New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-10-26
OIL FUEL IN THE SOUTHWEST

II is reported that the Santa re Ra ilrOad Com
Iany has obtained options in the Saratoga oil
feld Of Texas. whore the Southern Pacific al
ready has footing II this story il correct il
Is evident that another great transportation COM
pany has realizing sense of the value of liquid
fuel and is taking steps TO secure a supply at
She lowest possible rates. IN that part Of the
uVuntrv. out ia California and in the intervening
region oil is cheaper than coal. There being no
longer any question about the feasibility Of
burning il ia locomotives, on steamships and
under the boilers Of stationary steam plants
there is no reason why there should not be an
enormous consumption both Of Texas and Cali
forDia petroleum. Of the two articles. last
years production WAS fully thirty million bar
re.s. or more than One-third Of the output Of the
lifted States. About six million barrels of
the yield Of 1902 in the Lone Star State was
stored unsod. and a large quantity was shipped
10 Europe and 10 various ports along the Gulf
Of Mexico. Texas did not consume at home
nearly SO much as California. perhaps because
lie practice is newer there than on the Pacific
Coast; but there ought soon 10 be a market for
az that either Of them can produce
From the petroleum Of the Southwest. as from
that Of the Pacific Coast only small amounts
o. napitha and Illuminating oil can be extracted
The immediate revenue therefrom must always
De comparatively limited. However the re-
sduUm, which constitutes from 20 TO - Der cent
81 the crude product. can be more safely stored
ahan the latter. The former does not generate
explosive gases either tank steamships or
reservoirs on land The residuum sells more
readily. therefore, and that fact affords an adj
ditiOnal motive for establishing renneries Mr.
GufIey consTicuously identified with the de-
yelopment Of the oil industry in the Lone Star
State, has works Of that character at several
points on the Gulf coast which are reached by
pipe lines from the Beaumont and Saratoga
fields. DistillatiOn has also been undertaken
in California, and there is talk OF exporting the
lighter oils thus obtained to Hawaii. the pbilin-
pines and even Japan. They ought 10 be able
70 compete IN al those places with the Russian
product
Low long Texas and California viii be able
10 furnish petroleum in the present abundance
cannot Doe estimated easily As the first wells
that are opened show signs Of exhaustion new
ones are sunk IN other fields. A good deal Of
nndeveioped territory doubtless remains in both
% these States. In the next two or three wears.
without doubt. the actual production viii be in
creased perceptibiy. while the period in which
fresh sources VIII become available NAV ex-
ieiid through quarter OF century. There
seems 20 be a tolerably good assurance of tuen-
T. million barrels Of nesiduum for al least a
decade. and the supply may last much longer
When one remembers that three and n half or
four barrels Of this are equivalen. 10 a ton II
coal be can see what revolution has been
initiated. Already. Il is asserted the animal
14oortations-of bituminous coal 10y California