On the morrow of the Armistice, on November 21, 1918, Lord Curzon gathered together all the members of the Inter-Allied Petroleum Conference at a great banquet, and there uttered the famous saying: "The Allies floated to victory on a wave of oil." M. Henry Bérenger, the French Commissioner for Petrol, proposed to retain the great inter-allied organizations for the distribution of oil, wheat, coal, etc. The _Standard Oil_ refused. Besides, Sir John Cadman, Sir Marcus Samuel and Lord Curzon were not sorry to regain their freedom. They had only one idea--to bring to a successful conclusion their vast scheme, followed up for ten years with such admirable tenacity, in every country of the globe, for the acquisition of oil-bearing territories. France, in compensation for the great damage she had suffered during the War, was to receive important rights for the development of concessions in Galicia, Rumania, and Turkey, formerly belonging to Germany. The great thing was to keep out the American rival. To attain this end, as M. Delaisi pointed out, the task was rather complex. Several things were necessary:-- 1. To negotiate directly with the Quai d'Orsay in order to get the principle admitted of an _exclusive association_ between France and Great Britain, for the exploitation of French concessions throughout the world; 2. To create Franco-British companies to carry out this agreement; 3. To establish a State monopoly in France, which, under pressure of diplomatic conventions, would be bound to keep off American competitors. On January 21, 1919, although the War was over, the mandate of the Petrol Commission was extended for another six months. The State retained the monopoly of buying oil and the system of the consortium. That prevented our oil-men from working hand in hand with the _Standard Oil_ as they did before the War.