Omaha daily bee., 1922-02-06
Americas s Oil Resources
Little Reason 10 Worry Al
Present Over Future Supply.

Although Il Is estimated that a The pFsssa,
rate Of pF5duetian the oil fields of tie United
| States would be exhausted in about % years,
these figures do not indicate that the eouHifg's
I petroleum. resources will come % an end within
1 that period, according 20 the National Bank ai
Commerce in New York The eaunlFy's wells
are likely 20 show long periods OF declining
productivity before their mail depletion, aud the
nations huge deposits OF oil shale offer enormous
supplies as soon as i becomes economical 70 use
them. the hank points out IN is magazine. Cons
meree Monthly, for February;
III an annual rate Of production oi $4,000.
600 barrels, hgufe nearly reached In 1920 aud
probably exceeded IN 1921, were 70 be asain-
tanned IN the United States unl the wells were
exhausted. the known supply would run out In
about 20 years" Commerce Monthly says These
OF helds. however, arc likely TO show long periods
oi declining productivity before they are CONF
pletely exhausted II Is impossible 10 estimate
when The United States viii have used up lis
petroleum resources hut period OF constantly
decreasing production with occasional increases
as new wells are opened up aud new methods
OF recovery are instituted may be expected TO
begin within the next few years.
To meet the emergency OF a declining output
OF petroleum the United States has IN reserve
huge deposits oi oil shale from which great
quantities OF petroleum products may be OBJ.
tanned when il becomes economical 10 produce
them. Enormous amounts OF oil shale rich IN
oil are found in northwest Colorado. northeast.
crn Utah, southwestern Wyoming and in north
ern Nevada. Deposits OF more limited extent
and generally less rich are located in Pennsyi
vania, Indiana. Kentucky, Texas, Wisconsin
Michigan. West Virginia and elsewhere. Though
the oil shale industry is OF long standing In other
parts of the world, notably Scotland, France
and Australia, il has not YET passed the ex-
perimental stage in the United States.
The United States has long been pre.eni.
M nt In irdp hiss, upin
the unenviable position OF exhausting lis re-
sources much more rapidly than the rest OF the
world Starting with a supply estimated at H.
0OO00O,OOO barrels Il has used up some 5000.
100000, leaving only about 9,000.000.000 barrels,
or o. per cent OF its original resources still avail
able On the other hand the world outside the
United States is thought TO have 56000,000000
barrels, or over 90 per cent of its original sup
ply OF Approximately 60000,000000 barrels, As
the United States regularly produces thres.fiths
or more OF the worlds annual output, each year
finds this country in relatively worse position.
while the using up OF natural resources Is
deporable, still the material gains resulting from
their exploitation should not be overlooked, for
in large measure the gradual exhaustion of
American Petroleum has been Offset By the
advances OF American industries thus made pos
sble.
ut is significant OF the peculiar conditions
prevailing in the production OF petroleum that
ucsplte UusiHess uSpesslOH dSCoHi-
panied by fail in petroleum prices the output
in the first II months Of 1921 showed an increase
OF per cent over like period in 1920 The
gain was shared by all but the Illinois field.
whose production has regularly been falling off
in recent years.
Depression in the petroleum industry does.
however, limit to some extent the drilling OF
wells in known fields, and to all even greater
degree the exploration Of new territory. Since |
production is sustained only by drilling an in
;reasing number OF wells in any given field, !
and since new territory must be opened up to |
compensate for exhaustion Of old fields, de- |
slime in drilling is after time followed by |
alling off in production. Conversely a period |
IF prosperity brings increased production after
delay of months.
,'Thus, while the increasing production in the |
irst part OF 1921 was probably result Of the
in 1919 and the first part of 1920 there
S likely to be period OF declining output ahead .
which will reflect the depression of the first
,art of 1921. The number Of new oil wells conf
,leted fell off from about 1880 in January 1921,
o about 752 in October, the latter figure be-
ng the smallest in the last FIVE years. Noveni-
'er returns however, show an increase to eO3
wells"