The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-06-02
WHEN WILL
BOTTOM BE
REACHED?
De,!lae5 in the Ruling Quotation on
Crude Oil Continues and
Among the Producers
rBERE IS CONSERVATION.
A General Demand That the Price
Of oil Well Supplies be Re-
duced-Field Developments.
As predicted in last weeks review

As predicted in last weeks review
,bc market has been marked down an
a,bcr three cents, making the price Of
pennsylvania crude 81 2S. AT this
ra,e It will not be long before the dol
lar point is reached. The question is
now being asked how far below the
,rolar mark will the market go Your
representative has taken the pains to
interview a number Of producers and
they all admit they Will have to hang
nm the drill Some of them who had
s,akad off locations and intended do
ipg a large amount OF work, have en-
tIrc!y stopped operations and win do
no more drilling until the market for
crude advances. -~'7
There is scarcely anything doing on
the door Of the exchange and but very
yqv)ots Of oil changes hands. The Sugar
Lake pool in venango county, Jackson
township, has seen It's best days and Is
now surrounded BY dry holes. shearley
& cos dry hole completed yesterday,
cuts on the last hope of finding an out
LET TO the field. There are few inside
locations yet to drill, and when this Is
done 1t will end further operations In
the Sugar Lake pool "o!i
whittier are we drifting" is the re-
mark, heard on all sides among the
producing element OF the petroleum
fraternity. The rapid downward course
Of the market for crude has created a
feeling Of CONSERVATION, and the bright
and prosperous outlook. and promises
given by the general situation when
the new year was ushered in has been
transformed to darkness, and hope
less, foreboding future.
high Prices for Supplies.
The most perplexfng question which
now confronts the producer is the uh-
warranted high prices demanded for
oil we'll supplies and machinery. Es-
pocIally is this so with the small pro-
ducer who can see no profit in operat-
Ing their light calibre territory at the
present figure paid for crude. They
have petitloned In vain, the dealers to
reduce their rates. but they say in re-
turn the manufacturers are all mem
beers Of the trust and refuse to concede
an inch OF the stand they have taken,
and therefore cannot help the producer
in the least. 1t Is thought however.
that such a pressure IS being brought
to bear upon the manufacturers. to re-
duce the present high price, that they
Will soon Yield to the producers Just
demands. A committee appointed by
the fraternity to look up the Iron"
question report that owing to the
high prices prevailing, business In gem
eral is being effected, and that not only
gs the producer compelled to shut down
the drIH, but building and many new
enterprises have been forced to a
stands;Ill. They also find in their Inves-
tIgation that the pig iron market is al
most stagnant. and but comparatively
few sales are reported. In short. they
assert that unless the manufacturers
reduce present schedules, that not only
will the great petroleum industry be
paralyzed, but nearly every other
branch Of business and enterprise be
crippled, in which iron is principal
factor. The producers hope, from the
force Of circumstances, that at no dis
tant day, the manufacturers will find
out that they must adopt prices to con-
form with the growing stringent
times, or that their sales viii not JUS
tfy them in running their works, or If
they do, the market will be overstocked
with production The small producer
cannot see ray of hope for the better
ment Of their condition. only In the
reduction of high prices by the manu-
facturers, as the oleagInous situation
viewed from almost every standpoint
presents decidedly bearIsh aspect,
They fully realize that the recent de-
vtlopment OF prolific territory In the
southwest district cannot do otherwise,
but result in augmcntIng production
and pIllng up Of stocks, and the falling
on OF our export trade, all of which
naturally tends to stu lower market
for crude.
Nor is the situation any better In
the western fields OF Ohio and Indiana,
and il anything, the general aspect Is
less encouraging. Production here, as
In the regions producing Pennsylvania
oil, is Increasing, and the stocks grow
Ing larger, although the demand for the
Trenton rock product, owing to Its
chcapness. which enables the shipper to
more successfully compete with the
Inferior grades OF foreign OILS, mater
Ially exceeds that of Pennsylvania oil,
Viewing the outlook from the present
sllultIon, there Is no one engaged In
The business. and who Is thoroughly
coEvcrsant with conditions and the
trend Of events, but what feels that the
crude market must, and viii go much
lower before bottom prices are reach
nd. In the face of these Indlsputable
and uncontrollable conditions, there Is
but one resort lett to the operator OF
light territory and that Is to hang up
The drill until more opportuaa times are
presented. and leave thr field OF nc
ton 70 the rich corporations and com
panes and those who are the fortu-
nate posssssors OF prolific territory.
To Oppose the Standard,
Since last weeks review important
events have transpIrcd, In which the
nroducrrr nre pnrtlcnlnrly interested