Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-02-18
PRODUCTION OF OIL
What Investigation Of the
Standard Will Reveal.
RAISES HALFTHE CRUDE
DIFFERENCE IN QUALITY OF
THE OUTPUT.
Prices Range From SIS Barrel to
90 Cents-Extent of the Pipe Lines
Kansas the Field Of the Future.
RY WIN. e CURTIS.

ntcgfuI 1efaiu.
When the special agents of the bureau
Of corporations begin their investigation
of the Standard Oil Company they will
discover, to the surprise of the public,
perhaps, that 1t produces only about two
thirds of the refined petroleum used in
the United States, and only about one
half of the crude product, although indi-
rectly it is able to regulate prices be-
cause of its enormous capital, the ramifi-
cations of its interests and the ownership
of pipe lines and other methods of distri-
button.
The Industrial commission which sat in
Washington for several years and about
five years ago published a volumnous re-
port made a thorough inquiry into the
business of the Standard Oil Company,
and the officials of that corporation will
ingly furnished detailed information con-
corning it's operation. The oral testimony
| and written statements furnished by them
contain a history of the petroleum in
dustry. The geological survey keeps in
formed of every new development It's ex-
perts are familiar with the operations of
the company and have never been refused
| information. They know almost as much
| concerning the production, manufacture
| and sale of Standard Oil products as the
officials of that company including the
| prices 1t pays and the prices it receives
| for the 200 or more different articles
| which it manufactures from crude petro-
| leum.
| 1t is often said that the pork packers of
| Chicago utilize everything but the squeal
| of the pig. The Standard Oil Company
| goes farther, and utilizes even that by
| catching the gas which tries to escape
| from the oil in the process of refining
| The 200 products or by-products, natu-
| rally add to the profit by lessening the
| cost of production, and some of them
| bring in large revenue to the company.
| The improvement in the reduction of
| crude petroleum to burning fluid within
| the last twenty and twenty-five years has
| been continuous and rapid. New discov-
cries are constantly being made; new
| uses are continually being found for the
| different elements of crude petroleum;
| while the oil itself is being applied to
| purposes which were never thought of
| until recently.
| Bulk of Product Burned.
The bulk of the crude petroleum product
| is still refined for burning fluid, and, not
| withstanding the invention of the electric
| light and the cheapening OF gas, it is burned
| more extensively than ever before. The in
| crease in consumption goes steadily for
| ward every year. The residue of the crude
| article is used in various scientific proc
| esses, for medicinal preparations, for toilet
articles vaseline soaps, pomades and sim
| liar purposes. Special oils are made for
| different kinds of engines, automobiles,
| sniaa1es in cotton mills, cylinders, sewing
| machines, ice machines, gas engines, cleo
| trio dynamos, railway car axles, wagon
| axles naphtha launches, signal lights, for
| open torches, for greaSing corduroy or skld
| roads in lumber regions, for easing curves
| in tracks clearing street car
| tracks from snow, for softening woods and
| hemps, for softening rope, dressing leather'
| polishing furniture and floors, and for forty
other different purposes which, the experts
have discovered. require certain properties
| which can be developed by chemical treat
ment. Hence oils are put up for all OF
| these and many other special uses IN differ
ent ways. There is an oil of very low
| grade specially manufactured and sold to
ship masters for calming the waves OF the
seas.
That illustrates the economical principle
that pervades the entire business. 1t would
| be the extravaganza of folly TO use high
| priced burning fluid to melt the snow on
| a street car line or to throw upon the
| waves of the ocean in a storm, and 1t
| would be equally sinful to use for railway
| car aXIes the fine oil that is made for sew
ing machines. But it was long ago de-
| termned that every component part OF
| crude petroleum may be adapted to some
useful purpose, and there has been steady
| decrease in the cost of manufacture of al
| bi-products which is due to experience.
Difference in Quality.
Another interesting fact, due to the same
reasons is that the difference between the
| price of crude and the price of refined
| petroleum is becoming narrower every year,
| and that the quality of all the products
| of crude petroleum has improved in ODE
| dience to the demands of trade. The ex-
| perts of the geological survey assert
| that the same value can be obtained from
| the same amount of crude petroleum now
| for about two-thirds of the expense that
was necessary twenty years ago. They also
| assert that reduction in prices has kept
| pace with the diminishing cost of produc-
ton 1t must be considered. however, that
| the cost of crude petroleum, generally
| speaking, has doubled in the last ten years,
| to the advantage of the producers, yet the
| price of ordinary burning fluid has been
| kept down by the discovery of various
methods of utilizing the cheaper grades of
| crude oil which was not possible Few
| years ago.
There is an enormous difference in the
| value of oils found in different parts of the
| country and that has to be taken into
consideration. During the last two years
| the increasing quantities of low-grade
crude oil produced in Texas and California
and elsewhere has had its influence in re-
| ducing the average price per barrel or the
| entire product, notwithstanding the fact
that Pennsylvania petroleum and other
| finer grades have advanced considerably.
| The average price paid for Pennsylvania
| petroleum in 1902 was 81. % per barrel; in
| 1903 it was $3.50 per barrel, a remarkable
| gain of SO cents per barrel. There was a
! gain of 81 cents in the price paid for the
| products of Ohio and Indiana; Texas pc
| troleum advanced from 22.1 cents to 41.S7
| cents per barrel, while California petroleum
| decreased from 349 cents to 1913 cents per
| barrel during the same period. Locality
has very little to do with prices; 1t is the
| quality of the oil that causes the difference
| in price between that produced in Califor-
| MIA and that of the Appalachian region.
| There Is also an enormous difference In
the quality produced in other localities. Oil
from certain districts in Ohio, for example,
sells for $14 and SIS a barrel. A very
| high grade is produced in Wyoming, and
| the average price for it was 81 per barrel
| In 1904. Colorado oil will sell for ten times
the price of the California product. This
| is due to the difference in purity and quail
| fty One quality of oil Is fit only for the
commonest purposes, and until recently the
| lowest grades could not be used at all,
| while the higher grades are always in de-
| mand by manufacturers of fine lubricatng
OIL druggists sundries and medicines.
producf;oy, ~ pn}roJar,,,