The Western Axis Oil Position. Note by Secretary

seriously felt. Damage to the Ploesti refineries, if sufficiently heavy to necessitate the shipment of crude to central and western Europe for refining, would increase the burden on Axis transportation. The Rumanian refinery capacity as it now stands is, however, considerably in excess of present needs. (c) Plants and Refineries. While damage to equipment actually in use in any refinery would be likely to interfere to some extent with the total Axis output of oil products, the resulting interference would in most cases probably be slight, since the large excess of refinery capacity which exists in Germany and elsewhere in western Europe should make it relatively easy, unless key facilities are destroyed, either to repair damage or to shift operations to undamaged equipment in the same or another refinery.