Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-22
FURTHER OIL PRICE
CUTS THREATENED
Independent Firms May Com
pei Large Producers to Re-
wise Schedules Again.
BY BENNETT WOLFE,
Associated Press stan Writer.


TULSA. Okla, October 22.--As inde-
pendent refining concerns continue 10
hammer away at the mid-continent
crude oil market, the threat Of . gen.
eral crumbling of the price structure
casts another shadow across the path
of producers.
While the first announced reductions
in prices had been anticipated because
of scattered sales OF oil at below posted
figures and drop in the gasoline mar
ket, oil men now believe that general
price cut may follow. They say that
other independent refiners will be forced
to follow the lower schedules and that
producers will not be able to shift con-
nections to the larger buyers because
the latter have been decreasing rather
than increasing their purchases.
Producers Explanation.
The ordering of lower price schedules
by several Oklahoma and Texas refiners
was explained by them as an attempt to
place their prices in line with refinery
revenues so they can at least break even
in their operations. In statements an
nouncing the reductions. they said
posted crude schedules had been out
Of line with the refinery market for sew
volved either do not produce crude oil
or their production is small when COM
pared to their total purchases.
Uncertainty as to the future of the
crude oil market had been felt for the
last few weeks, but did not become OF
direct concern to mid-continent refners
until the Champlin Refining Co. an
nounced reductions of from rs to 81
cents barrel for higher gravity grades
OF Oklahoma petroleum. Other inde-
pendent reflners followed with similar
actions in Oklahoma and Texas fields.
Limited quantities Of oil from the
Oklahoma City field previously had been
offered at prices below the posted
schedules Of the major purchasers. In
North Texas several independent re-
f1ners had been obtaining their crude
prices.
OIL Runs Reduced.
While the refining branch Of the Pc
| troleum industry has been engaged in
| a concerted move to restore stability by
| reducing runs of crude oil to stills and
| thereby bringing shrinkage In surplus
| gasoline stocks, refinery operatives now
are agreed largely that no general i'm
| provement may be expected in refinery
markets so long as indications suggest
an unsettled crude oil price situation.
0OiHS OF the responsibility 1Of the
present situation is laid at the door of
| the cut-price jobberS Of gasoline. Selling
at cut-rate stations, several such job
| bers have put into practice a plan of
asking for bids, with the result that
some sellers, anxious to move the re-
fined product, lower their prices to OBJ
tain this class of business.
While observers assert the position of
| the cut-price jobbers is not SO strong
as in the Summer months, they will not
venture an opinion as to what may be
the consequences Of this type Of COM
| petition.
On the other hand, leaders of the in
dustry, looking farther into the future,
| regard the reductions in the production
OF crude oil and its refined products as
factor that cannot fail to be reflected
in stronger market structure in 1881.
Calls Situation More Favorable.
The Sicily News. published by the
Sicily Oil Co., says in the current issue:
/ With consumption greater than last
| year, production much less and stocks
lower than In 1929, the crude oil situa-
ton Is much more favorable than 1t
has been for some time past"