The Alaska daily empire., 1922-02-17
AMERICAS FUTURE OIL RESOURCES.

Although it is estimated that at the present rat
of production the oil fields of the United States woul
be exhausted in about twenty years, these figures d
not Indicate that the countrys petroleum resource
will come to end within that period accordin
to the National Bank of Commerce in New Yorl
The country's wells likely to show long period
of declining productivity before their final deple
ton, and the nations huge deposits of oil shale ofe
enormous supplies it becomes economics
to use them, the bank points out in its magazine
Commerce Monthly. for February.
The Commerce Monthly says:
If annual rate of production of 45O,-
100000 barrels figure nearly reached in
1920 and probably exceeded in 1921, We're
to be maintained in the United States until
the wells were exhausted the known supply
would run out in about 90 years. These oil
fields. however, likely to show long
periods of declining productivity before they
are completely exhausted. 1t is impossible
to estimate when the United States will have
used up its petroleum resources, but period
OF constantly decreasing production with &C.
casional increases wells are opened
up and new methods of recovery insti-
tuted may be expected to begin within the
next few years
To meet the emergency of declining
output of petroleum the United States has
in reserve huge deposits of oil shale from
which great quantities. of petroleum products
may be obtained when it becomes economical
to produce them. Enormous amounts of oil
shale rich in oil are found in northwestern
Aolorado, northeastern Utah, southwestern
Womng and in northern Nevada. Deposits
of more limited extent and generally less rich
are located in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ken
lucky, Texas Wisconsin, Michigan. West
Virginia and elsewhere. Though the oil shae
industry is of long standing in other parts
OF the world notably Scotland, France and
Australia it has not yet passed the @peri-
mental stage in the United States.
The United States has long been pre-
eminent in the petroleum industry, but it
occupies the unenviable position of exhaust
Ing its resources much more rapidly than
the rest OF the world. Starting with a sup
ply estimated at IA billion barrels it has
used up some billion, leaving only about
billion barrels. "a per cent of it's or
iginal resources, still available On the
other hand the world outside the United
States is thought to have Sc billion barrels
or over 80 per cent of its original supply
I OF approximately 60 billion barrels AS the
United States regularly produces three-ffths
or more of the worlds annua, output.
each year finds this country in a relatively
worse position
While the using up of natural resources
Is deplorable. still the material gains
.sultng from their exploitation should not be
overlooked. for in large measure the grad
ual exhaustion OF American petroleum has
been offset by the advances of American in
dustries thus made possible
1t is significant of the peculiar condi-
tions prevailing in the production of petrol
cum that despite prevailing business de-
preston accompanied fall in petroleum
prices the output in the first eleven 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 extent the drill
ing OF wells in known fields. and to an
even greater degree the exploration of new
territory. Since production is sustained