Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-10-29

oIuio0iAS was SifCh ~ Dh1AtSc ~
Bowles, general manager of the Gladys
Belle Oil e Refining company, in his
talk Friday evening before the Ad club
at its luncheon meeting.
His discussion dwelt not only with
the production of oil, but also with the
immense part oil plays in the daily life
of a community. He also brought home
the tremendous growth in actual pro-
duction Of the industry in Montana in
six years and of the strides which it is
now making. His talk was concluded
with a plea for the same leniency to-
ward the oil industry in tax matters as
was shown every other one of Mon
tana's great industries during the years
of their growth, farming, manufactur-
ing, mining and public utilities.
Beginning with the growth of the in
dustry he told how Rumania produced
the first crude oil in commercial guam
titles in 1857 and of the industry's ire
mendous growth, especially IN the
United States, since that time.
Since 1859 production in the United
States jumped from a few thousand
barrels a year, from a few wells, to a
total for the 81 years Of more than
five billion barrels. This production
mi today from 258,OO wells, owned
by 10000 producing companies. VI
this production, 80 companies produced
one million barrels or more during 1870.
Transportation Problem
The next great phase of the industry
is the transportation of crude from the
well or the storage tank at the well to
the refinery for its change into 300 diff
ferent commodities. To handle the
production of crude oil there are $4,000
miles of main trunk pipe lines; 1880
miles of gathering lines or laterals con-
Meeting wells with the main trunk pipe
lines; $4,000 tank cars for railroad
shipments and 900 tank steamers with
Jos more building in 1921. The mile
age in pipe lines alone is sufficient to
belt the earth nearly twice.
Bowles showed that there is a sur
plus of refining capacity owe the daily
production in the United States. There
capacity of 1,SSO,OO0 barrels. The
daily production is slightly more than
1900 600 barrels which leaves a surplus
refining capacity, and, as the speaker
pointed out, "a good thing for the pro-
ducers."
In this connection, after discussing
the activities of the Illinois Pipe Line
company in the Kelvin Sunburst field,
Bowles predicted a refinery for the
field, to be located at the railhead be-
fore many years have elapsed. He
showed how a refinery springs up at
the end Of every big pipe line and his
illuminating comparison of the capa-
bilities of the Kevin-Sunburst field as
producer of crude oil brought home the
eventual need of a refinery for Mon
tana's newest and biggest field.
The Marketing Phase
The marketing phase is probably
most simply shown by the table repro
duced here from Bowles' chart used IN
giving his lectures.
The chart shows that oO-per cent OF
the oil is marketed. Twenty-four per
cent is sold as gasoline for AZ per cent
of the total oil income; kerosene, Il
per cent in quantity, nine per cent Of
the value; gas oil-fuel oil, 4S per cent
of the quantity, % per cent Of the
value; lubricating oil, six per cent OF
the quantity, nine per cent of the valie.
In this connection Bowles said that
the oil industry has attained the great,
est inter penetration of industry OF al
Industries. He explained how the TO-
600. 900 automobiles in the United
States last year used 80 per cent OF the
five billion gallons of gasoline produced;
Kerosene, once a nationally consumed.
product for use in lighting, has been
superseded by the electric light and IS
now seeking its way to light the homes
in foreign lands where electricity mas
not yet come into vogue.
Oil Fuel of Sea
Fuel oil is now the vital fuel OF the
navies and merchant marine OF the
world. The United States. France,
England and others are rapidly chang.
ing from coal to oil as a source OF
power for their navies, merchant ma
rine and industries.
The I~ubricating oil, which ONE from
crude. has no substitute. Without it,
none Of the engines of commerce or IN
dustry could run. Without the iubrl-
eating oil made from crude petroleum
electric lighting plants, freight cars,
locomotives, street cars, automobiles,
a%irplapes, battleships, elevators. air
compressors, mine hoists and shelters
would be Immediately shut down be-
cause there is no substitute for the
lubricating oil from crude oil.
The other commodities marketed by
refineries include medicines, drugs. light
oils, WAKES, candles and a long list OF
hydro-carbon products and b~y-products
which enter into many commercial
products and are used in hundreds OF
different industries.
What Is a Gusher2
In discussing actual production of
wells. Bowles brought up a point re
garding gusher wells. From the oil
mans point of view ''gushers" are
something to dream about and they &C.
cur on an average of once in 1000
successfully completed wells.
He showed that the oil wells of the
United States averaged in 1920 a pro-
duction of slightly less than five bar
rels a day for every producing well.
This was a production of 442, 929, 900
barrels of oil in 1920 from 25S.0OO
wells which averages 1,712 barrels each
DAY for the year or less than five bar |
-els per well per day.
= In Oklahoma the average was less
than six barrels per day, and in Penn
sylvania, where the oil industry re-
ceived its start, the average per well
per day for 1920 was less than one
a barrel.
If the worlds entire production of
crude oil from its beginning in 1857 to
the end of 1920 was impounded in one
reservoir, the reservoir would be 100
feet wide, 30 feet deep and 1000 miles
long. The, production amounts to
S .754,00O, 900 barrels, of which the
United States has produced 5,429. OOO.-
600 barrels, or 81 per cent; Russia
next with 1888, 900 900 barrels
or % per cent, while Germany has