Wairarapa Daily Times [Established 45 Years.] MONDAY, APRIL 19, 1920. OIL FUEL OUTLOOK.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 46, Issue 14100, 19 April 1920, Page 4

Wairarapa Daily Times [Established 45 Years.] MONDAY, APRIL 19, 1920. OIL FUEL OUTLOOK.

An interesting statement was made recently by the Britisll Commercial Secretary at Washington in connection with oil shale production in America. He considered it probable that the oilbearing shales of the United States would' serve, in due time, to take the place of production from the oil wells. Statistics were quoted from the United States Bureau of Mines to show that the underground reserves of oil iu the' United States are 40 per cent exhausted, and production from drilling has probably attained its maximum. According to statistics submitted by the London Financial Times, the demand for oil products will reach: 800,000,000 barrels per annum by 1928. While such a responsible expression of opinion is worthy of every consideration, time alone can prove its correctness. The higher quotations for crude in Ajnerica are already stimulating drilling to an extent unprecedented in the oil industry, and in view of the vastness of the territory yet to be explored in the United States it is probable that further prolific fields such as Cushing and Texas will be discovered. At the same time consumption of oil is increasing at such a pace that there is little doubt that the United States will find it necessary to develop the huge oil shale deposits of Colorado and elsewhere. The United States contributed 80 per cent to the great quantity of oil used by the Allies during the \yar, and at the present time consumes nearly 75 per cent of the world’s output. Perhaps geological experts in the United States take air unduly.pessimistic view of the outlook. However, over since the beginning of: the American oil industry, which began in 1859, no attempt has been made to conserve the country’s supplies, and it is not unnatural that long-headed men in the United States should be looking with apprehension towards the future. So far as the world’s supplies arc concerned, however, the outlook is mo,re promising. At a recent meeting of the Institute of Petroleum Technologists, Sir Marcus Samuel offered the opinion that there would be sufficient oil forthcoming to meet the demand. He pointed out, for example, that the Mexican Eagle Company had been successful in.

bringing into being a virgin field, which had yielded the enormous amount of 30,000 tons per day, and he did not envisage any great danger of lack of liquid fuel in the future. A recent statement issued by the Mexican Government went to show that the potential capacity of the 310 oil-pro-ducing wells in Mexico is 2,000,000 barrels per day, but of which about 220,000 barrels, or a little over ten per cent, arc being extracted daily for exportation and home consumption. These figures demonstrate a margin of about 1,780,000 barrels per day to be drawn upon by simply opening the valves of the wells. Persia has been little more than scratched from an oil point of view. Active development work is promised in the near future, in Mesopotamia, while in the nature of things the day may arrive when Russia will again occupy the second position as an exporter of petroleum. Nevertheless, the problem of the future is the securing of adequate supplies, in view of the remarkable transition that has taken place from coal to oil fuel in the world’s leading industries. Whatever substitutes science may provide for the product, there 'will always be a demand for natural oil products, and there is every incentive for the employment on a much larger scale of British capital to exploit oil-bearing lands.