The Washington times., 1923-08-16
MARYLAND FLAYS
PETROLEUM
Waste
Country Robbed Of Oil to Be
Bought Back Later, Says
Big Producer.
BY w. s. COUSINS.
Copyright. 1928. by Cosmopolitan
News ServicAl

| News Service.)
NEW YORK, Aug. Is. THE
precious reserves Of crude. petro-
leum, zone Of the most valuable of
the natural resources of the Ameri-
can continent. are being robbed to-
dayGin the mad competition Of oil
producers to bring their oil to the
surface and force it on an already
glutted market"
single problem in the great oil in.
| dustry, today in the opinion of e.
w. Marland, president Of the Mar
land Oil company, one of the most
prominent Of the independent oil
companies of America.
Marland is in New York as chair
man of the fact-finding committee
appointed at the recent meeting of
the National Marketers' Association,
and with his staff, is making an
exhaustive study Of producing, re.
filming and marketing OIL, He. will
consider. the interests of the con-
surnerE as well as the oil companies,
with special reference to the con.
servation OF existing oil reserves.
/ Many Losing Money.
Marland pointed out that the small
! producer of oil is marketing his
product at loss, that oil reserves
are being rapidly depleted and that,
| as a result of the short-sightetf poll
cies now being pursued in the in
duStry, consumers will eventually
pay much higher prices than they
would under the operation Of sane
conservation program.
"The small oil producer" said
/ Marland, "is producing oil at loss.
| and it is obvious that he cannot
continue to do so indefinitely. Some
| OF them have been borrowing money
in the hope Of higher prices, but il
they are forced ultimately to abaIl.
| don their efforts the public will
suffer the loss Of one Of its greatest
| natural resources.
THE American and British public
are receiving cheap joy ride at the
expense of the American producer,
and eventually the American public
will pay the bill"
At the present time. said Marland,
this country Is producing and
using up, in domestic consumption
and exporting over 100000, 900 bar.
rels of oil year, At that rate,
according to the best guessers Cn
potential. oil reserves in this coun-
| try (the geological survey at Wash
| ington), our resources of nine bill
lion barrels. will be exhausted in
twelve years. .t,
Must Buy Later On.
at Is almost certain. Of course,
that new pools will be opened up.
but in my opinion 1t Is absolutely
impossible to keep up the present
rate Of production for another five
years. I will stake my reputation
as an Oil producer that, within the
lifetime of a Ford car. we shall be
| buying back from foreign countries,
at considerably higher prices, the
same kind of oil products with
| which we are flooding their mar.
kets today.
Take the British oil situation al
an example. The oil companies II
the United Kingdom have refinerie.
! capable Of meeting all the require
ments Of the British public, and pro
| life sources Of crude oil in Persia
| Yet they are conserving their owr
oil while making use of the gasoline
shipped them from America at ruin
Gus prices-and every barrel we sci
them at low Prices and at a sacri
flee of our reserves, will come
back to US later on, at double Of
perhaps treble the prices they are
paying US today"
When his attention was called Il
the comparatively low price a.
which gasoline was being offered fol
sale in some parts Of the country
Mr.. Marland replied that in this
as in other matters, the public wa
thinking solely of today's necessitie.
rather than those of tomorrow. I'll
the American public secure today's
gasoline supplies at Is cents a gal
lon," said Mr.. Marland, lit will pay
a good deal more than 20 cents 6
gallon for it next year. The Amer
lean people have created an expand
ing appetite for petroleum products
that Is far beyond the ability of
oil producers to supply, except al
prices that will permit them a fan
| margin of nrOfif.n