The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1911-12-04
aoo.ooO,ooo BARRELS OF OIL.
Largest Output of Petroleum Ever Re-
ported.

/
produced in the United States last year
according to David I. Day, of the Unit
ed States Geological Survey, in an adj
vance chapter on petroleum from Min
eral Resources OF the United States fol
1910.
The petroleum industry in the United
States, says DR.. Day, has been charac
terized by phenomenal increase eacl
year for the last four years. Eact
years gain over that of the year before
has been SO remarkable as TO lead t.
the belief that the limit of production
had been reached, but the increase ha:
continued rapidly. After varying be
tween 50000000 and 60,0O0,000 barrels
annually in the decade between 1890 and
1900, the oil output was over 63,000,0Ot
barrels in 1900 and increased to 49,,
100000 barrels in 1902. In 1908 it passed
the l00,000,000- barrel mark, in 1904 il
was over l70,000,000 barrels, and in 1906
nearly l35,000000 barrels. After q
slight decline in 1906, the output rose
again, in 1907 reaching l66000,000 bar
rels. 1t was l7sO00,000 barrels in 1908
ls3,000,000 barrels in 1909, and 2O9,55G,-
$50 barrels in 1910, gain of IA per cent
over the record output of 1909. This
brought the total output since the be-
ginning OF the petroleum industry to
more than two billion barrels.
United States Leads the World.
The United States is now by far the
greatest oil.producing country; in fact,
it produces more than all the rest OF
the world together. In 1910 the wells OF
this country yielded nearly q per cent.
of the total production, Russia scoring a
very poor second with about 70,000000
barrels. or q per cent. The production
of other countries is comparatively neg
ligible, the third on the list, Galicia,
contributing only 3,S7 per cent. of the
total.
The excess Of the petroleum produc-
ton of the United States over the nor.
NAL demand is shown by the fact that
the 209,556,04s barrels produced in 1910
brought smaller return 1927 SOC, 32S--
than the ls3,l70,S74 barrels in 1909.
which was valued at Sl2S,32s, 427. The
even smaller output in 1908, l7s,000,000
barrels, was valued at still more-Sl29,-
079, 1884. As the production has increased
the average price has gone down from
more than 81 barrel in 1900 TO 81
cents in 1910.
These repeated great increases in oil
production have been due 20 the snc
eessiye development of our great petro.
leum fields farther west than the old
productive centers. BY 1900 the country
had adapted itself to the influx of oil
from western Ohio and Indiana; then
came in rapid succession the develop
ment of the gulf field in Texas and Lou.
isiana, the mid-continent Geld in Okla
homa and Kansas, and the Illinois field.
In the meantime CALIFORNIA; production
had been increasing so rapidly that il
became the dominant feature Of 1909 AMI
1910, outstripping the production Of any
other state and promising to retain this
supremacy in the future. Pie trade
effect Of these developments was largely
discounted by the small proportion Of
gasoline and kerosene yielded by the
gulf and California oils, and it was only
when the superior character of the mid.
continent oil was recognized that the
middle western contributions began TO
be taken seriously in the general trade.
Geographic and technical factors put
California petroleum at disadvantage
compared with the eastern supply, but
the great production has compelled such
advances in refining methods as to make
it reasonably certain that California will
in the future yield good refined products,
including lubrieating and Illuminating
oils
Nearly 10000 Wells in Operation
There are now l4S.440 oil wells in
operation in the United States. They
average about four barrels day, but in
Pennsylvania and New York old wells
in some districts field profit on an out
put of less than one-fifth of a barrel
day. The original lJrake we'll, drilled in
1859, would probably, if it were cleaned,
be capable of yielding one.third 0f
barrel day. Another well close to the
Drake well is 40 years old and is still
being pumped.
Over S,500000 acres Of land are leased
for oil and 100000 acres are owned in
fee by oil operators.
Increased Use of Fuel Oils.
The use of fuel oils is steadily in
creasing. Railroads consumed 24,5S6, los
barrels in 1870 against lg,939,39 bar,
rels in 1902 The advantages Of oil over
coal have been clearly recognized by the
United States navy. In new eonstruc-
ton fuel-oil burners are being more and
more extensively used; torpedo boat de-
stroyers Nos. 20 to so burn oil exclusive
ly and the battleships Delaware, North
Dakota, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming. Ar.
kansas, Texas and New York burn oil
as an auxiliary to coal Battleships
Nos 80 and 81, authorized by the last
Congress, viii burn on exclusively, and
il is probable that subsequent battle
ships will be oil burners. DR.. Day be-
lieves it to be probably that within
few years heavy oil engines OF the Diesel
type viii be extensively used for ma
rine propulsion, particularly for naval
vessels, owing to recent Improvements
of these engines in Europe by which
l 900 to 1900 horsepower can be deyel
oped from a single cylinder.
California Largest Producer.
California heads the list of producers
in 1910, with 73,0l0,560 barrels of oil,
an increase of 1885 5e barrels over the
production of 1909. This output is more
than twice as great as that OF Penn
sylvania for any year, aE3 is greater
than that of any foreign country; in
fact, the production of petroleum in Cal
ifornia and Oklahoma combined is prac
tically equal to the entire foreign pro-
duction The average price per barrel
of California oil in 1910 was 40 cents,