Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1897-10-19
OIL GOES down AGAIN.
The Market Went Down the TobOggan
Three Cents Yesterday.
This is the Lowest Oil Has Been for
Almost Three Years The Indi-
cations Are That a Crisis is at
Hand and That It Will Not Be
Long in Coming.

=
Long in Coming.
Special to the Register.
Sistersville, w. Va, October 1S.-
There was another drop in the oil mar
ket to-day, and the operators are COM
pletely disheartened, all on account of
the large chunks of prosperity which
have been dealt out to them recently.
Up until the middle of last week the
oil market was looking better and
stronger than it has for almost year,
and the general impression was that
there would be an advance in a very
short time, and for this reason quite a
number of the operators were holding
their productions, waiting until the
expected time should come, but they
were caught mapping and now will be
compelled to suffer the loss of about
five cents a barrel instead of the adj
vance which they expected.
There is no earthly reason why the
market should go down. 1t is we'll
known fact that the production of all
the fields of the country, including the
western territory in Ohio and Indiana,
cannot begin to supply the world with
the amount of oil necessary and would
naturally think the price of the oleagi-
nous fluid would advance instead of de-
cline. The following exhaustive arti-
Gle on the situation from the pen Of
Bion H. Butler, will be Of interest:
I'm January, 1860, crude oil in Titus
Vile was worth $1?25 a barrel. In the
same month Of 1862 it was selling for
1 r., 1f -
worth $11, while the opening of 1861
saw the figure fall to S1.S5 Up to the
discovery OF the Bradford field the price
rarely fell below dollar barrel and
since 1873 dollar oil has been the eX-
ception rather than the rule, though in
1895, when everybody in the business
went wild for few days as the market
scared up to $3.50 on April 49,
On top of the Bradford production
the Mcdonald field had been piling up
stocks, beginning in 1890, with an aver
age daily production in November Of
1891 of 1915 barrels.
Gradually, however, the Mcdonald
wells lost their vigor, and in the next
three or four years, in the face Of de
Ginning wells and lessening of surplus
of stocks of oil on hand, the market
advanced, and April, 1895, experienced
the surprise when crude oil ran away
and touched for one day $3.50. From
that point the decline was rapid.
Throughout 1896 and 1897 The tendency
has been downward, not only below the
dollar mark, but below 20 cents
The fluctuations in prices from 1892
to the present are easily accounted for.
The thing that is difficult to determine
is whether the oil trade is on the eve
of another furry that shall resemble
the recovery from the depletion of
stocks that eliminated in 1895 In De
cember Of 1899 the stocks Of Pennsyl-
vania oil above ground amounted to
1861 1923 barrels. In August Of 1892
the stocks had increased to 1868 $50
barrels. While this was startling adj
dition, the decrease in the next three
years was more startling, for the stocks
in July. 1895, had fallen away to but
4,30e,287 barrels.
The low price Of oil had led many
a producer to neglect his wells. IN
stead Of cleaning out and encouraging
additional flow of crude. he had refused
to spend any money to assist the pro-
duction. and the old wells Of the coun-
try were in no condition to do their
best AS the price advanced upon the
suppOsitiOn that oil must become pre-
ciOus possession. well owners began to
clean out and to shoot the old holes.
This helped the flow and added mater
tally to the supply.
Prior to 1896 the best annual record
of new wells in the Appalachian field
was $500 in 1890. But 1895 surpassed
this record with 7,138 wells, and 1896
Over-reached it with ISL The two
years came within a few wells of eauaI-
ing the best previous three years, and
saw probably as many new wells as all
of the years from the discovery of
oil up to the beginning Of 1875, and
since the first Of January, 1895, up to
the present time, for the total is near
~ 10000 new wells and a production
Of nearly, if not altogether. 100000 600
barrels of crude oil mot including
Lima).
Up to 1895 the experience Of the oil
country for twenty years. or more than
half of its life, had been overproduc-
ton. People had not been thoroughly
weaned away from the talow candle.
and the great export trade developed
slowly. But a mighty force in the
person Of the Standard Oil Company
was seeking to enlarge the foreign de-
mand. and with success. In 1872 the
exports Of petroleum and products
were 144,31S.707 gallons twenty-five
years saw this EXPORT trade grow to
sos. 252,314 gallons in 1894. The value
of the oil exports in the last twenty
years has exceeded the value of all
the gold produced in the United States
in the same period.
When the supply began to fall off
and the stocks We're drawn upon. the
demand. which has increased in Won
derful proportions, found nothing to
sustain it. Realizing all these con
ditions in the early part of 1885 it was
natural for the sudden panic to break
over the oil country and sweep the
market price away out of reason.
Then began the period of activity.
the like Of which has never been seen
in the oil region. Old territory had
been deserted in the flush DAYS for the