The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-11-25
PETROLEUM becoming SCARCE.
Great Decrease i'm b Output of the
OIL Wells Oftheg Country.

New 1Ork Herald.
That this country's supply of petroleum is
decreasing p~erceptibly and that all indica-
tons point TO a prospective failure Of the
supply is the condition confronting the re-
timers. Whereas the product from the wells
in the Eastern district was 1Jo.O00 barrels
daily In 1881, 1T is now not much more than
half that amount. This, too. notwithstand
ing that the producers have been sinking
wells all over the country in the hope OF
striking oil. More wells AVE been drilled
this year than In any preceding year. but
a large percentage of Them have been found
to be failures. The market is very active
and prices have advanced all along the line,
until now they are better than at any time
in the last thirteen years. In April last
barrel. the price in Oil City being 20 cents
higher. This. of course, is due to the
The daily production Of the Eastern dis
trict wells. which is more valuable than
that from Western Ohio or in any other
locality here or abroad, fell to- 1850 barrels
I'm February last. There has been a slight
increase since, but IL is SO slight that il has
been altogether out OF proportion TO the
efforts made by the producers TO find fresh
oil. Every location where 1t was thought
likely that petroleum might be found in
paying quantities has been worked by the
drills. In September 10 wells were sunk
in tie Eastern district. and I2I in the Sue
ceeding month. But of these a very large
number was found to be n~onproductive.
This work is much more expensive than
Ii formerly was. as in following the oil
belt into West Virginia and eastern Ohio
the oil is not found until a greater depth
is reached.
The average production of each well in
the Eastern district during October was
eighteen barrels a day, while in September
II was twenty-five barrels and in August
nineteen barrels. The average was much
higher in the early part of the year. rang
ing from tNenty-three to twenty-six bar
rels. But even at that rate the output was
smaller than IL had been in "A decade. The
stock of Pennsylvania oil. the name given
to the product of all the Eastern district
wells. has fallen from S6.0c0.0o0 barrels TO
less than 100000. scarcely more than
enough to keep the reiineries and the pipe
lines I'm order.
In western Ohio and northeastern Indiana
there is a large section of country I'm which
wells have been sunk. the yield from which
is known in the trade as Lima oil. This
Is so greatly inferior to the Pennsylvania
article that it brings a very much lower
price. In refining II Is refractory. aud ex-
perts have not succeeded in making as
good an .lluminant of II as of the Penn
s~ylvania article. The reiners say the
trouble with II is that IL contains a mineral
substance that cannot be entirely elm
mated. The prices of this product have ad-
vanced with that of the Pennsylvania arti-
Gle. In these Western districts the pro-
ducers have been more successful in in
creasing their output than in Pennsylvania.
Their production for October was greater
than during any of the earlier months of
of tho Buckeye pipe line, a Standard con.
Germ. 1,S22. 900 barrels. or 100000 barrels
greater than during the same mOrtn last
year. But in these districts there is 4,
yie.d which is not reported by the pipe line
companies. This is variously at
anywhere from 10000 10 1900 barrels a day.
but it has no weight in influencing prices.
The Canadian production is of the same
nature as that of western Ohio, and, III
fact. comes out Of a combination of the
same strata Of limestone which extends
northward from Ohio under Lake Erie.
The production Of this district. which was
once very large, is now insufficient to sup
ply the Canadian demand. In Kentucky.
Kansas, Colorado and in the southern para
OF California many wells have been sunk,
but the prospects for producers are such
that only slight attention has been at.
tracted toward them The shipments OF
Ohio and Indiana oil were 1,0l,vW barrels
In October. an increase over the sam,
month OF last year OF 100000 barrels. The
exporting of the petroleum OF this country
has fallen OFF materially. The totai from
this city. Philadelphia and Baltimore since
January has been S6S,52l. 600 gallons, incluG-
ing Illuminating oils. benzine and crude
oils. This amount was 24.42f.O00 gallons less
than was exported during the same period
last year.