The San Francisco call., 1904-02-06
STATE MAKES SPLENDID
SHOWING IN OIL FIELDS
Returns From South Prove That California Under
Poor Conditions, Holds It's Own in Comparison
With Gushing Wells of Texas and Louisiana

oil from the Texas and Louisiana oil
fields for the year 1903 have just been
made public. Compared with the re-
turns for California during the same
twelve months, and bearing in mind
local conditions, the situation is ex-
tremely favorable to the oil industry in
this State. The total shipments from
the oil fields of the Southern States in
1903, including Beaumont and Sour
Lake. amounted to but 5000, 900 bar
rels.
The output of California last year,
according to the estimates supplied by
Secretary Dean of the California Pc
troleum Miners Association, amounted
10 20000,000 barrels. 1t is a matter of
common knowledge that California can
easily produce twice that amount when
the fields are developed sufficiently.
The oil sands are rich and seemingly
inexhaustible for many years The price
for fuel oil is still the deterring cause
that retards development. There is no
scarcity of oil in any field, but not one
fuel oil section is producing anything
like 30 per cent of its present ascer
tanned capacity.
In a sense the same conditions obtain
that earlier were marked features in
California. There are a few rich COM
panies that. have large plants and large
outputs and profitable contracts for
supplies. On the other hand. there are
companies that still are suffering for
lack of coin; that own their properties,
with no debt and no cloud on the title
to the land: that are equipped with
plants that are not used because they
are limited and are not able to produce
to make profit at ruling prices on the
basis of a small output.
One conspicuous example of this sort
of financial tie-uD is a company in
which certain leading politicians and
lawyers of this city are concerned. The
company has two wells that have oil in
them, a quarter-section of land situ-
ated in proved territory and adjoining
land in which oil has been profitably
and largely produced with large plants,
yet the smaller company is tied up and
is not turning a wheel. Undoubtedly
there are other companies in the same
fix. TO operate the works of the COM
pany in question it would be necessary
to expend $4,000 in sinking a number of
additional wells and in providing large
pumping plants, jacks, etc.
Another drawback to the prosecution
of private development work on the
scale possible has been the entrance
into the field of both the Santa Fe and
Southern Pacific companies as pro-
ducers Of fuel for their own locomo-
tives. This has removed demand for
oil from the open market, for the
transportation lines are able to produce
their own fuel.
The Southern Pacific Company has
bought out the several large compa-
nies that form constituent part of the
Associated Oil Company, the largest oil
concern in the Kern County fields and
the largest oil company in the State
with the exception Of the Standard OIL
BY the purchase of the stocks of the
companies that were merged in the As
sociated Oil Company the Southern Pa
cific Company has made an advance
toward controlling the Associated Oil.
AS the Southern Pacific Company is
not likely to be contented to have only
a minority interest in any enterprise in
which it is concerned. it is probably
safe to assume that the great railway
corporation will always get all the oil
il needs for it's own consumption at
practically its own price. 1t will be
cheaper for the railway company to
pump oil than to mine for coal.
Bearing these and allied facts in
mind and assuming that DR.. Deane's
figures relative to the production of
mineral oil in California in 1903 are cor
rect and that California produced 2O.-
600. 900 barrels under temporarily de-
pressing conditions for the smaller
companies. it is evident that Texas
cannot hope to permanently compete
with the California fields, in which is
stored enough cheap fuel to last as a
basis of profitable manufacturing for at
least a century.
There was a wide market for the
Texas oil last year. The greatest
amount shipped naturally went by
steamship and barges to New Orleans.
TO Atlantic points, Cuba, England and
Egypt. BY way of Sabine Pass 1,146,1IS
barrels went to domestic ports and for
eign countries, and 5,711. .615 barrels were
shipped in tank cars to points in Texas
and Louisiana. Only a small percent
age of the rail shipments went outside
of Texas and Louisiana.
WHERE THE OIL GOES.
Some additional details are supplied
from a reliable source as follows:
From Jennings Qouisiana) 29ssoO barrels
were shipped during the year 1908 by rail-
Combining the rail shipments with the water
qbFnroents the total from Texas and Louisiana