The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1882-08-26

not producing a single barrel of oil.
Whlie many more furnish onlv the
Slnaiiest modlcum of their former
production.
Ii IS only a question of time when
Ihe pennsylvania oil fields will he
among the things Of the past. How
much time will be required to ex.
haaSt them at the present rate of pro.
ductlon? This cannot, of course. he
answered with any degree of certain.
W, out there are many of the veteran
OIL men who do not believe if will
tahG near as many years to deplete
Cne oalahce or the Pennsylvania oil
ueposltS at the present rate of pro-
"uctlon as 1t has taken 10 bring that
production up to its present status.
The drill has pretty effectually de-
hhed the extent of the field in which
productive territory may be hoped
iof. Inc southern limit of the eleag-
NOUS Delt may be said to be fixed by
lihe drawn from Kittanning, in
Armstrong county, to SaXOnburgh.
IN Butler county. The oil-bearInp
rock at this southern extremity of
the field dips so far below sea level
that the oil was either never genera
tea here or else it has been forced to
higher levels by the salt water con-
tanned in the rock. A Gordon of Wild
cat wells which failed to find any.
thlng but gas has been drilled at
various times and places in Western
Butler, Mercer, Central and Western
Crawford and Erie counties. These
experiments may be said to have
| practically defined the Western limits
Of the oil field. Coming East, a line
| Drawn from Smethport, ON the north,
to Leechburg, Armstrong county, on
the south, will nearly outline the
| general course Ola Gordon ofdry holes
and gas wells which haye heen drilled
| near Wilcox and Milestone in Elk
| county, Stump Creek in jefferson and
LeechDurg IN Armstrong and which
| clearly limits the extension of the
Held to the eastward. These expert
mentS, then, confne the productive
| territory to the counties of Butler,
Armstrong, Clarion, VenangO, East
/ efn Crawford, Forest, Warren and
Mchean, The available territory in
| the first five named counties has
already been practically exhausted,
| although it is quite probable that
! number of small pools of the Pithole
/ and Bullen order may yet be found
IN either of them. Mexican is on the
decline, its productive territory being
clearly defined and much more than
half exhausted, leaying only Warren
and Forest to yet be tested for virgin
territory.
The great deposit Just being OPEN
ed i'll Cherry Grove township, War
! reh county, are now supposed to COM
| prise about 1000 acres, leaving good
! zeal OF lighter territory to be tested
IN southeastern Warren and of all OF
Eastern Forest practically undrilled.
But at the rate at which drilling is
! now prosecuted it will take less than
! two years to drill over the whole
field sufficiently to tell pretty near
what is there. In Forest the Gram
dins, l.. f, Watson, the Enterprise
transit Company and other wealthy
landowners hold large tracts, which
they can keep from the drill for a
long time if they see fit, which they
will probably do if the price remains
as low as at present. There are,
| therefore, not a few old operators who
are confidently counting on the pres
ent Cherry Grove development as
the last big field that will ever be op.
ened up to The drilling public, they
expecting OF course, that the larger
tracts III Forest county above describ-
ed will be held and operated leisure.
Iy by the present proprietors. Civil
engineers like Wrigley and Opper-
man have already undertaken to fur
nish approximate figures showing
the remaining supply of Pennsylva-
mia petroleum and indicating that
much more than half Oft has already
been exhausted. This, of course, is
very uncertain, but there are many
things to Indicate that they are right
in their conjectureS and that the end
of these marvellous supplies of Oleag-
nous wealth iS'not far off.
But they world must have petro-
leum or its equivalent. When the
Pennsylvania fields are exhausted,
can the supply be made good from
other fields? This question is hard
to answer. New York has some rich
deposits, which are being rapidly ex-
hausted. The belt. however may
extend much further north, and new
fields be opened in that quarter. The
wildcat drilling has not yet been
thorough enough to finally determine
the extent of the New York petroleum
deposits. There is known to be oil
in West Virginia, Kentucky, Ten
nessee and California; but the rich
ness Of the Pennsylvania fields has
prevented anything like an exhaus-
tive test of the extent and value of
these deposits, Russia has some
very rich territory, while several of
the other European countries lay
claim to large deposits of oleaginous
wealth; but whether any or all Of
these prospective fields will be able
to fill the demand when the Pennsyl-
vania deposits are exhausted can
only be determined when the eney-
getic Pennsylvania oil operator is
forced to leave his favOrite fields, and
begins to bounce the busy drill in the
new districts. If the oil is there he
will find it, for he is untiring in his
search, being possessed with sort
Of mania Tor the discovery of the
greasy fluid. without regard to
whether it pays or not. In the mean
time, the consumption is constantly