The Petroleum Centre daily record. [volume] (Petroleum Center, Pa.) 1868-1873, 1869-01-29
THE PETROLEUM TRADE.

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The Erie Dispatch, Of yesterday publishes
the following article upon the petroleum
trade:
Various influences combine to create the
new interest that now centres on the peti0.
lsum trade 1t is not possible that such q
power In the commercial world a. tho oil
market should remain untouched by the
vast fluctuations that are now, like the
storm-swells Of the sea, sweeping over flnan
cial America, alling up old business chan
nSls and drifting out new. It is something
to this northwest nook. and to all interest.
ed that these commercial upheavings. as 10
the ease Of the other essential interests,
have brought petroleum palpably to the
surface; and % "oil' has q repugnancy to
''mixing" generally, It Is indicated that
kerosen" will be king ''while the lamp holds
ont to burn"
Three points obtain prominence in this
connection: aupply, reserve and demand
The question of supply is simply the ques.
tion Of natures uctiveness: The demand
will be satisfied 40 far ~ enterprise has to
do 10 that direction. The fears of pxhaus.
tion Ut first entertained by a very naturally
ineredulous public seem, from subsequent
Developments, not to have been well found.
ed. Strikes are the order Of tue day ss
much now as ever. though they may not
discover themselves in the shape of
"Shermans' and "Grants," with their 800
t0 500 barrels per day. Striking ile''
has become a Legitimate. staid, old.fashioned
and non. sensational business now, robbed
Of that ''vaulting ambition which oerlsaps
itself" According to the latest and most
reliable accounts, the average production of
I'll the wells in the Venango region 10 about
ten thousand barrels per day. which, we be-
lisve, Ia fully up to tho production at the
came time In 1868 And more than this
she comparatively high prices which have
prevailed tor some time past resnscitated
and stimulated development, 80 tina. the
number Of wells being put down, it is said,
ia almost unprecedented in the history Of
the trado
As for The stock--tbe reservoir hand,
it 10 not 60 easy u matter TO arrive at any
definite estimate. nor 10 it, perhaps. so de-
srable. Nevertheless. this consideration
has much to do with the present condition
of the oil market. II has been stated re.
Gently that the stocks In the wsrld at the
beginning Of 1869, were one million barre q
lees than at the beginning of 1868, while,
On the other hand it has been li.nred up
that the stock on hand now Is fully mp 10
what IL was last year at this time. Here is
a discrepancy Of q million barrels, nearly
equal to 0ne.third Of the years. production,
aud how is II to b. rec0nciIei? The great
difficulty In getting OF the point in question
lies In the fact there arc no full, satisfactory
and reliable statistics, by which to deter
mine, with any degree of accuracy, the
stocks on hand; and while we admit tha,
there are some places where the records o
receipts and shipments can have been kept
correctly, there are Others, where they have
not, 81 that in order to make out full state.
m-nt, the statistician iu compiling his fig
ures has, In many cases, 10 estimate or guess
ut 1t as best he eau. In the long run, huv
ever, this question of reserve Is nothing as
regards tue TWO other euds of the trade
The supply must be the greatest possible
because
The demand is immense and on the in
crease. The shipments to foreign markets
in 1865 were unprecedented in the history
of the trade, being nearly donOle, W. be-
iievs, what they were in 1861, and II the
vresent can ba taken as . critorion Of th,
fnthrc, u is probable t6at the c0nslimp pti0I
of oil in 1869 will he much larger than i
was in 1865 New markets ar. being opanet
up evsry year, and, in consequence Of it,
cheapuess, there is NO other article that cal
successfully compete with it. The point o
anxiety now only is the extent of the grea
subierranean basin from which this snurc,
ofwealth tlowG Petroleum has h"cnme
universal necessity. There is no danger
therefore, Of its production ever becomin.
" great Is to swamp the demand. Th
real danger IL. Il there ia any ia the matter
that decrease in the supply may occur
and thus place an exoroi.~as price W tn
c'minod ty. Even as 1t is 'hs price is con
farxtiyciy hign; hat th're il plenty uf maj
glo YET l"lors any oil lots cav take rllsc
The tendency al present il upward, AN
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