On 14 October 1955, Harold Macmillan, British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, presents a report on Middle East oil to the Cabinet. The document highlights that if United Kingdom fuel needs during the next 20 years are to be met, imports of oil must be trebled, and emphasises that the Middle East is the only source. The note stresses the danger that this region could slip away from the UK as a result of the growing efforts made by the Egyptians, the Saudi Arabians and the Russians to undermine the British position in the area. The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs urges the government to endorse the principle that the British position in the Middle East is vital to the national economy and that the UK should be prepared to spend in the area on a scale more closely related to its essential interests there.