Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1937-02-13

ands of square miles of territory UNDER
lain by 500 feet or more of minable oil
shale, which will yield a barrel of oil
from three tons of shaIe. The cost of
mining retOrting and refining alone
will make that price necessary without
taking into account the extra burden of
amOrtizing the cost of the expensive plants
to be installed before production from
this source can become a significant
factor.
"HydrOgenatiOn of coal appears to be
a partial substitute, but can never by
anything more than a supplementary aid.
Proof of this lies in the fact that il all
of the coal produced in only one of the
last five years had been entirely used
to produce gasoline by the INCORPORATION
process, it would have yielded less than
2O5 of the gasoline used in that year.
Since, of course, we cannot divert any
large part of the coal mined from its
present usage, gasoline from coal offers
quantitatively a sorry substitute.
''OiI prices should rise within five years
to a point where substitutes can begin to
enter the production program, but the
high price must exist for about five more
years before industry viii be assured to
the point where the vast capital neces-
sary to build mining, retOrting and re-
filming plants will be released for that
purpose.
Mr.. Kirkham goes on to offer a
plan for conservation Of OIL But to
us the outstanding feature is this:
FORTUNATE is THE MAN WHO
HAS SOME OIL FOR SALE DURING
THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, AND IN
YEARS TO COME
Here sits an investor, owning oil in
underground storage. 1t costs him
nothing if it stays there. It costs
him nothing when it is brought to
the surface Of the ground The cost
of drilling may increase, but that does
not matter to him. The price of
crude may go up the royalty owner
will merely receive MORE for his oil.
Stop to think what we would do if
we were assured of such a situation
in WHEAT.
Would we not all buy wheat
FUTURES with all the money we have
and all we could borrowY
Does it not follow that the man who
today gets all the oil he can possibly
acquire IN UNDERGROUND ST0R-
AGE is the most fortunate investor
in the worldY
Here in Montana we are basing our
investments on a five-year outlook
and more. There is every reason to
believe that Kevin-SunburSt field will
be producing more oil five years from
now than it is today Five years hence
will see Cut Bank producing more
oil than it is today The development
of these fields has barely started. AS
the production of California declines,
Montana crude will come into demand
to supply Oregon, Washington and
Idaho
AS we see it, the Montana oil in
dustry is coming into the first period
of STABILITY in its history. It's
future is one of SECURITY, we be-
lieve If DIR. Kirkham is right-and
we know of none who seriously dis
agree with him--ANY oil in ANY
field in the United States will grow in
to something of great value in the
next five years.
Should we wait until five years from
now to invest?
Hardly. If any fortune is to be
made it will come from investments
made during the next year or So
possibly the next few months The
basis Of a fortune is in the BUYING
PRICE. Fortunes are in the making
in Montana today-before prices move
HIGHER