Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-06-18

suner seriously In any case-that he
WIZ SIMPLY build moro trucks and am
puihnccs and tractors and fewer pleas
ure cars. Neither Is there any reason
~ pnneVe that the refner will suffer.
ior 'here VIII certainly DO need for all
the gasoline that he can produce at a
SOU price 1t Is true that II the pres
eh' consumption OF gasoline continues
uhchecked, there will be a spectacular
,se o. prices sooner or later. and also
'hat II VIII be followed by n sharp
reaction in the refining business nv rea
son or tho fact there will be very little
oil to refine.
Substitutes Are Possible.
"eantinc. there arc several possibi1f-
ties OF supplemcnting the supply which
may make unnecessary for n long time
any restriction In the use OF gasoline
or OIL The trouble Ia that mono OF
these is more than a possibility. Tho
thing to keep in mind now is that gaso-
line, Is national need, and that II is
unpatriotic to waste IT,
The first OF the possibilities Is tho
Mexican oil fields. IL Carranza sue
cessfully Dacincs his country and gets
his oil wells producing full capacity,
he can save the world gasoline situa-
ton. But Mexico has provided itself
with constitution which makes It al
most impossible for foreigner to
operate in that country, and while this
may be good for Mexico in the long
run. 1t is not apt to stimulate the de-
| velopment OF oil wells. for at present
there Is neither the brains nor the cap
ital In Mexico to do II.
Scientists are working to supplement
our gasoline supply in several ways.
all OF which Will probably be success
full to some extent In the course OF
time; but none OF which can be counted
upon to win the war. More efficient
methods OF getting oil from the sands
- Tor
OF oil will undoubtedly DO distilled
from shales in the near future. The
new cracking process perfected by the
Bureau OF Mines furnished IL: per
| cent OF the gasoline production last
year. has enormous possibilities. and il
being installed in most OF our large
! oil works. The treatment OF natural
gas by compression. refrigeration. and
absorption has produced good grade
OF gasoline. Products OF the distilla-
ton OF coal are now being used as
! substitutes for gasoline in Europe.
uae Increases. Not supply.
The mathematics OF the gasoline And
petroleum situation In this country, As
| summarized by Director Manning, are
as follows: Our total production OF gas
olinc last year was 100000 barrels
| The increase in the number OF auto
mobiles since 1910 used just about half
/ or this amount. Between SIS and 90
| per cent Of the gasoline production +,
used in automobiles. 20 to 25 per cont
I Us exported. and the rest is used In
! ooats' tractors. stationary engines and
TOT uses of minor Importance All OF
THESE uses show some tendency to in
crease. The only thing that is hard
to increase is the gasoline SUNNY
our marketed production OF petro-
!eum in 1915 was 2e5.Oooooo barrels.
Our storage stock In January OF that
year was estimated a, 17o.ooo.ooo bar
reis. BY the end OF the year. this had
dwind!ep TO l50,o00.0oo barrels In
other words, We had to draw o.ooo. 900
/ barrels OF oil from storage IN order
to make up our failing production
| during 1918 the normal consumption
/ OF crude petroleum was ~ per cent
greater than in 1914. and last wear Il
! was ~ per cent greater than In 1918
II II goes on increasing at the same
rate. our normal peace consumption Of
petroleum for 1917 will be about 90
| 100000 barrels greater than that OF
1916. This takes no account OF the in
creased demand caused by war. And
this is what Director Manning says
about the supply.
| The production OF crude petroleum
| in this country during last year Is
thought to have reached high water
mark and 1t is very likely that III.
production for 1917 will be smaller than
| II was last year. The difference
! between the estimated production and
consumption during this year will
amount to 100000 900 barrels
. which must be drawn out Of
storage With only about 15o.ooo.0eS
| barrels OF crude petroleum In storage
At the first of the year. and with :
II becoming necessary to draw from
that reserve probably 60.000000 barrels
|. IL becomes apparent that some
radical step must be taken to meet the
| situation"
Don't waste 1t. That's all you can do.