Dutch West Indies. Both sources were, as Andy posts, subject to British Navicerts in order to pass through their blockade.

Furthermore, this oil had to be carried in Spain's own tankers so as not to tie up tonnage otherwise available to the Allies. As Spain had too few tankers to import as much oil as it had before its civil war, in fact during WWII it imported rather less annually than it had in 1935.

This was not helped by the fact that at least two Spanish tankers were sunk by U-boats while on this trans-Atlantic run. If I remember correctly both were on the outward run empty and were lost on the European side.

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Re: Spain's import of oil from USA during WW2

#5

Post by Sid Guttridge » 16 May 2011, 12:47

Correction to my last post - Anglo-American policy was to allow Spain only 70% of the oil it had imported before the Spanish Civil War (i.e. in 1935). However, for reasons mentioned above, Spain was not able to achieve even the 70% figure during the war.

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Ironmachine
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Re: Spain's import of oil from USA during WW2

#6

Post by Ironmachine » 06 Sep 2012, 08:55

ksugeeth wrote:1. Is there any document or reference that shows this is true? The UK might have used diplomacy to make America reduce the quantity of oil to Spain, fine, but how does one explain that when Spain is technically neutral [unlike German]( though pro-axis, which is known), and the ships are Spanish, how could Churchill or the Royal Navy restrict the flow of oil through the North Atlantic? Was the North atlantic too covered under the lend-lease act?
2. Since, the Spanish ships would have to come from America to spain through the North atlantic, were they too at risk from German U boats, because by now, i think the Germans were doing unrestricted submarine warfare? ( Considering that this may have affected diplomatic relations b/w Hitler and Franco)
As stated by other posters, to be allowed to navigate freely the Spanish ships had to be provided themselves with a Navy-Cert for each trip, issued by the British government. to prevent attacks, all the movements and loads of the ships were communicated to both the Allied and German embassies. There were not many problems in that regard.

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Re: Spain's import of oil from USA during WW2

#7

Post by Ironmachine » 06 Sep 2012, 09:10

Sid Guttridge wrote:British, and later US policy, was to allow Spain only as much oil as it had imported from before the Spanish Civil War (i.e. in 1935). Initially the oil seems to have come from the USA but, once the US was in the war and needed all its own production, it came from Venezuela via refineries in the Dutch West Indies.
The U.S. government created, for the control of oil products in Spain, the "Oil Mission" in the U.S. embassy, which underwent a rigorous inventory control, location of depots, inspectors at the ports of discharge .. .
Among the first measures was the order of the American government to suspend deliveries, suspension that lasted from 20 February 1942 until 11 May of that year.
From May 1942 deliveries were made through Caribbean refineries. In addition, the loading dates were no longer voluntary and became just two periods of forty-eight hours, at the beginning and middle of each month. After many conversations, the U.S. agreed to provide three loading dates: beginining, middle and end of each month.
In retaliation for the export tax for wolfram, the U.S. government created from February 1943 a tax that doubled the cost of petroleum products (it was later withdrawn). A surcharge was also added since 29 June 1943 in freight costs.
The U.S. Government also forced Spain to consume the existing stocks, which reached their lowest point on 5 August 1944.
Sid Guttridge wrote:Correction to my last post - Anglo-American policy was to allow Spain only 70% of the oil it had imported before the Spanish Civil War (i.e. in 1935).
The initial limit when the three loading dates were agreed upon was 14,000 metric tons per day and 42,000 metric tons of cargo monthly.
Later, there were reduced annual import quotas and a limited maximum stock permisible at the arrival of each vessel: gasoline, auto: 190.000 Tm and 31.000 Tm respectively;
kerosene: 8.000 and 3.000;
gas-oil: 106.000 and 18.000;
fuel-oil: 200.000 and 35.000;
lubricants: 22.000 and 6.700.
Sid Guttridge wrote:Furthermore, this oil had to be carried in Spain's own tankers so as not to tie up tonnage otherwise available to the Allies. As Spain had too few tankers to import as much oil as it had before its civil war, in fact during WWII it imported rather less annually than it had in 1935.
Lack of tankers was never a problem. Some loading dates were lost due to vessels' breakdowns or bad weather, and obviously more ships would have allowed to solve this problems, but with no limits on the loading dates the available ships would have been more than enough to transport the oil allowed. In fact, there was a surplus of ships, and some of them were chartered for Portuguese and Switzerland (and later also for the U.S., thus obtaining much needed dollars).

Regards.

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Re: Spain's import of oil from USA during WW2

#8

Post by Sid Guttridge » 06 Sep 2012, 11:28

Hi Ironmachine,

Very interesting material. Many thanks.

Have you any sources that I might follow up?

Due to civil war losses, Spain was definitely short of tankers if it had been importing at the pre-1936 level, but its allocation by the Allies in WWII was restricted to 70% of this. Spain made a point of prioritizing the repair of its surviving tankers early in the war, but lost two of them en route to pick up oil in the Caribbean (from memory, one to a German submarine and one to a US submarine). It also prioritized the completion of new tankers, but was only able to launch two during the war years, so its carrying capacity remained little altered.

