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[Enclosure—Translation]
The Rumanian Minister for Foreign Affairs
(Duca)
to the American Minister (Jay)
Bucharest, November 18,
1924.
No. 59115
Mr. Minister: Referring to Note No. 111 of
November 8, 1924,54 I
have the honor to make known to Your Excellency the following
considerations on the subject of the objections of the American
Petroleum Companies:
(1) “Pooling” or the combining of small tracts of land whether
concessioned or not, in view of exploiting petroleum and natural
gases, is a measure which is merely aimed at the protection of the
field and its reasonable exploitation. (Art. 113 of the Mining
Law)
The measure enacted under the Law, fixing the distance of the
drilling at 30 meters from the boundary of the property, prevents
moreover an unfair competition between neighboring
exploitations.
The State, in taking these measures, has intended to insure, not only
the general welfare which it has to safeguard, but also the
interests
[Page 645]
of the private
companies whose prosperity is primarily based on a rational
exploitation.
Moreover, the directors and technical experts of the companies were
the first to request, more than 20 years ago, the regulation of
petroleum exploitation in the sense of the stipulations of Article
113.
(2) Pooling does not impair acquired rights. It simply regulates them
in view of a rational and equitable exploitation as between adjacent
exploitations.
The difficulties proceeding from the widespread division of the
ownership of the soil are felt, not only in the mining exploitation
of Rumania, but also in that of other countries. Thus, in Galicia,
the State has been forced to take analogous and very severe measures
to safeguard the ozocerite fields and to insure for them the
possibility of a methodical exploitation, seriously jeopardized by
innumerable exploitations on small tracts of land. The difficulties
of a similar situation are equally known in the English coal mines,
with the difference that coal, being a solid, cannot be mined to the
detriment of an adjacent owner, whilst petroleum and gas, being
fluids, can be extracted by borings which are too near the boundary
of the property. Under these conditions the distance of 30 meters,
provided by the law, defines the zone of influence of a well and
prevents the petroleum or gas of any one property from being
extracted by neighbors.
(3) The Mining Law, although having in view these considerations,
nevertheless grants the Ministry of Industry and Commerce the power
to reduce the distance of 30 meters. (Final paragraph of article
190.)
Under these conditions we can assure Your Excellency that the
Ministry of Industry and Commerce will examine with the greatest
benevolence all claims on this subject that the American companies
may present to that Department.
I take the liberty of asking you, Mr. Minister, kindly to consider if
it would not be well to advise the incorporated Rumanian companies
with American capital, whose claims have given rise to the
intervention of Your Excellency … that they may obtain more easily
all the elucidations and necessary solutions, by addressing direct
the mining authorities of the country, who are, moreover, competent
to examine and judge claims of this nature.
I consider it advisable once more to assure Your Excellency that the
Rumanian Government intends to do all that is necessary to respect
acquired rights and to satisfy legitimate interests of private
individuals on this subject.
I take [etc.]
