WORLD DEMAND FOR OIL

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25551, 20 July 1948, Page 6

WORLD DEMAND FOR OIL

IMPORTANCE OF MIDDLE . EAST The Western Hemisphere's consumption of oil products is now overhauling even the huge petroleum production of the Americas, and the world at large looses increasingly to expanding exports from the Middle East to satisfy its needs. Europe in particular will depend mainly on the Middle East for oil supplies. What has been obvious to the petroleum industry for some years wps recently brought to public attention—that the oil export centre 6f the world is likely to move from the Western Hemisphere to the Middle East. The chairman of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, Ltd., Sir William Fraser, made this forecast at the annual meeting in London recently. Anglo-Iranian found the first oilfield in Iran 40 years ago. and has extensive interests tn various territories. Profit last year was £18,564,857 —a rise of £9.000,000. The British Government has a substantial holding in this company. Search in Various Countries “In our search for oil in other parts of the world, no positive indication of oil in commercial quantities has been found,”, said Sir William Fraser. “In Papua a test well was completed at a depth of 12.621 feet, securing valuable geological information. We propose to intensify our search in this area, where surface oil indications are profuse. “In the Bahamas negative results have been obtained from drilling, geological and geophysical work, and prospects do not appear to be good. “In Australia two companies, in each of which Anglo-Iranian has one-third interest. have been formed in partnership with Zinc Corporation and Vacuum Oil Company Proprietary, Ltd., to test areas considered to be possibly oil-bearing, and geological work is in progress. Exploration activity in India and Pakistan has been continued. “World consumption of petroleum products expanded at a high rate in 1947. The rapid increase in demand since the war has exceeded the most optimistic estimates.”

WORLD SHORTAGE OF _FATS EXTENSION OF SYNTHETICS MANUFACTURE It is forecast that edible and nonedible fats will remain in short supply for at least 10 years, and as the distinction between t,hem grows daily of less significance because of improvements in refining methods and subsequent proIt is reasonable to assume, says ‘The Times Review of Industry,” that Priority wil * b e given to requirements for edible purposes over those for industrial uses. Even with an easier overall supply of oils and fats the demand for edible purposes would have first call, and the fats and oils required for soap manufacture are thus certain to be in short supply for many years to come. Any reduction in the present demand for soap making and industrial uses would mean a corresponding increase in the availability of edible oils and fats. In a recent discussion before the Society of Chemical Industry in London, it was stated that the Shell Company is spending many million pounds in Great Britain in the next few years in the erection and extension of chemicals-from-oils factories, a venture aided by the recent exemption from excise duty of the crude oils used as raw material for chemical making. Relief from Crude Oils It is envisaged that the short-range importance of synthetic detergents will be followed by a period of increasing demand because of their technical and economic merits, and present trends in synthetic detergent manufacture indicate that a tentative world ceiling production of 2.000.000 tons a year is probable. .The petroleum ihdustry would be the logical source of supplies of this magnitude as it is obvious that oil seed cultivation is a long-term plan and insufficient in itself to satisfy requirements. The position can best be illustrated by the fact .that one ton of synthetic detergents (20 per cent, active content) is equivalent to one ton of 50 per cent, fatty acid soap, which is the equivalent of more than half a ton of fatty oil and/or fats. Chief among the products produced by the treatment of crude oils are the sodium higher alky] sulphates, which provide the basis of the wide range of synthetic soaps and wetting agents. These synthetic detergents possess the exceptional property of cleaning with equal effectiveness in soft, hard, or even salt water, the absence of scum when used in hard water giving an unimpaired brightness. to washed goods and a sparkling poli.-h on glass. It is interesting tn note that during the war some 48,000.000 tablets of a gen- ■ eral puroose soap were made in the United Kingdom and sunpljed to the fighting forces, mainly in the Far East. This soap consisted of a mixture of synthetic detergent and fattv acid soaps. Blackwater Mires. Ltd.—The return for the four-weekly period ended July 9. 1948. ' was as follows Crushed 1760 tons, yielding 811 fine ounces of gold from all sources. Associated Gold Dredges (N7J, Ltd.— For the week ended July 17. the Atarau dredge recovered 61 ounces from 29,040 yards, in 121 j dredging hours.