In 1942 Spain contracted to provide an oil tanker to Argentina in part exchange for wheat, but she was never handed over.

Spain had a small share in the Venezuelan oil industry and it was therefore allowed to continue to load it in the Dutch West Indies.

Cheers,

Sid.

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Re: Spain's import of oil from USA during WW2

#9

Post by Ironmachine » 06 Sep 2012, 18:55

Sid Guttridge wrote:Have you any sources that I might follow up?
I used the documents linked here:
http://www.cne.es/cne/contenido.jsp?id_ ... uditoria=F
Some interesting information, but I don't think there's much left about World War II that I have not quoted.
Sid Guttridge wrote:Due to civil war losses, Spain was definitely short of tankers if it had been importing at the pre-1936 level,
Quite probable, but as this was not the case is of no relevance here...
Sid Guttridge wrote:but its allocation by the Allies in WWII was restricted to 70% of this.
Do you have a source for the "70%" figure. I have my doubts about it, or better said I have my doubts that this figure was maintained during all the war. As I posted before, it seems that the annual import quotas were reduced during the war.
Sid Guttridge wrote:Spain made a point of prioritizing the repair of its surviving tankers early in the war, but lost two of them en route to pick up oil in the Caribbean (from memory, one to a German submarine and one to a US submarine).
Also from memory, I only remember the Badalona. Campomanes was torpedoed and remained out of service from December 1942 to June 1944, but was not sunk. Am I missing something?
Sid Guttridge wrote:It also prioritized the completion of new tankers, but was only able to launch two during the war years, so its carrying capacity remained little altered.
There was also some acquisitions: Santa Helena (renamed Campechano) in 1941 and Katrine Maersk (renamed Campana) in 1942, but you are right that the carrying capacity remained almost the same.
Sid Guttridge wrote:Spain had a small share in the Venezuelan oil industry and it was therefore allowed to continue to load it in the Dutch West Indies.
In the book Campsa: 1928-1958 you can read this:
En mayo de 1942 nos comunicó la "Oil Mission" que en lo sucesivo deberían efectuarse los suministros a través de las refinerías del Caribe.
Como estas refinerías eran propiedad de la "Lago Oil Co.", filial de la Standar N.Y., la de Aruba, y la de Curacao de la "Asiatic Petroleum Co.", del grupo de la Shell, con cuyas empresas CAMPSA no tenía relaciones comerciales, después de algunas gestiones se logró el abastecimiento triangular de dichas refinerías.
Traslation:
"In May 1942, the "Oil Mission" announced that henceforth supplies should be made through the Caribbean refineries.
As those refineries were owned by the "Lake Oil Co.", a subsidiary of the Standard NY, the one in Aruba, and the one in Curacao by the "Asiatic Petroleum Co.", part of the Shell group, with whose companies CAMPSA had no commercial relations, after some talks an agreement for the triangular supply of those refineries was reached."

Regards.

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Re: Spain's import of oil from USA during WW2

#10

Post by Sid Guttridge » 08 Sep 2012, 12:13

Hi Ironmachine,

Thanks for the sources.

I will dig out the source on 70%, but, from memory, it was the official Anglo-American allowance arrived at to prevent Spain having any surplus to either stockpile for itself, or re-export to the Axis.

In the meantime, I have done a little number crunching.

In the last full pre-civil war year, 1935, Spain imported 724,680 tons of oil.

70% of this is 507,276 tons.

According to the schedules you provided, but which I did not previously know, Spain was allowed by the Allies to load 42,000 tons of oil a month. This gives an annual total of 504,000 tons. (69.6%) This implies that the 70% allocation is accurate.

In the five full years of the war (1940-1944) Spain imported 2,506,395 tons, giving an annual average of 501,279 tons. (69.2%)

This varied between a high of 576,000 tons in 1941 and a low of 352,187 tons in 1942. I don’t know if the Allies allowed Spain to carry over surpluses and deficits from one year into the next, but this might explain how the average was maintained so close to 70% over the five full war years. Then again, it might partly be coincidence.

You are right about the Campomanes.

The Spanish company CEPSA owned 5% of the Creole Oil Company in Venezuela, but Venezuelan oil was refined in Anglo-American-owned refineries in the Dutch West Indies. I presume that the oil Spain got via these refineries came from CEPSA's share of Venezuelan production, but that the Anglo-Americans retained a stranglehold over its distribution through their refineries. (See p.57 of Las Relaciones Economicas de Espana con HispanoAmerica. [Madrid 1953]).

Cheers,

Sid.

