The New York herald., 1876-09-18
PETROLEUM.

THE REMARKABLE ADVANCE IN OIL AND ITS
REsuLTs-EFrKcIs OF THE RECENT DEPREs-
sIoN-paoDUcKRs RUINED AND VILLAGES
MADE DEsoLATE-REvIvIrYINo INFLUENCES
OF PRospRnIry-uow FoRrUxxs HAVE BEEN
MADE.
OIL CRY. Pa, Sept II, 1915
Perhaps In section OF the country has there been
complete q revolution in business affairs within tho
past month in tho oil producing territory OF Western
Pennsylvania For ssveral years past depression in
activity and failures have beon tho order of the day
No part or the country suffered more from the hard
.timcs. Now, however, everything Is changed. The
cloud of depression has drcd quietly away In its
place may be all tho evidences OF thrift, enter
prise aud all that marks u locality as prosperous
''Four dollar oil" Is reality and all branches OF the
trade consequently happy-happy because they
making money.
TIE REASON or DEPRESSION
For two three years past the great staple OF this
section petroleum OIL has been furnished foreign
al about the OF production Tho exporters
combined and would pay the producer only SO much
The producers had the oil and compelled sell
for what they could get Prices continued TO decline
and producers TO fail Large wells could only be made
to pay Small ones, with producing capacity OF only
Oght barrels per diem, Abandoned aud the
owners continued to hunt for territory in which
they could obtain gushers Fortunes lost, and
many us good business men as the country furnishes
were driven 10 irretrievaDle bankruptcy and some
even to madhouses' The price continued to go down
ward until Of! at the wells scId ior forty
tion and rum followed II would be difficult
10 imagine. Small oil towns like Pithoe Bully Hill.
Cashui Triumph Hun aud others were deserted Towns
with population Of 5000 to 10000 were left within
three months with less tnan half dozen voters. Old
detrcks, engines. pump houses and the like marked
anu excitement.
Such having been the Is not remark able that
with tho return ot better times. there comes grateful
feeling to ALL Tho great Improvement was made dul
crudo oil nearly doubled and some of the most
fabulous fortunes were made in single day.
One day there occurred an appreciation of
about scvcniy-Gve cents per basrc and p-
divldual operator Ia OIL City realized o profit
$500, 600 The advance IN The market and the
consequent better feeling which prevails primarily
attributable to the greatly Increased demand for
sumption, together with not enough Increase in The
production 10 Offset Il. During the month OF August,
this year. there were completed IN the whole oil dis
rict 26S wells, forty OF which dry aud worth
less. The aggregate daily production Of these
1856 barrels average OF about twelve barrels Tor
each well completed. During Tho month last
year ony slxly-sx wells completed but the az
srcgate daily production OF these ,445 barrels or
AL average OF about twenty-five barrels per well. Thus
1t VII be seen that tho wells completed this year
only about haf large producers those oi 1875
large percentage OF Tho 26S wos completed To-
Gated III the Immediate vicinity OF other wells and will
diminish their production accordingly.
During August there ~ wells completed IN
Butler county, with aggregate daily yiela ol 143
barrels; "a in Clarion county, with u daily yisd of
ISIS barrels; 81 IN Vcnango, producing 367 barrels
day; ~ IN Warren producing 276 barrels, and 80 in
Mexican, with an aggregate daily production Of 652
barrels On The 1st day of September there were
drilling tho entire OIL region 38 wells with rigs up
in readiness to commence 3S3 others Probably 2l3 OF
these will be completed during tho present month and
saio to predict that their average production will
not be above leu barrels each.
The daily production OF tho entire region present
26 500 barresan increase of fully compared
with July This is small increase be derived from
the enormous host OF new wells As exhibiting
INCREASED pHNAND
for this iuminapt it be stated that the total ship
mens from the region OF crude oil its equivalent
refined, during August, 1875 SOL 921 barrels and
the corresponding month this year la 2O9 show
ing this year OF 2S2 2SS barrels Tins
shows that during August this year. 81 S75 barrels
were daily taken from tho rcgion. Deducting from
his the daily production. 2 50e nd l. 37S barrels
have daily bcen taken IRON the hand
The tota amount Of stock the region is 164 3S4
barrels. Wcro the shipments and production
10 continue the Same 1t would require
only about 2SO days to remove cvory
sumption will require u huge amount duriug the rest
OF the year. aud nvedolar oil much nearer
than did three dollar a ittle month ago. Tho
present pricc SO % at the wells the market having
advanced nearly 81 during The month. Tho price
year ago to-day was nincly-hvc cents Producers
hibit characteristic energy IN prosecuting develop
ments to tho utmost, but even tins folly hardly
prevent tho upward march prico OF tho grand lum
inant Of the nineteenth century.