In acknowledging your letter of the 28th July [1] I desire to
express my keen appreciation of the efforts made by His Majesty's
Missions in Portugal in connection with the application of Oil
Search Ltd for oil concessions in Portuguese Timor.

Your letter certainly throws considerable light on the reasons for
the long delay in the finalisation of this matter, but the
obstacles encountered cause me some loss of confidence in the
value of various published reports about the efficiency and
expedition of the new regime. Australian business interests had
had experience in the past of the dilatory methods obtaining in
Portuguese Timor itself, and it was this which prompted the advice
given to Mr Dodson [2] that it would probably be advisable for him
to proceed personally to Lisbon. It is unfortunate that the
Company has been put to the expense of having to maintain him
there for over a year.

I feel that the Ambassador [3] and yourself are fully conversant
with the political and strategical considerations which are
actuating the Commonwealth Government in pressing for concessions
on behalf of an Australian Group, and I leave it to your
discretion to advance strongly these considerations with the
responsible Portuguese authorities at every suitable opportunity.

In this connection, our efforts to establish an air link with
Timor which will mainly benefit Portuguese interests might be used
to reinforce your representations.

R.G. MENZIES