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Re: Spain's import of oil from USA during WW2

#11

Post by Leo Niehorster » 10 Sep 2012, 10:38

Bravo. Fascinating information. I know why I like to visit here. :D

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Re: Spain's import of oil from USA during WW2

#12

Post by Ironmachine » 10 Sep 2012, 13:12

From the book Campsa: 1928-1958, a pair of graphics.
Imports of oil products:
1.JPG
1.JPG (27.07 KiB) Viewed 1846 times

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Re: Spain's import of oil from USA during WW2

#13

Post by Ironmachine » 10 Sep 2012, 13:14

Acquisitions (imports + domestic production):
2.JPG
2.JPG (34.62 KiB) Viewed 1845 times

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Re: Spain's import of oil from USA during WW2

#14

Post by Sid Guttridge » 10 Sep 2012, 13:19

Hi Ironmachine,

According to p.11 of one of your links “En diciembre de 1941 fue torpedeado y hundido el Badalona, cuya perdida fue aun mas sensible en momentos de escasez de tonelaje mercante.” It would therefore appear that shortage of shipping was an issue for Spain during the war, even on reduced trade levels.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I haven’t yet found a source for the 70% figure (or my original notes for Spain), but I have found one for a 60% figure. (One wonders if there was a typo that transposed an “s” for a “t”, or vice versa, in sesenta/setenta at some stage?)

It is on pp.115-116 of Mission de Guerra en Espana by Carlton J. H. Hayes (Editorial Jus, Mexico, 1946). [I presume there is an earlier US edition):

Lo que sobre todo deseabamos es que no pasase a manos del Eje absolutamente nada del petroleo que suministrabamos a Espana. Para eso tomamos dos precauciones: consistia una en restringir al minimo la cantidad que le proporcionasemos, la imprescindible para hacer frente a las necesidades expanolas mas perentorias, sin que quedase un sobrante para ser reexportado a nuestros enemigos.”

To this is attached the following footnote:

La capacdad maxima de petroleo para Espana, fijada en un sesenta por ciento del consumo normal en el lustro 1931-1936, a pesar de que las necesidades de Espana, respecto a ese producto, eran mucho mayores despues que antes de la Guerra civil. Ademas, ese cupo maximo era mas bien teorico, pues nunca fue comunicado oficialmente a su Gobierno.”

Hayes was US Ambassador to Spain over 1942-44 and is referring to his own tenure. He also says on p.116 that the British were inclined to be a bit less strict than the US in this matter, which might explain why Spanish oil imports fell most drastically in the year after the US entered the war. [I have checked the memoirs of the British Ambassador (Ambassador on Special Mission by Sir Samuel Hoare, Collins, London, 1946) but I cannot find anything so specific.]

What seems clear from our discussion is that the Allies had a specific calculation based on Spanish pre-civil war oil consumption in the range of 60% (Hayes) - 70% (official annual loading allowance from May 1942). However, while this informed their own policy on Spain’s oil imports, they apparently did not communicate their specific rationale to the Spanish Government.

Furthermore, the Allies do not seem to have regarded 60%-70% as absolutely sacrosanct over 1940-44, and it varied well outside that range between a low of 352,000t and a high of 577,000t. Therefore, the fact that the average over 1940-44 came out so close to 70% of the 1935 total now looks like something of a coincidence.

Some things remain unclear to me. For instance, CAMPSA was a state monopoly and it seems likely that it carried all, or virtually all, Spain’s oil imports during WWII, but does this mean that all Spain’s oil imports arrived on its vessels before the Civil War? And what about overland deliveries, perhaps from Romania, before 1936? Can the pre-Civil War CAMPSA import figures therefore be regarded as the same as Spanish oil consumption figures?

Cheers,

Sid.

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Re: Spain's import of oil from USA during WW2

#15

Post by Ironmachine » 10 Sep 2012, 13:54

Sid Guttridge wrote:In the last full pre-civil war year, 1935, Spain imported 724,680 tons of oil.
70% of this is 507,276 tons.
According to the schedules you provided, but which I did not previously know, Spain was allowed by the Allies to load 42,000 tons of oil a month. This gives an annual total of 504,000 tons. (69.6%) This implies that the 70% allocation is accurate.
In the five full years of the war (1940-1944) Spain imported 2,506,395 tons, giving an annual average of 501,279 tons. (69.2%)
This varied between a high of 576,000 tons in 1941 and a low of 352,187 tons in 1942. I don’t know if the Allies allowed Spain to carry over surpluses and deficits from one year into the next, but this might explain how the average was maintained so close to 70% over the five full war years. Then again, it might partly be coincidence.
Well, I think there are some inferences that can be made from the data available.
First, it is clear that in 1941 Spain was allowed to load more than 70% of its 1935 imports: 576.000 tons (1941) is about 79.5%. I think this means that the 70% limit was not enforced in that year and was only established later, which seems to agree with my previous reference that the 42,000-tons-per-month limit (which you have calculated is equal to the 70% limit) was created after the change to the Caribbean refineries, that is, in 1942.
Second, it is possible (as you say) that the Allies allowed to carry over surpluses and deficits , and that would explain the average of 70%. It is also possible, however, that the 70% limit was later increased. It should be also remembered that there were periods when the oil imports were suspended: at least from 20 February 1942 to 11 May 1942 and more than three months at the beginning of 1944.
Also, it should be considered that the same source that talks about the 42,000-tons-per-month maximum limit says that this was initially, and later talks about maximum annual quantities of just five oil products (admittedly, the top five) that add to 526.000 tons (or 72.58% of the 1935 imports)

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