The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1922-12-15

NafhlaElcn. y. c.--Whoa the flow
81 that liquid sold known a. reiro
lsam gives fign Of stacking, and "a
o consequence tho whlr and hum o.
fle eunnlfya millions OF illyyefa ant
motor hnaaos and lfneloro seem llka
h. q denisi for lack 0f fuel. th'
iafasretchlng reserves Of OIL fhule n
tho lnilrd States stand out aa the
mort important resources of nnhsil
tuits log petroleum oils. ntntca The
bureau OF mlnnt Theme hhalor. vcr
liaho nnlappcd reservoirs Of oil. un
dlrlle enormous areas OF the coin
Try Those 81 the most economic i'm
porianee occur In Colorado. Nevada
Utah and Wyoming. Great areas oi
hlta shale occur. however. In yarl
oar eastern states. notably Kentucky,
Indiana and Ohio. The great eco
nonle importance Of OIL ahalos Is
That. whom the industry IN properly
developed, the United states VIII
have b new domestic supply OF min.
cral a's. which cannot be cut off In
tlnr %. war. nno which. come what
mas wiz always be ready TO help
meet tn, nations demand for oil. no
mutlrr what the worlds petroleum
Hl'lLilon may be.
Tto inture OF the oil shalc industry
In this cruntry. the bureau OF mines
ccnaidCfa. Will depend primarily rpoi
the relative supply, and demand
for. petroleum products, particularly
IN the regions remote from aeaboasd.
There n good rcaaon 10 believe that
IN the next several years the do.
mtsiic production OF petroleum will
decrease. while the demand for It's
products win increase. and oil shales
can well make up for the deficiency
Of crude petroleum as source OF re-
fined mineral oil products. Even mn
der the most favorable condition de-
yolopmon, OF an American oil shale
must be slow. although this can be
haa;enod by the employment Of high.
ly trained specialists, the proper kind
OF experimental work. and sincere CO.
operation and mutual helpfulness
among the oil shale operators.
Large SUMS OF money will nave TO
be invested before Tho oil shale In
duslfy becomes one OF important
commercial consideration. II is orob.
able that the Investment necessary
for an oil shalc retorilng and refin-
ing plant will approximate $4,000 per
barrel OF shale oil daily capacity. The
present annual domestic output OF pc
tro.oum IS at the rate OF over 40O,-
100000 barrels, and 60 replace that
production with shale oil would re-
qulro nearly 1,100 shale retorting
plants. each putting through 1000
tons OF shale daily. every day in the
year. This Is assuming that the
shale yields AZ gallons OF oil per
ton. The total quantity of shale
mined would be over 4OO,000,O00 tons,
which approaches the annual coal
production. The investment OF re-
tofts and refineries alone for an In
dustry Of this magnitude would be
over $4,000. 100000. This does not
include estimeted cost of lands, open
ing up and developing mines, or
transportation and marketing facili-
ties: neither does 1t include the cost
of developing subsidiary industries,
without which shale oil industry
could not exist.
OIL shale Is a compact, laminated
rock of sedimentary origin, yielding
over 80 per cent of ash and contain
ing organic matter that yields oil
when distilled but not appreeiably
when extracted with the ordinary sol
vents for petroleum. Oil shale occurs
in many parts Of the world, but the
shalo deposits of Scotland, because OF
their having been the basis OF a
commercial industry for many years,
are the most widely known. The
shaIes worked at present in Scotland
yield about 25 U. S. gallons of Oil
and 3G pounds of ammonium sulphate
to the short ton.
Oil shale deposits have been worked
in small way in the county OF
Dorset in England from time to time
for centuries. Oil shale deposits OF
Importance occur In the Canadian
provinces of New Brunswick and
Nova Scotia. and in New South
Wales and Queensland in Australia.
Shale deposits in the provinces OF
Allier and Saone ct Loire, France,
have been worked for more than hair
century. Large deposits of shale
exist in Jugo-Slavia. Spain, Sweden,
Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Switzerland,
Esthonia, Brazil and other countries.
In the United States the largest OIL
shales are in the Rocky mountain
region, and belong to the Green river
formation in northwestern Colorado
southwestern Wyoming and north
eastern Utah. The Green river for
nation contains persistent beds up
to 4g feet thick that will yield at
least 35 gallons Of crude oil to the
ton. More thorough surveying aud