Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1906-08-23

les in the Indian Territory, operat-
ing toe gushers on lot OIL, was in the
city yesterday. He came on the same
errsnd many another producer has
jouneyed 10 Independenee-he
wished TO know Of the Prairie Oil &
Gas company what the prospects are
for getting his oil run. When he got
he found tie price Of oil had dropped
of three cents since be left Bartles-
vile.
when a man comes up here to
register a kick" said Mr.. Kelley.
lit doesn', take him long to get all
that is coming to him. He soon finds
out why the oil cannot be run"
Mr.. Kelley discussed the oil situ-
alton and the stagnant condition of
the market at a considerable length
with a representative of the Repor-
ter. 81 had cause to look over the
situation a year ago." he said, "and
| saw then how rapidly production
was being developed in the Indian
Territory. then made an effort
with the producers to have them
stop drilling, but they went on more
frantically than ever.
''ln a measure the work Of the
Prairie Oil 4 Gas company in eI-
tending its pipe lines and taking care
Of the oil has been phenomenal. l
was among the first to begin devel-
opment work in the rich Usage dis
trict. remember gcing to the pipe
line people when learned the rich
ness of our 81 lease and asked them
what the prospects were of getting
all my oil run. At that time the
Prairie Oil & Gas company did not
expect the production of this field
to exceed $4,000 or 10000 barrels a
month. They told me to go on and
drill, that they would take all the oil
/ could produce. Why said they
in short time Wen have a pipe
line capacity for $4,000 barrels a
day. My next well came in at 300
barrels an hour-almost third the
capacity of their whole system. 1t
wasn't their fault got such big
production. 1t isn't their fault to-
day that there is more oil than can
possibly be taken care of. | firmly
believe the Indian Territory alone
can to-day produce 10000 to 100000
barrels day. This condition is not
new to me; predicted this very
thing year ago in Washington. The
old time producer thinks he must of
necessity get the flush production
and get it quickly, and in way this
is good policy, but it is not good pol
icy when by 70 doing it means test
ing the pipe line capacity one-third
more than it is capable. 1t would be
infinitely wiser to let the oil under
such conditions lie in its under
ground reservoir. No matter how
much men may argue there is the
everlasting law of supply and de-
mand, and just as soon as the supply
is greater than the demand, just that
soon the price must go down. The
runs represent the supply of oil; the
shipments the demand. The dispar-
ity between them in this field is
alarmingly and we cannot expect an
improvement so long as this condi-
tion exists.
"The power of control is in the
hands of the producers. | have
never before in my life witnessed the
lack of unanimity among the repre-
sentatives of any industry as there
is between the producers of petrole-
um. | believe if the producers were
to act together and stop drilling at
once the pipe line company would
very shortly take care Of all the oil.
1t is our only salvation. What the
pipe line company has done in the
past is the best assurance of what
they will do in the future. The
Standard Oil company has its limita-
tions just the same as any other hu-
man agency and il cannot do the
superhuman. There comes time
when money cannot do all things.
There are q few certain large
producers who BY persistent drilling
have done more to bring about the
present congested condition than all
the other operators combined, and
it is question if these same men
are not now going on drilling in face
of real obstacles in the way of better |
times for the field. They are men of
large means; they have drilled fast
and furiously and others have been
compelled to drill to protect them
selves. atIat4 f0E w
"As / have said, the thing to do |
is to stop drilling; if we don't we
are going to ret all that is coming to
us. As to myself | am not going to
drill any more. We have six offset |
locations on one lot which ought to
be drilled to protect our property,
but IL we were to drill these six
wells we would increase the produc-
tion 1000 barrels q day, and if
every body did this, what would be
the resultf
al came up here to file a protest;
want more of my oil run; want