The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1901-08-15
TOO MUCH OIL IN TEXAS.
Problem of Finding a Market
Hard to Solve.
Smallest Of the Twenty Gushers Now
Supplies Daily Shipments.

tJtd UTIOft, / eA. .1L- u i IL mo-
ket for fuel oil il broadening slowly
being hampered by lack OF transpor
tatiOn, lack OF storage facilities here
and the lack of confidence in the per
manence Of the Beaumont field IC
overcome the last named reason, the
heavy producers are now Offering &c
enter into contract for terms OF one
and two years, with heavy bond, to
carry out their contracts. The sec
ond problem is being overcome TO
some extent by the railroads and the
first is yet to be solved.
As matters are now, the daily ship
ments from Beaumont do not
amount TO the capacity OF the small
est Of the gushers. badly thirty
thousand barrels a day are shipped
out by rail and water, while the
gushers have q capacity ranging from
fifty thousand to seventy thousand
a day, depending on the size OF their
pipes, With the twenty gushers GO
ing to their full capacity, the flow
would probably not equal the TWEEN
ty wells turned loose at one time,
though four OF the wells have been
turned on at one time without any
noticeable diminution of the pres
sure, and the last wells in have Just
as much power to spout as did the
famous Lucas geyser, which ran FOR
ten days at the rate of 10000 bar
rels day. But estimating the 20
wells at the rate OF only 10000 bar
rels each, the work to be done in
finding u market for the present out
put OF the field is readily seen. The
market, too, cannot be found in |
Texas nor in the south, for the wants |
OF these can easily be supplied by "a |
few of the wells. The Guffey company |
has bought three oil steamers, has
ordered three Others built and is said
to be in the market for more.
The Kirby company has plans for
a fleet of tank steamers, and it is said
that one of the big companies here
will also put in "A line of steamers be-
tween Port Arthur and Germany,
but all of these are in the future
Even if there be "a total of fifty
steamers put in the trade within the
next year, four wells could keep them
filled, for the average trip would be
ten days, and there would be only
five vessels to be filed each day.
Every effort is being made to get ,
the storage tanks ready in the field
and the railroads are hurrying the
work OF putting in their storage ,
tanks at other places; but it will be :;
two months before any considera BILE !
portion OF the output can be cared .
for in this manner. \
The problem of laying pipe lines !,
to New Orleans and to Houston is
still being worked out, though it is :,
that the Guffey company 6,
has secured nearly all of the right of !;
way between this place and New Or :
leans, and will begin work as soon as ;.
permission can be secured from the
Louisiana authorities to establish
storage plants near the city and lay
piping through the city for the dis
of the oil The cost of 81
piping the oil is comparatively small I
and by this means it can be laid N
down at New Orleans much cheaper Ell
than it could be sent there by rail or III
water. Pr
There Is no gainsaying the fact
that there is so much oil here that W
The owners do not know what to do NJ
With it. The price has ranged about u
so cents per barrel ever since there p'
vas any sort of demand. and it will 81
stay in that neighborhood I'll
lntil some of the smaller companies 81
ret facilities for marketing their oil u
and md that they have to shade Or
prices a bit. But SO long rs the c.
present conditions exist and the oil C
5 thrown from the ground by nature
there is a profit in the oil at ten cents
a barrel ii it can he disposed OF at
that price to the limit of the wells. \ =,
single days flow Of the twenty wells !,
at that price would amount to 800 -
poo, the contract price for boring 20 D
wells, while the land on which they II
stand following one-sixteenth acre :
To the welD would cost only $50 -.
600. :,
Great Drought in Alaska IL: