The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-04-07
'BULLISH IS
OUTLOOK FOR
PETROLEUM.
...,,o Production and Absence Of
'' New Productive Territory In
vite Higher Price.
FAMINE IN OIL PROABLE.
,,.-,a,s Demand for Petroleum In
'' ,reasing, While Production is
actually Decreasing.

,yrsw Of the petroleum trade In
-, =, branches discloses a decidedly
tA ,, w aspect. The report of opera
pun Or the month of March is certain
llo' -. ~ most encouraging to the pro-
~. w q, any report published fer the
que ,Tslye months. It indicates
pas pas condition Of the trade and
ns ,.. !, unmlstakabfe terms to better
y2 ~. for crude. 1t also shows the alb
plI.. ., a, available territory and the
, ,n,sa,s Of the old fields, and In short,
l'l. .,irr production. The prospective
~, which the bear element of the
~ ~, ssIt sure would materlalize were a
S',-,I failure in every section, with
-, srsep,lon perhaps, Of Green coun-
.- p, And even here the sangulne
s W. Of those interested in getting
NY ~. PRODUCTION were not In the least
az ..,,,r5 and instead of developing new
,,l,, Of Importance there was only a
s,I,b l, extension of old territory dlseOv-
EAlHa4h
cred.
r,oro wells completed than in Febru-
s ~, vet there was a material falling on
!. VOW PRODUCTION, which cpnclusively
.soy. the great scarcity of productive
,.,-,,ory This very important fact is
-, only true Of the middle and north
~, ssI5s but is applicable 10 the once
.,o,,fc southwest district. In fact the
n,oJrstlon Of the new wells completed
!. ,Ss lowest since the market lowered
round the dollar mark. In this con-
-.,,on II is pertinent to add, II this
came safe OF affairs continues any
,.,g,b Of time. and the experimental
ain I, not productive of more salutary
-s,pI,s than in the past. the market,
,rom the force OF circumstances. must
advance. This is not all. The stocks
=. each month rolls around, suffer
material decline and the runs are fall
Ing far behind the shipments, so that
,,5m every standpoint everything con-
spires to higher figures for the raw
material
The bear element have for some time
built on the development of prolific
nools in West Virginia and southern
Ohio but in every instance the expert
mental drill recorded failures. Lewis
county. West Virginia, was one of the
lnpor,an; points from which much was
expected. and during March four or
FIVE very Important wells. purely Of an
experimental nature. were completed
without producing a single tangible re-
salt These ventures. too, were drilled
bslov the level OF all known producing
rsnds. so that no doubt exists as to the
value Of the territory. Notwithstand-
Ing these failures the festive wildcatter
has only changed his course, made To-
cations upon other geological lines and
Is stu pushing this class Of work in
Lewis county, as sereRely as II success
had crowned his every effort.
To look the situation squarely inthe
face 1t will be an utter lmposslblllty to
maintain the present supply Of petro-
leum from the existing producing re-
Eions. and unless new fields are soon
discovered the trade will surely BE-
confronted with 4 serious problem-a
famine in oil. In the present premises
this Is the only logical conclusion to be
arrived at, and it requires no potent ar
gument to point out the end, when 1t is
q we'll known fact that the worlds de-
mand FOR petroleum is gradually in
creasIng, while a waning production Is
apparent on every hand and the dlscov-
cry OF new production a failure in ev-
cry part OF the broad domain of oil
dom.
It is true that there yet remains In
the southwest a large scope OF prospec-
Tive territory to be developed, but II the
past results in this class OF work are to
be taken as a criterion Of future oper-
atoms, the situation surely will not be
materially changed or improved so far
as production Is concerned.
The high market for Trenton rock oil
simulated the drill in both Ohio and