San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-08-05
OUTLOOK IS
BRIGHTER FOR
OIL INDUSTRY
General Opinion Is Tide
Has Turned Despite
Flood of Oil.
OUTPUT SOME GREATER
Daily Average Output Of
U. S. Fields Now
2,289,705 Barrels.

While the flood of oil continues
from the light oil areas Of the United
States it is now the general opinion
that under the present system OF PRO-
ration and curtailment the tide has
been turned and the next GO days
should see the industry on the road
10 recovery.
Figuring on the basis of the law Of
supply and demand the crude situation
has already shown some improve
ment. On the consumption side of the
ledger there is 80 days of the heaviest
motor fuel demand yet ahead of the
industry. August gasoline consump-
ton for 1922 broke all previous rec
ords and indications are that the
present year will even surpass the
high figures of year ago.
AS a result of the many shut down
programs recently launched we have
on the production side of the ledger n
materially improved condition with
the belief held by Il large number OF
the larger operating officials, that the
first of October will find the daily out
put of the country at greatly re-
duced figure.
Decline Is Checked.
During the last week. as a result Of
flush production at Powell and the
field test being made at Salt Creek,
the downward tendencies OF the pro-
duction column were temporarily
checked. With n daily recovery from
all fields during the week averaging
2.2S9. 705 barrels, gain of more than
10000 barrels is reported over the
preceding seven days.
But in spite of this increased out
put, coming at time when eurtail-
ment efforts were at their height,
much encouragement is found in the
individual production report of the.
various districts. Oklahoma. thsN
mainstay Of the Mid-Continent. has
again dropped below the half million
barrel day mark and reports troI
the fields Of that state indicate tn
further reductions can be expect
from now on. The state had dai
recovery OF 4S4.S50 barrels last wed
as compared with more than a2p-ou4
barrels for the first week in July.
Refiners Close Plants.
In this section some encourage
mcnt is also noted in the action de-
cided unon by the major refining in
terests in shutting down all operations
for n period of several weeks. Some
plants are reported already TO have
ceased operations and others are
scheduled to follow Immediately. This
action is directly creditnble TO the
| meeting Of al branches of the indie
pendent industry in Chicago last week
and the subsequent meeting OF the
| Western Petroleum Refiners' Associa-
ton in Kansas City during the last
seven days. While no concerted action
was announced at either of the meet
ings. it was officially stated by a
large number of Mid-Continent re-
finers that their plants would be
closed until an Improvement was
shown in the price structure.
Rumors Of peak production in Cali
fornia are becoming louder and more
numerous each week and it is now the
consensus Of opinion the state has al
ready started on its downward road.
Sore Spot Disappears.
The new field OF Corsicana-Poweil,
which for a while threatened the stu
alton, has now developed some trouble
from water and number OF the
largest wells have ceased to flow. This
water trouble further encroached on
the light oil district to the SOUTH
west during the past week and indicn-
tons are that the field must be long
and narrow with a westerly trend.
Just what the cut oil situation Will Do
in a way Of lowering the output O
the field as a whole is uncertain but
few of the wells on the north side
are now flowing without the aid q
| pump.
The Salt Greek field test was re-
snonsible for the largest increase
shown in the report from the Noun
tain States district but the finishing
Of the test will find these figures bacv
around their previous mark.
Practically all work in the field OF
the eastern sections has been sus-
nended and that district shows little OF
| importance.