The British Government made, at the time, only a vague reply to the Colby Note. The English Press published the complete text.[32] Lord Curzon then declared that the existing British rights in Mesopotamia were only the confirmation of those acquired before the War by the _Turkish Petroleum Company_, the control of which the British Government holds in common with the _Royal Dutch_, for it has bought 200,000 ordinary shares in this company. But for the War the exploitation of the oil deposits of Mosul and Baghdad would long since have begun. The rights acquired by the French Government under the San Remo Agreement represent only the German share, and they were granted in return for facilities given for the dispatch to the Mediterranean of the petroleum produced. Neither the rights of the _Turkish Petroleum Company_, nor the San Remo Agreement will preclude the Arab State of Iraq from enjoying the full benefit of ownership or from prescribing the conditions upon which the oil-fields shall be developed. The British Government has no desire whatever to deny the United States a share in the expansion of the petroleum industry of Mesopotamia. And the British Note draws attention to the fact that London by no means agrees with Washington on the estimate of the petroleum resources of the various nations. While the potentialities of the future are necessarily problematical, the undisputed fact remains that at present United States soil produces 70 per cent. of the oil production of the world.[33] It is not easy, therefore, to justify the United States Government's insistence that American control should now be extended to resources which may be developed in mandated territories. The British Government, nevertheless, is in general agreement with the contention of the United States Government that the world's oil resources should be thrown open for development without reference to nationality.