West Virginia daily oil review. [volume] (Sistersville, W. Va.) 1894-1902, 1902-06-09
OPERATIONS ron mAY
I'm CALIFORNIA FIELDS.

SnaOAm& On Ter Lighter OILS.
The state of affairs In the oil
fields of the state has remained,
through the msnth of May, in
practically the same condition as
that recorded at the end of the pre-
vious month. Thirty new wells
were completed and about as many
started drilling, while the new rigs
up on the last day of the month
numbered slightly In excess of those
up at the end of April. Most of
the wells brought in were In the
smaller fields, where production Is
light, and for that reason the new
daily production shows decline as
compared with the production of
the fields month ago. During
the current month a number of
wells are likely to be brought in by
the Santa Fe company In the Full
lerton field, and this alone will
serve to swell the production far
above the average, particularly
when 1t IS remembered that there
are wells In the Kern county fields
that can be completed atany time.
The oil industry-so far as field
work Is concerned-is In the wait
Ing stage. and the beneficial effect
of the curb that has been put upon
production Is apparent Ia the
prices ruling. A prominent oil man
who was visiting the Kern river
field week ago Is credited with
the remark that If oil could be OBJ.
tanned there at rs cents he could
off hand contract for very large
quantity. But most of the Kern
river oil Is tied up, and only by
hard skirmishing ameng the small
producers may little fairly cheap
oil be obtained. The completion of
the Standard pipe line will give an
immense impetus to the consump-
ton of crude oil, and from that
time on the sales will gradually
increase. Not, however, that the
Standard intends to act as common
carrier, for such is not the case, the
1000 barrels per day that the
pipe line will carry being only
sufficient for the uses of the Stand.
ard In filling It's own contracts and
supplying the needs of the refinery.
But the moral effect Of a private
line carrying of 10000 barrels per
day Is bound to bring to focus
the numerous schemes In the air
for relieving the congestion In the
fields. There are so many rail-. |
roads being planned to connect all
OF the Kern county fields with tide
water that 1t Is impossible
to say which ones will ma
terialize into actual fact. That |
one or more of these roads will be
built, is, however, regarded as a
foregone conclusion. Indeed. one
of the projected roads is offering
contracts for the conveyance of oil
from sunset to the sea for rs cents
per barrel-an excellent PROPOSE
ton were there not a littlejoker at
tached. There Is not a producer
that would be glad to ship at such |
q rate, which means IS cent rate
delivered in San Francisco, but
when the contracts offered are iron.
clad tor ten years, producers have
demurred, and so far as has been
learned not solitary one signed |
up. This for the reason that while
IS cents Is cheap rate now 1t will |
be very exorbltant rate In very
much less than ten years from now.
Long ere that number of years
have elapsed every barrel of oil will!
be piped either to San Francisco
direct or to tide water, and very
probably to both.
The immense tankage being
erected along the lines of the South.
ern Pacific railroad indicates that
the railroad company will very soon
be In the market as usher of
crude oil on an immense scale.
The ocean liners sailing from San
francisco, too, are making a be-
ginning in transforming their fur
naces, and everything Is working
along the line which will inevitably
eliminate In the demand surpass.
ing the present supply. With the
opening ofthe summer season there
has been an increased demand for
crude oil south of Tehachapi, to
% supply the needs of the counties
or sprinkling. for irrigation plants
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