The principle guiding declassification review is to release all information, subject only to the current requirements of national security as embodied in law and regulation. Declassification decisions entailed concurrence of the appropriate geographic and functional bureaus in the Department of State, other concerned agencies of the U.S. Government, and the appropriate foreign governments regarding specific documents of those governments. The declassification review of this volume, which began in 2006 and was completed in 2008, resulted in the decision to make excisions of a paragraph or more in 9 documents, and minor excisions of less than a paragraph in 15 documents. The Office of the Historian is confident, on the basis of the research conducted in preparing this volume and as a result of the declassification review process described above, that the record presented in this volume provides an accurate and comprehensive account of the Nixon administration's energy policy from 1969 to 1974. Acknowledgments The editor wishes to acknowledge the assistance of officials at the Nixon Presidential Materials Project of the National Archives and Records Administration (Archives II), at College Park, Maryland. The editor also wishes to acknowledge the Richard Nixon Estate for allowing access to the Nixon Presidential recordings and the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace for facilitating that access. Special thanks are due to Scott Koch, of the Historical Staff of the Central Intelligence Agency, who was extremely helpful in arranging full access to the files of the Central Intelligence Agency. John Earl Haynes of the Library of Congress was responsible for expediting access to the Kissinger Papers, including the transcripts of Henry Kissinger's telephone conversations. The editor was able to use the Kissinger Papers, including the transcripts of telephone conversations, with the kind permission of Henry Kissinger. The editor would like to thank Sandra Meagher at the Department of Defense. The editor would also like to thank Alex Wieland for his assistance and contributions in the final stages of producing the volume. Linda Qaimmaqami collected documentation for this volume and selected and edited it under the supervision of Edward C. Keefer, General Editor of the Foreign Relations series. Chris Tudda coordinated the declassification review under the supervision of Susan C. Weetman, Chief of the Declassification and Publishing Division. Keri E. Lewis, Kristin Ahlberg, and Mandy A. Chalou did the copy and technical editing. Do Mi Stauber prepared the index. Bureau of Public Affairs Ambassador Edward Brynn Sources Sources for the Foreign Relations Series The 1991 Foreign Relations statute requires that the published record in the Foreign Relations series include all records needed to provide comprehensive documentation on major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant U.S. diplomatic activity. It further requires that government agencies, departments, and other entities of the U.S. Government engaged in foreign policy formulation, execution, or support cooperate with the Department of State Historian by providing full and complete access to records pertinent to foreign policy decisions and actions and by providing copies of selected records. Most of the sources consulted in the preparation of this volume have been declassified and are available for review at the National Archives and Records Administration. The editors of the Foreign Relations series have complete access to all the retired records and papers of the Department of State: the central files of the Department; the special decentralized files ("lot files") of the Department at the bureau, office, and division levels; the files of the Department's Executive Secretariat, which contain the records of international conferences and high-level official visits, correspondence with foreign leaders by the President and Secretary of State, and memoranda of conversations between the President and Secretary of State and foreign officials; and the files of overseas diplomatic posts. All the Department's indexed central files through 1976 have been permanently transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration at College Park, Maryland (Archives II). Many of the Department's decentralized office files covering the 1969-1976 period, which the National Archives deems worthy of permanent retention, have been transferred or are in the process of being transferred from the Department's custody to Archives II. The editors of the Foreign Relations series also have full access to the papers of President Nixon and other White House foreign policy records. Presidential papers maintained and preserved at the Presidential libraries and the Nixon Presidential Materials Project at Archives II include some of the most significant foreign affairs-related documentation from the Department of State and other Federal agencies including the National Security Council, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Dr. Henry Kissinger has approved access to his papers at the Library of Congress. The papers are a key source for the Nixon-Ford subseries of Foreign Relations. Research for this volume was completed through special access to restricted documents at the Nixon Presidential Materials Project, the Library of Congress, and other agencies. While all the material printed in this volume has been declassified, some of it is extracted from still classified documents. Nixon's papers were transferred to their permanent home at the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, in Yorba Linda, California, after research for this volume was completed. The Nixon Library staff is processing and declassifying many of the documents used in this volume, but they may not be available in their entirety at the time of publication. Sources for Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, Volume XXXVI, Energy In preparing this volume the editor made extensive use of Presidential papers and other White House records held at that time at the Nixon Presidential Materials Project at Archives II, which proved the best source of documentation on President Nixon's and the National Security Council's role in conceptualizing, formulating, and implementing energy policy. Within the NSC Files, the NSC Institutional Files (H-Files) are of particular importance. These contain the relevant National Security Study Memoranda, the resulting National Security Decision Memoranda, supporting study and policy papers, other background material, and memoranda of note. They contain documents prepared for National Security Council, Senior Review Group, and Washington Special Actions Group meetings, and the minutes of those meetings. Also in the Nixon Presidential Materials Project, as part of the NSC Files, are the Agency Files, Country Files, Saunders Files, Kissinger's Office Files, Presidential/HAK Memcons, and Subject Files. The Agency Files contain high-level documents and communication between the White House and other agencies. For this volume, the most relevant Agency files were those of the CIA, the OEP, and the National Energy Office. The Country Files are critical for researching bilateral relations. Although much of the material in the Country Files can also be found in the Department of State Central Files in Record Group 59, the Country Files contain cable traffic on topics deemed most significant by the White House. This includes communication on bilateral oil arrangements and negotiations on the embargo. The Country Files also include memoranda of conversation with various Middle Eastern leaders, and White House, State Department, and NSC assessments of each country's importance to the United States in terms of energy. The Country Files, used in tandem with the Presidential Correspondence Files (correspondence between Nixon and key figures such as King Faisal), the Presidential Trip Files, and VIP Visits Files (which include important briefing material) pro |