The Anglo-American Petroleum Agreement or Washington Agreement (August 8, 1944) was a failed attempt by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and

American government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

s to establish a lasting agreement to manage international

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

supply and demand. The agreement would have established the International Petroleum Commission for the purposes of balancing discordant supply and demand, managing surplus, and bringing order and stability to a

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market Geography *Märket, an ...

laden with oversupply, similar to the

Texas Railroad Commission The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC; also sometimes called the Texas Railroad Commission, TRC) is the state agency that regulates the oil and gas industry, gas utilities, pipeline safety, safety in the liquefied petroleum gas industry, and sur ...

in the United States. After being concluded, the agreement faced near total opposition from the

petroleum industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The large ...

, prompting

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Franklin Roosevelt to withdraw the treaty from ratification consideration and abandon the agreement.Yergin, Daniel. The Prize. New York: Free P, 2008

References

Petroleum politics United Kingdom–United States treaties Treaties concluded in 1944 Energy treaties 1944 in the United Kingdom 1944 in the United States Unratified treaties 1944 in economics {{Treaty-stub