Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1920-05-20
THE OIL SUPPLY.

operate an oi%l-burning ocean vessel,
he. is interested in both the price and
the supply of petroleum, and all the
authorities agree hat the supply of
petroleum must diminish rapidly dur
ing the Itsxt few years unless new
stores are found in unsupported
places, of which there is not much
prospect.
The U. 8. geological survey has
estimated that over 40 per cent of
the oil in all the oil fields has been
brought to the surface and used, and
it fs estimated that the underground
reserve Is equal to less than twenty
years of the present consumption de-
mands.
There are undoubtedly vast guam
titles of oil to be found abroad, as tho
rest of the worlds territory has not
developed nor prospected as inten-
sively as the United states. Large
fields occur in Mexico, Venezuela,
Colombia, Persia, Russia, and potion
.tial fields are known to occur In 9TH
er parts of South America. Africa and
Asia. 'Of these fields, those in the
Americas are nearly all under tho
control of Latin-American govern
ments. while the others in other con-
tinents are mostly under tho control
OF the British, French and the Neither
lands. with the exception Of fields in
the former Russian empire.
Ao Gov ~, IT, Ty-kt-a cA-A-. - -
cerned. however. the most important
sources OF foreign supply are In the
Latin-American countries especially
those bordering the Gulf of Mexico
and the Caribbean, hat is. Mexico,
Venezuela and Colombia. Mexico
contains large quantities Of oil which
can be readily obtained, provided no
restrictions are placed upon the ex-
ploitation Of those fields. Oil is pres
ent In this region sufficient to meet
our needs for many years to come.
Venezuela and Colombia have large
resources, which, however, are appar-
emily not as great as those of Mex
leo. Also, these are more
dthicult to develop, and it will take
nuch longer to put them on a large
producing basis thar those in Mex
leo. These r fields from-which pro-
duction in large quantities can be OBJ
t4ined a few years hence, but can not
relieve the present situation.
In general it may be stated that the
oil from the wells Of the United
States, in all probability, can not take
care of our future needs. but that
there is much oil in the world, and 1t
simply is a question Of developing it
with sufficient rapidity to keep pace
with the rapidly increasing demands.
OIL products can also b. obtained by
destructive distillation of coal, and
lisnites. However, it all the coal and
lignites mined in the United States
were subjected to destructive distil-
latfon. this would provide but a
comparatively small fraction of our
petroleum needs.
The oil shales of the United States,
particularly those Of the Rocky
Mountain districts, contain potential
quantities of oil in beds which are
richer than those of Scotland where
shale has been retorted for many
years. These shales are. capable of
yielding many times greater ouanti-
ties Of hydrocarbons thar have ever
been extracted in all the oil fields Of
TING world. according to the estimates
OF the geological survey. But this in
dustry is in Its infancy. In fact, it
. not yet passed out of the expert
mental stages. 1t will take enormous
capital, enormous equipment, n
enormous energy to develop the oil
snales to such a point that they can
supply any considerable quantity Of
our oil needs. Almost as much. IL NOT
mere, tons of oil shale would have 70
De mined than oal in order to OBJ
tain production of crude oil u to
h present yield Of our oil wells. It
must therefore. be many years be-
fore this resource a be used to
supplant our failing iii fields.
h time has arrived when, with
erude oil higher than it has been for
fifty years. %inefficiency in the pro-
duction and manufacture of petroleum
should not be countenanced. Petro-
lerm and Its products should be re-
served for those uzes for which it is
peculiarly adapted and for which
there are no substitutes.
9kbsi- y.