The Cordova daily times., 1922-02-23
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1922
AMERICAS FUTURE OIL RESOURCES

Although it is estimated that at the present rate of production the oil fields of the United States would be exhausted in about twenty years these figures do not indicate that the country's petroleum resources will come to an end within that period, according to the Ma tional Bank of Commerce in New York. The country's wells are likely to show long per iods of declining productivity before their final depletion, and the nations huge deposits of oil shale offer enormous supplies as soon as soon as it becomes economical to use them, the bank points out in it's magazine.
 eff an annual rate of production of 4oo,- 100000 barrels, figure nearly reached in l92O and nrobablv exceeded in 1921, were to be maintained in the United States until the wells were exhausted the known supply would run out in about 20 years,' Commerce Month lv says. "These oil fields however, are likely to show long periods of declining productivity before they are completely exhausted. 1t IS impossible to estimate when the United Sta tes will have used up it's petroleum resources, but a period of constantly decreasing produc- tion with occasional increases as new wells are opened up and new methods of recovering are instituted may be expected to begin With in the next few years.
 ssTo meet the emergency of declining out put of petroleum the United States mas m re- serve huge deposits of oil shale from winch great quantities of petroleum products may pc obtained when it becomes economical to pro- duce them Enormous amounts Of oil shale rich in oil ore found in northwestern Colorado northeastern Utah. southwestern Wyoming and in northern Nevada. Deposists of more limit ed extent and generally less rich are located in Pennsylvania. Indiana, Kentucky. Texas, Wisconsin. Michigan West Virginia and else where Though the oil shale industry IS of long standing in other parts of the world, not ably Scotland, France and Australia, 1t has not vet passed the experimental stage Tn the United States.
 'The United States has long been pre-em- inent in the petroleum industry, but it occupies the unenviable position of eXhausting its re- sources much more rapidly than the rest of the world. Starting with supply estimated at 14 billion barrels it has used up some bill lion, leaving only about billion barrels, or GA per cent, of it's original resources, still avail able On the other hand the world outside the United States is thought to have 56 billion barrels, over 90 per cent, of it's ori ginal supply of approximately 60 billion barrels. As the United States regularly produces three fifths or more of the worlds annual output, each year finds this country in relatively worse position
 "While the using up of natural resources is deplorable, still the material gains result ing from their exploitation should not be ov- erlooked, for in large measure the gradual exhaustion of American petroleum has been offset by the advances of American industries thus made possible.
 "It is significant of the peculiar conditions prevailing in the production of petroleum that despite prevailing business depression accom- panied by fall in petroleum prices the out put in the first eleven months of 1921 showed an increase of 6 CT cent over like period in 1920 The gain was shared by all but the H. linois 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 an even greater