Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-09-26
OIL in WORLD POWER
All Great Nations Recognize Its
Importance.
SOURCES OF WORLDS PRODUCTION
Supply-Great Britain Has Ever
Looked Ahead in this Matter-Ger-
many is doing What She can to Keep
Abreast of the Others.

Abreast OF the Others.
New York Times
Today oil is king, because it is sup
planting coal as fuel in land and sea
transportation, and it's uses are mani
fold in industry and rapidly increasing.
The nation without reservoirs Of oil
must falter in the competitive struggle.
and 1t cannot wage war. In his testi-
mony before the senate sub-committee
investigating Mexican relations Mr..
Edward l.. Doheny said that he
learned in Europe that "the British
government had acquired G5 per cent.
Of the interests Of the hesAnglo-Persian
Oil Company, which controls $4,000
square miles of rich oil territory" 1t
was said years ago that wherever pc
troleum is met with Englishmen are
to- be found" British subjects Of Hong
Kong were trying to obtain concessions
of oil fields in China in the last CEN
tury. They are living with Americans
today in developing oil territory in
Mexico, probably the richest in the
world. Baron Fisher, one of the
wisest men who ever sat in the admir-
atty, urges that coal be discarded al
together in favor Of oil on British war
ships, and declares, that the future Of
the British navy and merchant "abso-
lutely rests on the internal combustion
engine" Mr.. Doheny, an Oil king him
self, said to the senate committee:
T. The German government, we learn,
Is planning to acquire the Black Sea
Oil fields. The president of the Brit
ish board Of trade recently made the
frank announcement that the gov
ernment's policy was to acquire oil
fields wherever possible throughout the
world. The Importance Of oil is fully
recognized by all the great govern
ments, unless it be our own. A ton of
oil for fuel is equal to two tons of coal;
If used in an internal combustion en-
gine, it is equal to six tons of coal.
In the table published by the nat
ional administration in 1918 1t was
set forth that this country marketed"
335,315,601 barrels of crude petroleum
containing forty-two gallons in 1917.
'Russia's production was estimated at
69,000,000 barrels, Mexico's at 55,209,-
ITO and then came the Dutch West
Indies with 12,S2S,s55 barrels, India
with B.500,0O0, Galicia with 5,965,447,
Japan and Formosa with 2,Sss,654,
Rumania with 2,6S1,S70 and Peru with
2,533,417. Other countries in the list
producing smaller quantities were Trim
idad, Argentina, Egypt, Germany. Can
ada, and Italy. Paris. which promises
to be"a leader in production. was not
mentioned ct all. Since 1917 oil has
gushed in vast quantities from new
wells in California, Oklahoma, Texas,
and other states of the union, and the
table of the fuel administration has be-
come obsolete. All the world is boring
for oil, and, it is found on every
continent, there must be valuable res
ervoirs untapped. Mr.. ,Doheny esti-
mates that there will be 100000 in
ternal combustion engines in the
United States in ten years, or two and
a half times as many as there are now.
Perhaps he may be right when he says
that the United States will not be
able to supply the oil needed ten years
hence. But he may be mistaken. 1t
has been estimated, perhaps loosely,
that the reserve of oil in the American
State is 100000, 900 barrels; the total
production up to 1918 was 4,255,000.-
900 barrels. The estimate does not in
clude shale Oil, that is to say the oil
yielded by rock formations in the West
ern states. Guy Elliott Mitchell of the
United States Geological Survey has
estimated that ''the oil in the shale
ranges Of Colorado alone amounts to
20, ,000, 100000 barrels" Other west
ern states abounding in oil rock. are
Nevada, Wyoming, Montana, and Cali
fornia. The state geologist Of Colora-
do speaks Of content" of S6,000,-
100000 barrels for that state. In an
article in The National Geographic
Journal for February 1918, Mr.. Nit
chell made the following statement:
The production Of oil in this country
instead of decreasing, will continue
to grow; it will even, because of the
shale resources, greatly increase its
present output of 340,O00,O00 barrels
x,,it tl,A