The Effect on the German Oil Situation of the Loss of the Roumanian, Hungarian, Polish and Esthonian Oilfields Memo by Technical Sub-Ctee on Axis Oil

8. The deficit could only be made good immediately by withdrawals from stocks or by economies in the consumption or by a combination of the two. The improvement in stocks during the first quarter of the year, if we are correct in estimating that this has occurred and in so far as such stocks are not tied up by the need to make provision for new military commitments, might delay for a time the full effect of the loss of these sources of supply. Thereafter, reduced supplies would necessitate a reduction in consumption, with its proportionate impairment of the German war effort.