The San Francisco call., 1904-08-13

Crude petroleum, more than any 9TH
e.. mineral production Of California,
nov hgures in the industrial life of
This state. Gold represents a much
larger value than petroleum when the
annual statistics Of yield are made up
and probably more coin is invested in
plants for gold mining than in oil and
copper combined. Petroleum occupies
5 antique position, in that it has largely
displaced another mineral, coal. and
That unlike other mineral products. no
present attempt is making to take the
crude fuel from the ground as fast as
possible. Manufacturing has been as
Hured as a home industry by cheap fuel
oe- AS there are supplies Of oil known
In California of practically ineXhaust-
tble extent, the industrial possibilities
are great.
Al various times reviews Of the oil
fields and the oil industries Of Cali
fornia have been published. 1t has been
reserved for the State Mineralogist of
California 10 treat the entire topic in
detail Much light that ought TO serve
as an attraction for the investment of
outside capital in California is derived
1rom a bulletin that Mineralogist Au-
bury has just published. The general
Nherne contains so much OF interest
chat extracts from the bulletin are re-
published here as follows:
The present production is simply a matter
pf possible consumption. The potential possi-
biiues of Increase Of production Is hardly a
while an Is not defnifeTv nroyei m fs hiehi,,
probable 70 prove Droftable ground OF all
cJcing territory I'M the state there is probably
Dot one square mile. outside OF Los Angeles,
tImuerisnd and some parts OF Ventura
County, that has been drilled 20 anything like
tion could 6e increased. n oo1sunaption war
Tanted. by az least three OF four times. within
re diine required 70 sink the necessary wells.
REFINING INDUSTRY.
o The bulletin abounds in details Of
many sorts. One topic relates to the oil
Tefneries that have been created in
California. The growth Of this branch
Of industry is traced in the following
paragraph:
The business Of refining petroleum. while OF
many years standing in this State, having
o originated IN 1886. has come into commercial
prominence only within the last few years.
Ten years ago there were IN California but
fHo refneries worthy OF note that Of the Pa
Cifc Coast OIL Company at West Alameda and
tgat ~ tho Union OIL Company of California,
Ihen lately removed from Santa Paula TO Ro-
gec. During this time the former institution
has been merged IN the Standard OF Company,
which has removed the plant 70 Point Rich
mCnd where 4 has been reconstructed on a
.f0uch larger scale. while the latter plant has
also been much enlarged and improved. In
been erected. until there within the
limits of the State some thirty-four oil re
IueTles with gross still capacity approx
mating 3 500 barrels al OF which plants,
''Tyith Iossibly one OF two exceptions are now
- successful operation.
The work on the bulletin, so reports
the AlineralOgist, has extended over a
period Of two years, and the greatest
care has been exercised in the collec-
ti0n Of data. The aim Of the bulletin is
10 describe the conditions under which
d. petroleum is produced, the amount
source and character Of production
and 10 outline some Of the more i'm
p0rtant ways IN which the output is
consumed. Samples Of oil were col
lected BY a field assistant and analy-
Ees that serve TO show the character
3stics Of oils in various fields are sup
piled.
The existence Of asphaltum and pc
rg-0leum in California was known TO
early settlers from the Eastern States
Of the Union Semi-solid bitumen from
Seepa ges was used, from very early
times, as fuel and as a cement AS
early as 1856 the more liquid petroleum
was collected and refined in a crude
way and burning and lubricating oils
were made. At least one Of the refiner-
,es had quite an extensive plant, but all
the early oil refneries failed to make
money and all were abandoned after a
tine.
"A number OF asphalt refining plants
that were established in the earlier
days survived longer than the oil re-
fneries. The earliest Of the refneries
antedated the first production Of oil
from wells by at least eight years,
which fact Is cited as showing a rather
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