The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-04-23
GROWING DEMAND
 FOR PETROLEUM
By HOLLAND


 New York. April 22.-Walter Clair | Teagle, president of the Standard oil | Company of New Jersey was quoted recently as having said that if the con sumption of petroleum and its prod ucts increase within the next five years | as is has since 1914 then at least SIX hundred and fifty million barrels or petroleum will be needed within i've years if the demand is met. The at- tention of A leader in an oil industry which Is one of the greatest In the United States was called this morhihg to MT Teagles prediction. He sale that undoubtedly as much as SIX nun dred and fifty million barrels Wouia be needed by the year 1921. and then after moment of hesitation added But where is it to come from?
 The leaders in the oil industry are not the only men who are greatly con cerned about the oil situation Ihe government itself is anxious and thas is demonstrated by <an article writ ton by Dr. Van H. Manning, who IS not only the director of the United States bureau of mines. but is also es- teemed as a highly qualified expert upon the oil situation. Dr. Manning. deems it worth while carefully to consider the question of our future supply of petroleum. He does give Ii careful consideration in the articie which appears in the current March number of the Chemical Age.
 Coming as it does from the official authority, in the government the arti- cle should attract much attention and it may be one of the influences which will hereafter compel Congress to take some action, if 1t be possible in order to assure to the United States an abundant supply of petroleum.
 Especially noticeable in Dr. Man ning's article is the reference to the fact that lubricating oil is the only one of the products of petroleum that enter into our everyday life which
 is not possible of substitution by some other product now available. In other words, this high authority intimates that without lubricating oil the indus tries of the United States would be brought up short
 AT MERCY OF FOREIGN NATIONS
 Dr. Manning also intimates that the United States may be and be entirely at the mercy of foreign nations for
 it's petroleum and of course for it's lubricating oil. The economic effect of this will be very great. It was pointed out this morning by Dr. P. G. Acheson that. based upon Dr. Man nings intimation; it may be said that whereas in the past the United States has been drawing many millions each year from other nations for the mar keting of its oil products in those na- tions the time may speedily come when we shall be compelled to pay other nations many millions for the oil which We must have and which they will be in position to sell to us.
 Some three or four ye$Ns ago Dr. Acheson called attention to the fact that at the present rate of consump- tion and also of production our re- fv 0tf years, probably not more than sixteen unless there be very great increase in the discovery of new oil properties.
 NOT MORE THAN 20 YEARS Dr. Acheson has been close stu dent of the oil situation in the United states Tor many years His nivestiga- tons have been based not only on economic and industrial conditions, bu, also upon the probability of the ex. haustion of our oil supplies. All tha, he has said has already been accepted as authoritative and now Dr. Manning confirms many of the assertions made py pr. Acheson, for he calls attention to the probability that our oil re- sources may be exhausted within twen- | ty years. A statement of that kind was made by pr. Acheson at least l two years ago.
 WHAT CAN BE DONE
 Pr Acheson was asked this morning II he had read Dr. Manning's article and I If he had done so what might be the possible achievement of science and of the ablest man of science in perfectine 2 l methods by which the United States can alWays be assured of an ample supply of oil. In reply Dr. Acheson said that the results that have been obtained in synthetic chemistry in the past ten or twenty years in the production of abso- | lutely new products and the artificial l production of products already known as natural materials, justify him in be- lieving that it may be within the abil- ity of men of science to produce petro-
 leum by synthetic methods as we'll as all its derivatives, including gasoline and 1 Ilubricating oil.
 1 By some secret process. of which
 science has not yet penetrated the mys- tery, nature has caused hydrogen and Icarbon to unite in the proprtion of ap- iproximately eighty parts of carbon with twenty parts of hydrogen. This conlbi- | nation forms petroleum
 lsSDr Peter Cooper Hewett. referring a few days ago to gasoline. said that until | there came exhaustion of our oil sup plies. nothing could probably be substr- tuted for gasoline for internal combus- tion engines cause gasoline is a combina. tion of hydrogen and carbon and these lare elementarily cheap.
 Dr. Acheson said this morning that it is not visionary to believe it possible for science to discover the hitherto secret process by nature in forming petroleum, so that petroleum may be securoi sym lthetically, because petroleum is formed by the union of hyrogen and carbon. These are elementary substances and can be found in practically unlimited quan- titles. We can obtain carbon from wood lnAn DTCH Tn