The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1917-07-20

II, may br OF Interest. therefore.
10 outline In a general the petrol
cum which may h. avail
able for use by ,he central powers
But first Il is well 10 have some idea
of the extent OF German and Austrian
needs. BY way OF mustratin rfreoee
needs ny way OF illustration refer
cncc may be made to Great Britain.
Extraordinary efforts have beer made
by British authorities 10 restrict the
use of petroleum products to war or
ncar-war purposes. That German cf-
fIclcncy In his respect has been
much greater than British efficiency
may have doubled. Using as a basis
for reckoning the petroleum lm-
ports into the United Kingdom in
1915. Il may be stated that about
49, eco barrels OF cude oil are re-
CURED TO meet British needs. This.
necessarily. IL an estimate. but Il viii
serve for comparison.
1T l. impossible to state accurately.
the production OF petroleum In Ger
many proper. Statistics OF his sort
are not being given oui by German
officials. but the most recent estimate
made in Washington placed II NJ less
than 1000. 900 barrels a year. The
production In Galicia has been sub
stantially larger. In the yea 1915
the total was placed at i.15S.s0s bar
reis. In this connection. however. Il
should be remembered that per
a.ors were greatly retarded ecaus
Of the war. When the Russian line
In Southeast Galicia was broken IN
May. 1918. the r~etreating armies set
fire to numerous wells in the Tustan-
owice district and burned much OF.
the petroleum stored In the Eas, Ca
iclan fields.
'The Frankfort Gazette at the time
said that g2s wells out OF q total OF
lsis were destroyed. and about $500
oOo barrels OF crud petroleum were
burned. After occupying these fields
the Austro-German authorities starr
ed active work with a view to restor-
ling the rate OF production, and II Is
possible. though not probably that
they are obtaining crude oil at the
rate Of about S.O0O,0 600 barrels per
year from this source. This II based
upon the fac, that the Galician fields
produced $4,000. 600 barrels in 1908.
and that as late as 1913 the produc-
ton was 7.sIs.iss barrels.
about the only other source Of
supply Is Rumania Production in
that country prio to the occupancy by
Aus,ro-Germsn forces was at the rate
of about ~. 900 600 barrels a year. II
will be a long time before the pro-
duction can he revived ap%preciably.
and possibly Rumania should he
eliminated from calculation during
the progress OF the war.
"a complete statement as TO what
damage was done In the Rumanian
fields by the allied forces probably
viii not he available until after the
WAR. but Il Is pretty generally uunder-
stood that most Of the important wells
were dynamited. Unless the dynamite
charges were sufficiently powerful
10 flood the oii-bearing stata with salt
water. production could he restored by
the simple method Of drilling new
wells near she old locations. assuming.
OF course. that the Germans could
obtain an ample supply Of drilling
equipment. IL Is reasonable to sup
flooding. and there ~ more basis for
belief tina 1t was serious than tbs
lcontrery.
Apart from RumanIa, however tho
central powers have at their COM
mani production Of from 10000 % ~
a.eOO.O0o barrels a year. This amount
Is small In comparison to their OBJ
vious needs. but probably It could
be made to suffice. II should be ap-
parent. however. that without Ruma-
mia and GRllcia. Germany would
soon be ( ndire straits. because, greet
as ner storage supplies may have
been prior 10 the outbreak 81 hos
tfities. there can be no doub. TINT
these have been drawn AGAINST reri-
ously. u they nave not been entirelv
| deu1pteN Hang. tho u4ugrtouaa 80
ANY military operation involving
Galician and Rumanian territory.