The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-08-05
WORLDWIDE WAR
 IN OIL PRICES
Amount of Surplus Petroleum Stored is
 Said to be lOO,OOO,000 Barrels
TRUST HAS I25 RIVALS NOW

New York, Aug. 1.-The petroleum oil trade/fs facing crisis which may lead to- a worldwide war in prices be- tween the leading interest, the Stan dard Oil Company. on Ihe one hand, and its 125 competitors, big and little, on the other. An official of the big trust states that prices, which have been, tending steadily downward. will go still lower before there is any mark ed improvement
 The great menace to the stability Of the oil market at present is declared to be the enormous overproduction Of the crude product, with apparently no indication of a lessening or curtailment of the output. The Standards statis- tics fix the amount of crude oil in storage in the various oil fields in the country at 0.OOO, 900 barrels. This is said to be sufficient to meet the de- mandS, both domestic and foreign, for a year.
 The price paid for crude oil by the refiners to the oil well men is now about 50 cents barrel. The average far this year, has been $50 cents gallon, as against an average of S.6S cents last year.
 FREE TRADE IN OIL SOON.
 Another factor, the effect of which cannot now be gauged or foreseen, it is
  int striking from the Dingley tariff law the countervailing duties on foreign foil. Under the old tariff oil was on the free list, but a. little joker in the statute imposed a duty on oil im- ported from any country which taxed American oil, the duty levied being the amount of the tax on American oil. This effectually shut out European oil, since all oil-prOducing countries, eS- pecia1ly Russia, tax imported oil to protect their own producers and re- liners. Mexican oil, which is being largely developed by the Pearson sym dicate. of London, was also barred by this countervailing duty.
 Under the Payne-Aldrich new tariff 'bill, however, the whole world may sell petroleum. crude, refined, and its products, freely and without hindrance in this market.
 No great fear is felt of an invasion of Mexican oil, since the latter has an asphaltum base. and is of inferior grade compared with our best oil, which has a paraffine base. Russian oil, however, is said to be of very good quality, and the inflow of oil from that country may be great or little. The Standard official who was inter viewed professed not to be alarmed at the rivalry from that quarter, but he was speaking for the Standard alone, he said, and could not answer for the Standards rivals.
 Though the big trust has. as stated, 125 competitors in the refining field, most of the latter are small concerns, the formidable rivals consisting chiefly of the Pearson syndicate. which is said to have formed an alliance with the concern; the J. M. Guffey Oil Com pany, and the Pure Oil Company, which latter is regarded as a really strong competitor with ample re- sources and large refineries. =
 The Texas Oil Company has an alli- ance with the Gulf Pipe Line Com pany, which pipes oil to the Mexican Gulf tide water, where it is refined and
 to England. The Standard refines at the present time S5 per cent. of the American output. and the independents the remaining 15 per cent. It is in sharp competition in the European market with the Pearsons.
 The Standards representative who gives the above information was asked if a war in prices would drive any of result in their absorption by their big rival. He said in reply that the Standard was going right on attending to its own business, and he did not look for any changes in ownership or concentration of little concerns into one big one. On the contrary, he ex- pressed the opinion that the Standard would the industry developed, have
 more and more competitors. The6e was no present indication. however, lie said, of prices going other than down ward.
 One thing which might sooner or
 .Hter start prices upward, he said, would be the use of petroleum in motor engines instead of gasoline. At pres ent, he said, motor engines run by pe- troleum are not wholly a success, since the proper spark ignition has not been obtained. Once this problem is solved
 the field for the use of kerosene as a substitute for gasoline will widen !, greatly, it was stated. This would ! mean much for the industry since gas oline is now selling at from 20 to 25 cents a gallon retail, and is strong and active by reason of the vastly increas- ed demands for the use of automobiles,
 yachts, launches. and stationary en- zines, while petroleum sells at from F to 15 cents per gallon retail A peculiar situation, it was explain ed, tends to maintain the present out put of crude oil at it's maximum. In the Oklahoma and Illinois oil fields, comes, the petroleum lies in great lakes or pools far down in the earth. Each neighboring oil well owner draws his supply from the common source, and . as production increases and the price goes down, though there is a nat ural desire to curtail in order to keep prices up, it is difficult to induce any one of the producers to take the initia- I tive, since he who stops production while the others go on pumping knows that the owners of wells in operation are drawing not only from their own wells, but draw his, too. Nor does he know what day the oil may cease flow ing, and so he returns to pumping. Thus, unless all the oil well men shut down at once, there is no real restric- tion of the supply, and conditions such as the present, when 100, O0O, 900 barrels of crude are in storage, soon results. Standard Oil representatives are awaiting with some impatience and curiosity the results of recent oil strikes in the widening oil fields in Mexico. It is said to be the policy of the big syndicate and individuals operating there to cap their wells as
 soon as they are driven and thus the | quality of the oil is not disclosed to | their competitors. Should high qual- | ity of oil be discovered the present dis turbed condition of the market would | be intensified.
 INc0RpnRA1J0NS FORMED.