2/5/77

WASHINGTON, May 1 (NYT). Two private research organizations have taken exception to the CIA forecast of an acute oil shortage in the mid-1980s and the possibility of prices three times greater than present levels.

An analysis by the Stanford Research Institute of Palo Alto, Calif, prepared earlier this year for its subscribers, one of which is the CIA, preceded the CIA report and disagrees with it in several respects.

National Economic Research Associates of New York distributed last week an "appraisal" that said the CIA reached its conclusion "by making a pessimistie judgment on every eiement of the situation."

Meanwhile, the Federal Energy Administration charged 20 major multinational oil compagnies with overcharging U.S. consumers by $336 million between October, 1973, and May, 1975.

The alleged inflation of prices, which the FEA has been debating with the companies for nearly two years, occurred because the companies transferred imported oilfrom their foreign subsidiaries to their domestic subsidiaries at prices above the fair value, the FEA said.

The New York research group said the CIA report was "not the bombshell" it was portrayed to be by President Carter in an April 5 press conference, Rather, the appraisal said, the report "is, as it was intended to be, a handy two-by-four to help the President get the attention of the American public mule."

The view that the CIA report was being used to rally publie opinion behind Carter’ s proposed energy taxes arose from the fact that the White House issued the report April 18, to coincide with Carter’ s televised talk that night on the energy situation.

CIA sources insist that their report was prepared in the normal course of intelligence gathering.

The sources said the 18-page paper was directed to Carter’ s attention and that he refferred it to James Schlesinger, his energy adviser and a former director of the CIA.

Analysts at the CIA feel that the Stanford report does not conflict with the agency’ s work because the approach was different. The Stanford analysts were "dealing with a long-term ressources problem," a CIA source said, whereas the agency was taking a relatively short-term look at energy supplies likely to be produced commercially by 1985.

The Stanford analysts anticipate less demand for energy and more supply than did the CIA.

Ford and Nixon
Receive Regular
Policy Briefing

WASHINGTON, May 1 (AP), Former Presidents Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon are receiving regular briefings on secret relationships between the United States and foreign nations, President Carter said.

Mr. Carter made the disclosure in a question-and-answer session Friday with the board of directors of the Radio Television News Directors Association. The White House released the transcript yesterday.

The President toid the group that the two former presidents were receiving briefings from the State Department and the CIA on secret unpublicized interrelationships between us and other governments. I think this is a very beneficial think to me to