Evening star., 1927-10-10
USE Of GASOLINE
GROWING STEADILY
Huge Stores of oil Below
Ground Sure to Decline With
Increasing Consumption.
BY j. C. ROYLE.
Special Dispatch to The staI.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK. October 10.--The con.
sumption of gasoline today in the
United States has risen to about two
and a third times what 1t was FIVE
years ago. Leaders in the oil indus.
try said today that there is nothing
to indicate that this increase in de-
mand will be checked. Consumption
now is at the rate of about 100000
barrels of gasoline a day. If exports
to other countries are considered, the
drain on American supplies is well
over a million barrels day, accord
ing to officials of the Standard Oil
Co. of California.
There are scores Of millions of bar
rels of crude oil in storage as a result
of the huge flush production of the
Seminole field. One company alone
and that not considered a leader
in the industry--has 100000 bar
rels in storage. But when the flow
from the mid-continent field re-
turns to normal, as it is bound to do
sooner or later, the growing demand
for gasoline will assure speedy reduc-
ton Of these huge stocks of crude.
Nature to Reduce Output.
Whether the operators in the mid.
continent field get together or not,
nature will assure reduction Of flush
production, as the supplies of oil and
gas drawn off lessen the pressure
forcing oil above the surface
Never was the demand for gasoline
so high. For some years there has
been speculation as to when the sat
uration point of the automobile mar
ket would be reached. Now it would
appear that this Is never to take place.
The automobile industry is going right
ahead, turning out something like
100000 cars year in this country
and Canada. Replacement demand and
the improvement of highways are held
responsible for this condition.
The demand for gasoliIe has kept
pace with motor car production and
even outstripped it. The figures show.
ing consumption on the Pacific Coast
will give a fair idea of what it must
be for the country as whole. Daily
consumption has increased from 80, 1913
barrels Of gasoline to 1856 barrels.
Daily consumption plus exports for
that region has risen from 41,995 to
152 ,621 barrels.
Were II not for improved methods
OF gasoline production, the demand al
ready would have outrun the supply.
When gasoline first came into use it
was distilled product. Then came
the cracking" processes, by which
the crude oil was split into component
chemical parts under action Of heat
and pressure. Then was developed
the natural gasoline plants or casing
head plants in which the gasoline ex'
isting in the natural gas flowing from
oil and gas wells was saved and sold.
Natural Gasoline.
In all modern oil fields there are
huge fiuted wooden structures, shaped
like giant piano boxes, cleaning
white with a coating of lime salt.
These house the cooling coils Of the
casing head plants. The process is
not refining process. The gasoline
obtained is natural gasoline, which
until recently was considered unfit for
use as motor fuel because of its high
volatility and rapid evaporation. 1t
is. however. mixed with crude oil and
then refined. The raw fuel itself is pc
culiarly adapted for certain types of
airDlane engines.
Some Of the gas coming from an oil
well is mixed with crude oil from
which it is separated by means of
gas trap or gas and oil separator.
Other gas reaches the surface un.
mixed with oil, coming up between the
casing and the tubing. When the gas
from either source reaches the ex.
traction plant 1t is passed through
cooling coils and then brought in con-
tact with a light oil, which absorbs
the gasoline vapors. This oil is then
run into stills where the gasoline is
vaporized and then condensed into
natural gasoline. AT present the nat.
| ural gasoline production of the Call.
fornia fields alone amounts to 1926
600 gallons a day.
The effect on the petroleum indus.
try of the recent interest and stimulus
given aviation has been remarkable.
For example, the search by the Gov.
ernnent for the missing California.
Hawaii flyers involved the use of over
100000 gallons of liquid fuel.