The Republican journal., 1911-01-26
Petroleum Used in All Parts
of the World.


The United States lights the world. II
one hundred countries, colonies ano
islands, scattered in every grand division
and in every climatic section of the
world American kerosene supplies light
while in more than eighty countries the
products of our mineral oils are used ir
generating power or for fabrication Of
machinery there in operation. About
1000 million gallons of American kero-
sene pass out of the country annually,
to be used chiefly in lighting homes and
places of business, and the value of all
classes of mineral oil sent out of the
country approximates 100 million dollars
a year.
The United States now produces two
thirds of the world s supply of petroleum,
the quantity produced in the year just
ended having been, according to state
ment recently issued by the Geological
Survey, over 200 million barrels of crude
oil, or more than billion gallons. Just
"hot 4udilllIy VI IcHlleu VII Wdo PIo-
duced from this more than 8 billion
gallons of crude oil produced in 1910 can
not now be stated, but the Bureau of
Statistics of the Department of Com
merce and Labor shows exports of prac-
tically a billion gallons year of the re-
fined Illuminating oil, and approximately
I o 81 Il
including in this term Illuminating oil,
lubricating oil, naphthas, and certain
quantities in the crude or unrefined
state.
What is the value of this more than 8
billion gallons Of mineral oil produced in
the United States last year? Probably
IT'S million dollars, though this is neces-
sarily an estimate. What is the value
of the finished article, the Illuminating
oil, the naphthas, the gasolene, the lub-
ricating oil, the paraffin and other grades
manufactured from this raw product?
This can only be estimated, though the
census of 1905 shows the value of the
products of petroleum refining" in 1904
to be ITS million dollars. What is the
value of the mineral oil exported? The
Bureau of Statistics shows that the total
value of the mineral oil exported in 1904
was 80 million dollars, and in 1908 was
100 million. of which 76 million was
Illuminating oil; 10 million lubricating
oil; IL million naphthas, and other
lighter products of distillation; 1-2 mil
lion dollars crude oil and about million
dollars residiuum. In 1909 and 1910 the
value of the exports was slightly less
than in 1908, due chiefly to fall in ex-
port prices, though the quantity also
showed slight decline in 1910 when
compared with 1905
What becomes of this billion and hall
gallons of our petroleum passing out of
the country? 1t goes, as already indi-
Gated, to hundred different countries,
colonies and islands. Scarcely country
in the world can be named tosswhom it is
not sent. Even Russia, which was for
years our chief rival in the worlds petro-
leum market, now takes considerable
quantities of American lubricating oil
made from petroleum, and her Asiatic
possessions take also certain quantities
of our Illuminating oil. The largest GUS
toner for our Illuminating oil is England,
to which the exports of 1910 amounted
to about 100 million gallons, valued at
more than million dollars. Germany
ranks second, the quantity sent to that
country in 1910 being about 1O8 million