Los Angeles herald., 1910-10-03
OIL PRODUCTION IN
FEW YEARS TAKES FIRST PLACE
Development of Petroleum Industry Remarkable 0ustTppng Out
put Of Gold Mines of State, History of Which Ante
dated Well Drilling by Many Years
m HE development of the great ca

fornia oil industry, which mad
n it's beginning in 1865, when the
first successful we'll was drilled in
Ventura county, has been so remark
able as to be almost beyond belief.
Outstripping in value the output of
the gold mines of the Golden state,
the history of which antedated that
of petroleum by more than a score OF
years, the production of oil has for
several years been the leading indus
try of California.
Although oil seepages were known
to exist in California long before the
first real development work was un-
dertaken in Ventura county in 1855,
the greasy substance was not consid-
cred of any value 1t was not until
a crude process of refining the fnky
fluid was discovered which improved
it's value as an illuminant that an inn
petus was given to the industry.
Following the bringing in of the
first we'll in Ventura county by Thom-
as Scott, other successful wells were
drilled near Newhall in the late seven
ties. but it was not until 1882, when
Lyman Stewart and w. L. Hardison
started drilling near Santa Paula, that
the industry was fairly launched.
The oil of Ventura county was
found to be of superior quality for IL
Eliminating purposes, being of light
gravity, and the oil of this district is
today of the highest gravity of any
field in the state. In the early days
it's value as a fuel in the crude condi-
ton was unknown, and it was not
until 1887 that a series of experiments
disclosed the fact that the oil in its
original state made excellent fuel.
FIRST USE OF CRUDE
It was at this time that locomotive
was fitted up in the shops of the Union
Oil company at Santa Paula to burn
crude oil and the success of the ex-
pertinent marked the beginning of the
wonderful era of development which
has placed the California oil industry
in the vanguard of the petroleum pro-
ducing states of the Bnion and OF the
whole world.
The famous Kern river field, which
holds the record for production among
the fields of California, had its begin
ming during the SOS, when capital was
attracted to the money making possl-
bilities of the oil business, following
the introduction of the crude product
as a fuel for locomotives and steam
ships, which put the industry on
permanent basis.
From that time forward the indus
try has been increasing by leaps and
bounds Millions have been invested
in the production OF the precious fluid
and in means for marketing it, and
millions have been returned to the in
vestors. Today the industry is the
greatest source of wealth in the state
of California, a state noted for its
wonderful resources.
While these experiments with crude
oil for fuel purposes were taking place
chemists were busy separating by dis
tillation the manifold and valuable by
products contained in petroleum,
which is so rich in hydrocarbons.
Gasoline, naphtha, kerosene and more
than 100 other valuable products were
extracted from the crude petroleum.
Following these discoveries mans
genius found a new use for gasoline,
the invention of the gasoline motor
being followed by the automobile and
motor car, and along with them came
the various grades of lubricating OILS,
which have since become staple ar
ticles in the commercial world.
GROWTH OF DEMAND REMARKABLE
The uses to which the crude oil and
its by-products may be put seem IL
limitable, and during the past five or
six years the increase in the use of
Railroad corporations have adopted the
liquid fuel for their locomotives
steamships, motor cars, the stationary
engines of manufacturers and in nearly
ali lines of industry the combustible
fluid is being utilized to generate
power.
throughout the world the refined
product in the form of kerosene is used
as an illuminant. Even conservative
and unprogressive China has adopted
it for this purpose. The perfecting of
an oil cooking range has been another
means of increasing the demand for
petroleum. Being cheaper and cleaner
than coal, oil is rapidly displac1ng the
former on the Pacific coast, where coal
is expensive, and in the east, where
it is highly esteemed as summer fuel.
The latest addition to the products
of crude petroleum is an inexpensive
process of converting the residue of
the inky substance into coke after all
other valuable products have been eX-
tracted AS the coke can be cheaply
produced from petroleum residue, 1t
will become {. valuable factor in the
production of steel and should add a
great stimulus to the steel making in
dustry on the Pacific coast, which
heretofore has been greatly handi-
capped by the high price of coal.
INCREASED PRODUCTION
The marvellous development of the
petroleum industry of California is in
dicated by the following table compiled
by the California state mining bureau
which shows the production of crude
petroleum in this state from 1887 to
1909 inclusive:
Year. Barrels. value.