Los Angeles herald., 1909-02-08
OIL BREAKS
ALL RECORDS
NATIONAL OUTPUT INCREASES
NINE PER CENT
CALIFORNIA; PROPORTION Is
Still. GREATER
Features in Local Region Show In-
creased Production, Consumption,
Prices and Shipments, De.
creased Stocks

The great gain in production of pc
troleum in 1907 over 1906 required
such a drain on all the great pools
and developed so large a stock Of un-
used crude oil that further increase
IN 1908 Wasanot logical, as a matter Of
either finance, trade requiem ants or
available petroleum resources. AS the
year went on unprecedented floods in
May and June and again in November
brought disaster to the pine lines Of
Oklahoma; and these storms also left
record Of numerous oil tanks de-
stroyed by lightning. In the eastern
nelds the severe drought also seriously
1nterfered with well drilling. The de-
cline in production in the Glenn pool
and in various Texas and Louisiana
pools increased the likelihood of a total
| smaller than in 1907.
nevertheless the actual record of
| the year shows a total beyond all rec
ords-betWeen 175 and $50 million bar-
/ rels, compared to 166 millions in 1907.
or between and 8 per cent increase.
| Inc total value is proportionatelv
greater still. for the price of the pro-
duct in California increased and it re-
! ma1ned steady in other fields, except
the gulf, where a comparatively
groundless fear Of overproduction from
the new Markham and Goose Creek
The increases came from the steady
growth in Illinois and California.
Neither field showed phenomenal de-
velopment. California responded to
the higher prices consistent with de-
| pleted stocks. and Illinois showed the
continued effect of the great invest
ments of the previous year in this new
| territory.
The year. however, had its sensa-
t1ons. They came in midsummer. On
| July 2 large gusher was drilled in
at Goose Creek Harris county. Texas.
and three days later a gusher Of the
! Spindletop type came in at Markham
in Matagorda county. This turned the
attention of the oil producers in the
gulf field significantly farther south.
July 4 proved memorable in three
widely separated regions. At Anse la
Butte, La, large gusher known as
Lake No. was drilled in. On the
same day the Pearsons in Mexico
opened we'll that assumed the pro
portions of a volcano and made a new
worlds record for an outburst of oil
and water. incidentally it is interest
ing to note that on the same day the
Oil City we'll at Tdstanowicz produced
the record spouter for Galicia.
The elasticity of the American oil
| trade is shown by the fact that stocks
did not increase as much as would
have been expected from the great
product The preparations Of the year
before led to better ability to transport
the product to points Of consumption.
Oil in California
The important features connected
with the oil business in California in
1908 were increased production. con-
sumption, prices and shipments: de-
| creased stocks and extension of fields.
The value of California's oil produce
tion in 1907 exceeded that Of any other
mineral product and the state was
second in rank among the oil-produc-
Ing states. From the best information
available at the present time it is be-
Heved that the production of crude
petroleum in California in 1908 win
aggregate between 44.000,000 and 46.-
100000 barrels, exceeding that of 1907
by about II per cent Nearly every
district shared in this increase This
condition was brought about by the
increasing demand and consequent
higher prices for OIL which stimulated
drilling, particularly in the CoaIinga
and Kern county districts. Much de-
Velopment work was carried on in
Coalinga and the field was extended:
in Kern county many new wells were
brought in and many old wells which
mao not Deen pumped for several years
were cleaned out and operated.
The completion of the pipe line in
1907 and the building Of the railroad
| to Midway, together with the construc-
ton of the new rifed pipe line of the
Associated Oil company from Kern
river to tide water, did very much to
encourage drilling and increase pro
ductiOn. The past year was one Of
greater activity in the Santa Maria
field than ever before, but the output
Of this field, which in 1907 gave prom
ise of being enormous in 1908, was
considerably lowered by the presence
of water. Some of the wells have an
extraordinary yield and the field leads
all others in the state in rate of pro-
duction per well. More crude oil was
shipped from the fields Of Southern
California in 1908 than ever before.
The greater part of the oil exported
from California comes from the Santa
Maria field. its situation giving it COM
mand of the coast trade from Alaska
to Chile and of foreign trade with
Japan and Hawaii.
No new oil fields of Importance were
discovered in California in 1908, al
though petroleum was discovered in
several places, one being near Mono
lake in Mono county.
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