Odlum's Busy Week

Floyd Odlum likes to keep plenty of cash in Atlas Corp., his big investment trust, to be able to step quickly into "special situations." Last week Atlas got into some very special situations in widely scattered parts of the world. In Albuquerque, the finishing touches were being put on a deal to put Atlas solidly into a new field--uranium mining--by taking over the Lisbon Uranium Co. (TIME. May 3). In Buenos Aires, Odlum emerged from a two-hour conference with President Juan Peron to announce that "an agreement in principle" had been reached on a 25-year oil-development contract between Argentina, Atlas, and Dresser Industries of Dallas, involving nearly $100 million. Odlum expects to sign the contract this week.

Strongman Peron, who has an ambitious five-year industrialization plan, was avid for the Odlum deal. The government oil monopoly has increased oil output only slowly, while consumption by the thirsty new industries has shot up fast. Imports rose from 10,693,000 bbls. in 1948 to 18,241,000 in the first ten months of 1953, draining off nearly $200 million a year in hard-to-get dollars and sterling. Argentina has enough oil underground for its own needs, but lacks the equipment, skilled workers and capital to get it out.

400-Mile Pipeline. To pave the way for the deal with Atlas, Peron had to walk a tightwire between his own country's rampant nationalism and the reluctance of foreign companies to come in without safeguards for their investments. He revised the investment law so that it put no limit on the percentage of profits that can be taken out of the country by petroleum investors. To appease his countrymen, Peron's deal with Atlas-Dresser provides that the U.S. companies explore and produce crude oil, after which Argentina will take over the refining and distribution. Dresser will supply the oil-drilling rigs, and Atlas the management and most of the capital. They will prospect for new fields in the Neuquen area, 600 miles southwest of Buenos Aires, try to get more oil out of existing fields, and build a 400-mile pipeline at a cost of $35 million to $40 million.

14 Promising Claims. While Odlum was negotiating with Peron, Atlas representatives were putting through a deal with stockholders of Lisbon Uranium by which three companies linked with Atlas (Wasatch Corp., San Diego Corp. and Air-fleets, Inc.) took over control of Lisbon. In exchange for 2,800,000 shares of stock (out of 4,150,000 outstanding), the Odlum interests turned over to Lisbon 15 promising uranium claims in southeast Utah and cash for diamond-drilling with a total value of $930,000. The claims are all near the rich mine started by Charlie Steen (TIME, Aug. 3), the first millionaire prospector of the uranium age. Lisbon, whose stock has shot up from 20-c- when it was first issued in February to around $2.75, planned to start drilling operations this week.

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