WORLD OIL SUPPLIES

Evening Star, Issue 18808, 5 December 1924, Page 8

WORLD OIL SUPPLIES

j RUSSIA BEGINS TO EXPORT. j Interesting information in regard to tiro consumption of petroleum and petroleum products in 1923 is given by the United States Department ot Commerce. ; It is stated that the total consumption ' last year throughout the .world amounted to over 38,090,000,000 gallons, of which j the United States consumed 25,000,000,000 ■ gallons, or 56 per cent., in addition to more than 1,500,000,000 gallons of bunker I oil shipped for the use of vessels engaged jin the foreign trade. This would bring the total American requirements to 70.2 j per cent, of the world consumption. Great Britain, Russia, Canada, France, Mexico, , India, and Argentina were the next ! largest users of these products, but Great Britain used only 3.9 per cent., Russia 3 per cent., Canada 1.9 per cent., and the others approximately 1.2 per cent. each. Of the sixteen largest consumers outside of the United States, only Russia, Mexico, Rumania, and the Dutch East Indies have a production sufficient to leave an export surplus, and of tho other twelve three only, Argentina, Japan, and India, have enough production to meet any important proportion of domestic requirements. American refineries supplie* the rest of the world with 3,000,000,000 gallons of petroleum products, in addition to shipments of crude oil to make a total of 4,000,000,000 gallons, or 30.8 per cent, of the estimated consumption outside of the United States. Petroleum products constitute one of the most important of the many national i resources of Russia, and these may be I expected to play a large part in the rej construction uf that unhappy country, if ' the cost of production and tiansportation, particularly the latter, can be brought r about. Much will have to he accomplished in rehabilitating rail and water routes before full advantage can bo taken of Russia’s proximity to the markets of Europe. Pome progress is being made, however, in this direction. In the first six months of the present fiscal year Russia shipped 758.000 tons of petroleum products, practically all of which went to European countries. This was more than 80 per cent, of the total exports for 1913, but in 1904 tho exports were 1,800,000 tons, Russia then leading the world in petroleum production. During the revolutionary period of 1917 and 1918 much damage was caused to the oil properties, so that the nationalised industry started with great handicaps in the form of lack of labor, equipment, and technical personnel, hut largely "ecause of the richness of the deposits. »he industry is reviving, and the products are again coming into competition with American products in Europe.