Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-03-21
PETROLEUM IN PERU
Coming Into Competition With the
United States and Russia.
SHIPMENTS OF OIL TO JAPAN,
Large Vessel Now Fitting Out for That
Express Purpose.
SOMETHING OF OTHER FOREIGN FIELDS

most interesting news from the foreign pc
troleum fields is the information that Peru
vians have entered the export trade in com
petition with Russia and the United States
The fitting out of a large vessel to carry
native oil from one of the Peruvian ports tc
Japan has been genuine surprise to the
trade here. Peruvian oil business has beer
very much belittled. but. this indicates that
there may be great deal in it after all
Oil developments have not been at all
vigorously pushed in Peru, or in any part
of South America, and if that country can
already send oil to Japan, it certainly mean.
that as an oil-producing country it should
not be despised.
This latest news recalls the report of Mr..
Hicks, American Minister to Peru, which
was received with much Indifference by
American operators. There were some
things about the Minister'S report which in
dicated that he was not we'll versed in the
technique of the oil business, and this may
have led some people to conclude that his
information and judgment were alike i'm
perfect. Mr.. Hicks reported rather IN
definitely that there were wells in Peru
''spouting exactly like the famous wells in
Pennsylvania"
Not Considered Valuable News.
The wells in Pennsylvania have such q
variety of ways of spoutfng, all the way
from barrel to /, 900 barrels day, that the
trade did not think it had received valuable
information. The Minister also reported
that a firm operating there was erecting
Gigantic refueries" to refine the product of
the wells, and this was likewise set down
as not meaning anything in particular. 1t
all depended on what the Minister'S idea OF
a gigantic refinery was, whether it was a
200-barrel still or a regular Standard Oil
Company affair.
The next official report from Peru is
likely to be received with more considera-
ton. Since Russia has pushed her oil busi-
ness up to point where that country is pro-
ducing barrel for barrel with the United
States, there is less disposition to make fun
of foreign oil fields. ''This means a very
serious competition with American oil,
said dealer, land another Russia would
leave our foreign trade in very bad shape.
We used to make fun of Russia, and refer
to her oil fields as the 'Czar's tar beds, but
we do not do this any more. The product of
these tar beds, so-called, is going into every
even into Canada, in a small way, and if We
Large Oil Territory There.
This gentleman is of the opinion that Peru
has very large oil territory, and his op-
portunities tor knowing what is going on
there are good. 1t was an American who
drilled the first productive wells in Peru
and the same operator is in very close touch
with oil affairs there at the present time.
He erected the first refinery in that country,
and being thoroughly familiar with the
business of producing oil, he would not re-
main there unless he was convinced it was
worth his while. There is not much pub
licity given to what is really being done
there, and it is only by such information as
that firms are getting ready to export oil to
Japan that the trade gets an idea as to the
true situation.
There are few countries on the globe
where petroleum is not being prospected
for, and the discovery of a rich pool in
some remote quarter would not be surpris-
ing. A large number of wells have been
drilled in India. 1 have seen a letter from
an American firm in Burmah, who have
drilled several wells, some of which have
been abandoned, and some are producing
oil that is very similar to the Pennsylvania
product. The Burmese have also. taken a
great interest in the oil industry and have
drilled over 100 wells near Yenangyoung,
on the Israwaddy river. 1t is not promis-
ing place for American prospectors, as a
letter written January 2 stated that the
thermometer registered 80 degrees in the
shade. The oil business is being carried on
in somewhat primitive way. although the
Americans have taken their own machinery
with them and are likely to teach the Bur-
mese few things about drilling and pump
ing wells.
All Done by Hand.
The Burmese drilled their 100 wells by
hand, and pump them by hand. The depth
of the wells is about 800 feet, or about one
fourth the depth of the average we'll in
The business of pumping
the wells by hand is intrusted to the natives
of Hindoostan, who seem to have special
aptitude for dropping bucket into well
and hauling it up again tand.over-hand.
A few of the wells owned by the Burmese
are shallower, not over 200 feet deep. They
are walled up like a water well, and in get
ting the oil out OF the hole a "coolie, or ma.
tive of Hindostan, goes down on the rope to
the bottom to facilitate the dipping process.
A rope is also tied around mis- body for
safety.
He can remain in the we'll but few min.
utes at time, and at q given signal dozen
coolies" at the top, men, women and chill
dren, run with their end of the rope, in the
meantime yelling like Indians, and the dip
per and his bucket of oil are hoisted rapidly
to the top. For this service the Burmese
pay 10 dippers an equivalent of 15 cents
per day, and the dipper regards himself as
being a nigh. priced man. The women are
willing to work for cents day. and in the
matter of hauling on a rope and yelling,
d. oh v,uah Tno
oil is hauled to market on two-wheeled carts
drawn by oxen and often by cows. A team
Of this kind can be hired for 80 cents a day,
and in the season when teaming elseW here
is dull, for less.
Another Rich Oil Province.
The province of Gaiicia promises to pro-
duce all the oil that the Austro- Hungarian
Empire may need. Galicia has an area of
upward of 81, 900 square miles, but only
small part of it has been prospected for
petroleum. The results of explorations have
been exceedingly gratifying, and an oil in
iustry exists there at present of no small
importance. They compute their oil there
in tons, and the yield is above 100, 900 tons
4 year. The production has rapidly in
creased with developments, and the expecta-
lion that the entire empire may draw its
supplies from the province does not seem |
Of course, the enterprising American
operator is also in Galicia, but, unlike India,
he finds the country bleak and cold. Oil
apparently has every latitude for its own.
It is found under the tropic sun and in the
nils of the frozen North. The oil derrick
s the modern pyramid on the banks of the
nurkv Nile, and the oil man with his drill
will solve riddle the wise old Sphinx
never dreamed of. B. w. CRIswELL.