Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1915-06-14
THE OIL FIELDS OF
oALIcIA, ARE IMPORTANT
That Province Ranks Fourth In the
Worlds Output Of Petroleum.
Especial to The BS1lLetin.)

Especial to The BSllletin)
Washington, D. c., June 1S.-"The
oil fields of Galicia-, which nave peen
alternately in the possession OF the
Austrians and the Russians since Inc
wars outbreak and which are now
| again under Austria control, .aEe among
the most important petroleum sources
of the world" says a bulletin just IS
sued by the National Geogran nc So-
ciety at Washington. The OIL neIos
situated in the northern fothiES OF the
Carpathians, within southern caHntral
Galicia, and lying some distance 70
low and to the east of the Aust1s IAN
fortress. Przemysl, produce about
per cent of the worlds total annual
output of petroleum, coming, thuA'
fourth on the list of the most import
ant soudces of this fuel. The United
States leads all countries by magnl-
f1cent margin in the production OF OH,
turning out 24,500,000 metric tons out
of the worlds total petroleum produc-
ton in normal times, of 46, 600 met
ric tons. The United States, there-
fore, has to its credit nearly oil per
cent of the total output This coun-
try is followed by Russia, MEXICO, anu
while among the earliest fields to
attract attention in the petroleum IN
dustry, coming imto prominence as
early as 1878, the Galician oil fields are
only partially known and developed
These fields are beyond comparison,
the richest oil fields in operation any
where in Europe. and, there are lnd1-
cations that the future 9vin see an in
crease rather than a dec rease in their
working area and in their productive
ty. The modern petroleum INDUSTRY
had its beginning in the United states,
starting to al practical pur Doses ABOUT
1859. The drilling Of the Sianclan Oil
wells soon followed those of this coun-
try Almost coinctdent with the birth
of the Galician oil industry was that
of the Russian oil industry at Baku.
The enormously rich Russian wells,
yielding about 20 per cent o. the
worlds total output, were opened about
1875.
"Dohobycz and Boryslaw are cen ters
of the Galician oil industry. The high
plain, southwark, to the Carpathia.n
hills, from Dohobycz to BoryslaW, As
the petroleum region This district
lies southeastward from the sources of !
the River San. in the higher Car
pathians, and south southwest of Lem
berg. The annual production of the
Galician wells has been around two
million metric tons a year. and the
number of wells has been slowly but
steadily increasing. The growth of
this industry has, as in other places
where petroleum resources have been
developed, added largely to the pros
perity of Galicia, land that some few
generations ago was one of the most
miserably poor to be found in Europe.
1.-The Dutch East Indies and neigh
boring Roumania have uncovered OF
resources sufficient to make a strong
competition with Galicia for promin
ence in the industry during the last
few years. Roumania is sixth upon
the list of petroleum producing coun
tries, and may have furnished large
stores of this precious fuel to the Ger.
manic allies during the occupancy of
the Galician oil region by the Russian
invaders. The course of the Austrian
oil lands is toward Bukovina and Rou
mania in the line of the Carpathian
foothills.
These Galician wells are of special
war Importance to the German powers
as being, not only the most important
source of their petroleum supply, but
their only internal source of any con-
sequence of this most necessary fuel.
With these wells under their control,
their stores of oil are large and GER
tain; without them, the Central Pow
ers are forced to turn to uncertain for
eign sources. The enemy nation, Rus
STA. on the east, is assured of an mex
haustible supply of oil from its native
wells a Baku, whose security the
Turks threatened up to now in vain.
Great Britain is able to draw upon the
wells in the neutral countries of the
world, with every prospect of safe de-
livery. Roumania remains, practically,
the sole foreign source of oil for Ger
many and Austria"