Evening star., 1931-10-09
MURRAY TO RAISE
OKLAHOMA OIL BAN
Says Price Still Too Low.
Threatens to Open Own
Filling Stations.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
OKLAHOMA CITY. october "a
pail of uncertainty over the oil indus
try of Oklahoma lifted today with ali
announcement of Gov. William H. Muir
ray that he would open the flush fields
of the State tomorrow morning.
Shut in since August under military
rule. the Oklahoma City and Greater
Seminole districts will be allowed to
produce under proration orders, al
though the military supervision will con-
tinue.
Murray's announcement of the OPEN
ing came last night upon the heels of
his threat to open Bill Murray filling
stations" which would sell State-refned
gasoline made from $l-a-barrel crude, if
such a step proved necessary to bring
them the ST top price he had demanded
for reopening.
Followed b. Other States.
What effect opening of the fields
would have on his proposed filling sta
ton program could not be learned as
the Governor declined to expand upon
his announcement at the time. The cur
rent top price is 70 cents barrel.
The Oklahoma executive was followed
in the shutdown movement by Gov Ross
S. Sterling of Texas and the Kansas
Public Service Commission.
The East Texas pool was closed by
National Guardsmen, and the flow from
Kansas wells was restricted for a time
as price-lifting measure.
Under a recent midcontinent agree
ment Oklahoma production will be held
within 446,000 barrels daily. as COM
pared to 550,000 before the shutdown.
Confer With Producers.
Decision to reopen the oil fields was
made after a conference by Gov. Murray
with bankers and producers. Opposi-
ton to the shutdown had been in
creasing for a week
Royalty Owners Protective Association
members last night heard j. Edward
Jones, New York royalty owner. attack
Murray'S methods as vicious usurpa-
tion of power" and assert that he had
''unimpeachable evidence" of graft and
corruption in the Oklahoma City field.
Whether the umpire system of ad-
ministrating proration will be continued
was not ascertained. Otto Bradford
Oklahoma City field umpire. has offered
his resignation along with statement
that without doubt" thousands of
barrels of oil have been taken from the
field illegally during the shutdown
Murray promised unless oil COM
panies take action" and abandon their
present tactics toward his martial law
shutdown of flush fields he'd whip
these highbinders" if the people sup
port him.
Already Has Trade Mark.
Predicting that 10 days would see de-
velopments, the Governor declared he
already had obtained use of two re-
fneries and had applied for trade
mark on the name "O-G. Co." for the
State filling stations, so no one else
will steal it." It means Oklahoma
Gasoline Co." he said.
He explained. 1T will be easy. if we
have the refneries. to let one oil stand
open up, unitiZe it, price the oil at 81
a barrel, pay the State tax, give the
royalty owners and others their residue
and go ahead. Then I'll open up the
filling stations and tell the people that
the O-G. o. is the Bill Murray filling
station
Murray said he was having "a hard
fight with the major companies-one
with headquarters in New York and one
called the Standard of Indiana'-to
gain higher prices.
Oil Official Laughs.
The Standard Oil of Indiana, he
charged, has taken over all of the Sim
clair interests, together with his GUS
sedness."
r S Ellison, president of the Stano-
lind Crude Oil Purchasing Co., Stand
ard of Indiana subsidiary, laughed when |
told at Tulsa of the Governors threat |
to go into the oil business
He doesn't know what he's getting
into now, although he has been in the /
oil business for some time" Ellison said /
IF Gov. Murray gets into the oil |
business he won't have time for any
thing else, judging from the way most /
of us are acting now"