The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-04-07
RULLISH is
OUTLOOK FOR
PETROLEUM.
.,.,,,g Production and Absence Of
"' New Productive Territory In
vite Higher Price.
FAMINE IN OIL PROABLE.
,r..,5,s Demand for Petroleum In
WV ersasing, While Production is
actually Decreasing.

..,.Isw Of the petroleum trade in
" 80 branches discloses a decidedly
az NV, w o.pect. The report Of opera
ou,.' Or the month of March is certain-
poD .sa ., most encouraging to the pro-
s.ar q, any report published fer the
au.. ,uslye months. It indicates a
p p'.rtv condition OF the trade and
Hs. ,' In uumlstakable terms to better
P@, . sor crude. 1t also shows the abb
p... q, available territory and the
s ,.,S.ce Of the old fields, and in short,
'a nsnipr production, The prospective
s,o,, which the bear element of the
"a, ,alt sure would materialize were q
,,-.,,l failure in every section, with
U.S. a,,sp,Ion perhaps, of Green coun-
=. -. pa And even here the sanguine
s )" N those Interested In getting a
. non, PRODUCTION were not III the least
. ~, and instead of developing new
rools OF importance there was only a
',Irbt extension of old territory discov-
cred.
.,o,o wells completed than in Febru-
a,y vet there was materiai-falling of
:. now PRODUCTION, which conclusively
elbows the great scarcity Of productive
,.-,,,ory. This very important fact is
~, onIy true of the middle and north
avn ssIds but is applicable TO the once
r,oliec southwest district In fact the
rrodrctlon Of the new wells completed
!, the lowest since the market lowered
around the dollar mark. In this con-
D.ctIon i, is pertinent toyadd. II this
.,ma state OF affairs continues any
length of time. and the experimental
drnl I, no, productive of more salutary
results than in the past. the market,
,,om the force Of circumstances, must
advance. This. is not ALL The stocks
AZ each month rolls around, suffer
material decline and the runs are fall
Ing far behind the shipments. so that
from every standpoint everything con-
splres to higher figures for the raw
material
The bear element have for some time
built on the development of prolific
POOLS in West Virginia and southern
Ohio but in every instance the expert
mental drill recorded failures. Lewis
county. West Virginia, was one of the
tmpof,aR, points from, which much was
expected, and during March four or
Eve very important wells. purely Of an
tIpprimertal nature. were completed
without producing single tangible re-
suit. These ventures, too, were drilled
below the level of all known producing
sands. so that no doubt exists as TO the
value Of the territory. Notwithstand-
Ing these failures the festive wildcattev
has only ch1nsed his course, made To-
cations upon other geological lines and
is still pushing this class of work in
Lewis county, as serenely as II success
had crowned his every effort.
To look the situation squarely In the
face, it win be an utter lmpossibility TO
maintain the present supply of petro-
leam from the existing producing re-
glons, and unless new fields are soon
discovered the trade will surely be
confronted with serious problem-a
famine In oil. In the present premises
this is the only logical conclusion TO be
arrived at, and 1t requires no potent ar
gument to point out the end, when it is
well known fact that the worlds de-
mand for petroleum is gradually in
creasing, while waning production IS
apparent on every hand and the discov-
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 criterion Of future oper-
atons the situation surely win not be
materially changed or improved so far
as production is concerned.
The high market for Trenton rock oil
stimulated the driH in both Ohio and