A DROP OF OIL....

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 280, 26 November 1938, Page 1 (Supplement)

A DROP OF 01L....

IN the late nineteenth century an Australian engineer wore himseif and his fortune threadbare trying to prove that there was enough oil in Persia for the lamps of the world. His requests for financial backing were politely ignored, and he and his quest became a jolce in British political circles. So William U Arcy, after fruitless years of drilling in the 01 chard lands and deserts of Persia, resolved to give up. A new Shah, determined on the progress of his country, engaged him to build a railway, and at the end of it presented the worn-out prospector with a document, embellished with strange seals and decorations, that was the commencement of the dynamic story of oil. Unconditionally, it gave D'Arcv the lights to all that was found in the subsoil of Persia.

Simultaneously tliere burst tlie news that an oil pusher had been struck north of the Persian Gulf. D Arcy, broken and ill, found himself the possessor of a paper worth millions. Bewildered, he refused the offers that pelted in from every country. As gusher after gusher spouted in Persian territory the offers soared to staggering heights. But D'Arey never sold the paper. Through an extraordinary feat of secret service espionage it passed into the hands of the British Government, and England found herself mistress of half the petroleum -world.

Meanwhile in America the late John Rockefeller was rising to financial heights on a flood of Pennsylvanian oil. America stepped into the oil business, and wary Britain tightened her hold on the concessions. In the Dutch East Indies Sir Henri Deterding floated a small company. The Englishman Samuels did the same in Penang. While America and Britain Juggted with high finance these two joined forces and grew powerful. The historic oil war between this company and the mighty Rockefeller was prolonged and desperate. With the subtle weapons of finance they fought in China and Iraq as well as on their own grounds. Then Rockefeller toppled and retreated to his own country, trying to recoup his enormous losses.

Here Mexico comes into the picture. Gold brought the conquistadores, oil brought revolution, progress and strife. Where the Indian maizefields had been the weird, stiff forest of the derricks grew. Corrupt legislation, every kind of confidence trick were employed to gain control of the enormous wealth suddenly laid bare within Mexican borders. The Cerro Azul gusher broke the world record with 200,000 barrels daily flow. President after President rose and fell as the oil companies changed hands. Revolution ran riot. British and American firms backed different generals paid to protect their derricks. In spite of incendiary fires and riot and havoc the mad scramble for drilling went on. Death among the drillers was frequent, casing pipes bursting, oil exploding under underground pressure, derricks falling as the jerry-built skeletons collapsed under the terrific force of the torrent of black gold from the caverns of the earth.

The Great War might have been fought for iron and steel, but oil ended it. At the outbreak Britain clamped down on her blockade, and Germany was soon in dire straits for lack of oil. All the main centres were closed to her. She overran Rumania, took possession of the wells within reach, and still was in need. On England's part, the need of oil was

the cause of the Dardanelles campaign. The rich deposits of the Black Sea could not be drained for the navies of the Allies with the Turks blocking the w «*y- The Anzac fought to free Russian oil. Neai the end, when both enemies were in desperate need of oil, America stepped in with fresh supplies for Britain, and Germany was beaten. So much does this strange mineral mean to the world's history.

Many geologists claim that the oil wealth of Venezuela is the greatest in the world, and as the tide of oil pours out of the country unrest and revolution pour in. Oil is an olive-green stain on the history of any country; it cannot exist alongside political serenity. Of the "wells of Arabv," for which the mysterious T. E. Lawrence worked so hard, of the oil concessions obtained through his labours \v> cannot say much. Nor can we of the ancient citv of Nineveh, where the Assyrians of Biblical times burnt crude oil as a sacred flame to dark gods. There gangling derricks now stand, while almost at their feet scholars are digging, disinterring treasures of literature and art of a bygone race.

But what of the treasure seekers? The oil drillers are unconsidered in the battle for oil, but they form an army of hundreds of thousands strong. In their strange, meccano-like cities they earrv out a difficult and nerve-racking work. The "steel scaffolds tremble and groan as the pile driver descends on the drill. Hour after hour they vigilantly watch the descent of the drill until the bed of oil is reached. Oil does not exist in subterranean lakes. It is rather contained in porous rock saturated with oil and gas. When the drill pierces this spongy strata the gas accumulating for thousands of years bursts free and throws the oil up in the air in a true gusher, often tearing derricks free from their foundations. A gusher may last for months or years, but eventually it runs down and the pipe throws up only salt water. Then the lonelv city of refineries, -wells, tanks and pipes is left to the desert, but until then intense activity reigns. The most dangerous job is that of the drivers of the nitroglycerine lorries. This substance is consumed bv tinton every day in the oil fields. Painted a vivid red, these lorries are avoided by other motorists like the plague, for any bump or shock may cause the nitroglycerine to explode. No trace of the lorry or driver is ever found. When oil fires occur explosives are used in drastic attempts to stop the destruction. An oil fire sometimes lasts for weeks and is an awesome thing. A column of flame belches forth, and the prairie around is scorched to the ground. With the nauseating smell of burning oil goes the knowledge that millions of pounds worth is going up in smoke. Through the black, noxious fumes go aeroplanes, with masked crews ready to drop powerful bombs. Falling directly upon the well, the bombs produce an explosion resulting in a vacuum, and the outer air rushing into this vacuum Bmothers the blaze.

....Is Worth. A Drop Of Blood This is not so much a tale of modern treasure seekers as it is a late of the treasure itself, which is the foundation of our commerce, and will be more necessary than men in the battles of to-morrow, which has caused more Wars and more juggling of finance than anything else in the world.

Through the terrific heat the intrepid airmen go, avoiding towering derricks by a hairsbreadth, tossed in the uprushing columns of hot air. But they generally accomplish their work. Some famous fires have been unconquerable, for instance the Rumanian one which went on for two years, steadily and unquenchably like a column of flame, whosd roaring made the earth vibrate. The nights were illuminated and the days filled with soot. The valley was a ghostly place that did not know darkness. But this was nothing to the tremendous sums of money that went up in that column of flame. Bombing and dynamite were useless, so galleries were dug, at enormous risk, and the well-casing tapped to shut off the gas pressure. After great loss of life it was done, but tbe oil fields were ruined.

"A drop of oil is worth a drop of blood," said a statesman once. That is as true to-day as ever. War in the Near East would prove disastrous even to Britain, whose concessions seem to be so secure. Severed pipelines would prove fatal to England's navies of both sea and air. Rivalry between nations and jealousy over pacts and treaties—these are the accompaniments of the sluggish fluid that means so much. For centuries in Persian temples there burned gigantic torches, supposedly the eijrn of the Fire God. This god the modern world knows as petroleum, and as long as motive power, heating and light are dependent upon petroleum, there will be daring adventurers ready to go out in search of it.