Sistersville oil review. [volume] (Sistersville, W. Va.) 1896-1901, 1898-10-12

day there was no change in the
market and the knowing ones
thought this good indication that
it would not 60 any higher, but ir
this they were very badly mistaken
On Thursday the credit balance
market was showed up one cent
more and on Friday it went up two
cents to $I.1o. the figure which
had been predicted for next Mon
day. The price of oil is now at
| figure which will encourage the
operators to do great deal OF
work not only in the partially de-
fined territory but in wild cat stuff
as well. A little wild cat work can
be. done at the price credit balances
are at the present time, and some
of the larger independent companies
which have been laying on their
ears all summer, are making prep
arations to do some work this win
| ter and are getting the material out
into the field.
It is now believed by a great
many of the best posted oil produc-
ers that the price of oil will advance
steadily for some time. They will
admit that drop of few cents is
liable to occur at most any time,
but their explanation of this will
be that the Standard is doing every
thing in their power to get hold OF
the oil which the operators have
been holding and which the great
corporation is greatly in need of
and which they must get in order to
fill their contracts, not alone in this
country but in foreign lands. The
object in marking down the price
of oil is simply to try to scare the
people who are holding their pro-
duction in the line into selling it.
There is no reason on earth and no
good plausible reason can be ad-
vanced why the price of the oleagl-
nous fluid should not 60 up and it
will do SO. While the great amount
Of work in contemplation at the
present time may amount to some
thing in the way of opening up new
territory in the near future, it is
not generally believed that 1t will,
and the operators are not getting
scared a particle. There is nothing
to scare them unless it would be the
price of oil dropping, and those
who know anything about that
matter are we'll aware that if oil
should decline it will only be done
for the purpose of trying to induce
them to sell. One thing which
makes the writer believe that all
grades of oil are destined to 60
much higher is the fact that at the
present time the low grade product
is higher than it has been in the
history of the business for a great
many years. When the low grades
of oil are being pushed up along
the ladder, you can make up your
mind that thing are in pretty bad
condition and that the great corpor-
alton is in need of the product.
Of course, the fact that the Ii
ma and Indiana oils are at 70 cents
the highest figure they have been
for long time, will not worry any
one great deal. There is lot of
work being done out in those fields
and there will be more now, Just
the same as In the territory which
produces the better grades of oil,
but it is not believed this will hurt
the business here, nor will it be
the cause of the price decreasing as
great many seem to think. The
Standard is using a great deal of
the inferior oil for refining purposes,
but not as much as formerly, for
the simple reason that the people
will not buy except where they
cannot help themselves, and that is