Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1939-12-30
ALL TIME RECORD


4
Congressional group. the Cole Com
mittee. has been conducting hear
ings on the Cole Bill. designed 10
effect federal control OF oil prOdue-
ton. The bin has been denounced
as unnecessary by many in the In
dustry and by state officials, and
was protested in a resolution of the
American Petroleum Institutes
board OF directors in November.
Consumption Up 5.5fo
Motor-fuel production in the In
dustry's AS refineries. which ran
1.23S,959. 0OO barrels of crude oil
in 1889, is estimated at 596.111, eco
barrels. a 7.2 per cent increase over
1888 domestic consumption OF mo-
tor fuel increased SIS per cent. 70
$50, 100000 barrels, while exports
dropped 10 per cent TO 46.163.O00
barrels; total refinery demand thus
was SIS. 10000 barrels, an increase
~ "A per cent.
Distillate Market
An estimated 1875, 000-barrel
domestic consumption and 33.4O7,-
l00O-barrel export demand for gas oil
and distillate fuel oil compares
with total 1889 refinery production
Of 162,4SO.00O barrels. Increases
Cf 1879 per cent in domestic con-
sumption. of 1877 per cent in ex-
port demand, and IL per cent IN
production over 1888. are indicat-
ed Chief users of this light fuel
oil. accounting for about 20 per
cent of the domestic total. are auto
matte domestic oil burners: 1t ia be-
| lieved 1.S6O,000 were in operation
in U. S. house-heating plants at the
end of 1889.
Production Gain 3.SeF
The producing branch Of the in
dustry operated at a 3.S per cent
higher rate than in 1888. crude-oll
production totaling an estimated
1.26O,099,000 barrels. This is
slightly lower than the 1887 all
time peak, however. Production in
other countries is believed to have
increased S.5 per cent to S17,532,-
600 barrels. making total world pro-
duction 2.077.631,000 barrels. The
U. S. proportion of the total dropped
fractionally to OF per cent.
Fewer Wells Drilled
The number of completed wells
was 1T per cent under the 1888
total. but revived activity in the
last quarter indicated an upward
trend in oil-well drilling. OF 1895
27.O3S completed wells. 1S,459
found oil and 2191 struck gas.
Stocks Are Lower
Stocks Of crude petroleum in
storage at the end of the year to-
tailed 237,825,0O0 barrels. down
he al
Der 81. 1898 total, and the lowest
year-end stocks since 1921.
Imports Up 27.7ao
The United States continued its
favorable foreign-trade balances in
crude petroleum with exports of
73,594,000 barrels, more than |
double the imports of 33,735,000 |
barrels; 1914 per cent of the imports |
were in bond for re-export. had no.
effect on domestic trade. The ex-
port total is Al per cent under 1885 |
while imports rose 27.7 per cent. q
Crude Prices Lower
Crude-oil prices, as indexed BY |
the 36-degree Oklahoma-Kansas
price, remained at $102 a barrel /
throughout 1899; no estimates Of /
the countrywide average per-barrel /
price are available, but It is expected /
to be lower than the 1888 average,
s113
Wholesale prices of petroleum
products again were lower than any
others reported by the U. S. Bureau
Of Labor Statistics: the estimated /
1889 index, based on 1926 as 100,
was $40 for petroleum products
srA oil m svr1f n N p
average index of 1877.
Gasoline Price Lower
Average retail gasoline price of
1880 cents a gallon in 1889 was
a six-year low. State, federal. and
local taxes averaging 5.44 cents a
gallon and equivalent to 40.9 per
cent sales tax, obscure the industry's
savings to consumers.
Total average cost. including taxes
was 1874 cents a gallon.
Taxes Pass Billions
Total 1889 gasoline-tax collec-
lions from consumers are believed
10 have reached s1.02S. 900 900. 4
being the first time the total has
passed the $1,000. 900. 0O0-mark.
The states collected 1912 900. 600,
the federal government $217,0OO,-
300. Other petroleum taxes. whose
numbers total more than 200, are
expected to raise the 1889 petroleum
ak bill on the industry and its GUS I
omers to 1855. 000, 900. about
$50. 0O0,0 900 more than in 1888. and II
he largest levy in the industry's Z
history. These taxes totalled more 6
han four times the industry's earn =
ngs. and accounted for more than {
10 per cent OF all takes levied in the .
Iation. ii
The average motorist, who used
bout 732 gallons OF gasoline in
$50, thus paid only 1876 for
uel, $3.50 less than he paid in 1925
Or $50 fewer gallons. Tax costs
q 1889, however, we're four times e