Evening star., 1942-07-14

The armies Of yesterday morsd on Their
oil. The essential ,par industries exist
This menacing situation, at least In
part, is man-made. There is an abun.
dance of petroleum products in this
Nation to supply its military and civilian
needs, and those of the United Nations.
The bottleneck causing this shortage is
lack of transportation facilities to the
most populous and highly industriallzed
section of the United States, and the
refusal of the authorities to utilize exist
ing transportation intelligently They
stubbornly refuse to allow increased oil
production through drilling OF new
wells in areas nearest the eastern states.
RELIEF CAN BE STARTED
IMMEDIATELY
Relief from these difficulties can be
commenced almost overnight by sus'
pending the 40-acre drilling requirement
in the shallow oil pools of the eastern
and central parts of the United States,
particularly the Illinois Basin.
Why is this not done'
That is a *e4.0o question.
M,6s Is regulation OF the Office OF
Petroleum Coordinator. issued originally
by OPM In one of It's dying gasps on
December %, 1941 1t limits the drill
ing of oil wells to one we'll to each 40
acres. 1t is applicable. by its own terms,
uniformly throughout the United States.
in utter disregard Of physical condi.
tions and the needs of war industry.
This order so written Is just as sensible
as would be an order Of the War De
partment requiring all uniforms for
draftees to be size 46, because size 46
uniforms fit some men, and all draftees
are men.
4 MAJOR REASON FOR THE
EASTERN OIL SHORTAGE
In six months MSS has caused oil pro
duction in the Illinois Basin, the great
est oil area east of the Mississippi, to
decline approximately 10000 barrels
per day. If continued, the decline will
total at least 100000 barrels per day.
The present decline represents from
"a to 1/3 of the shortage on the Allan
tic Coast.
MODERN MARIE
ANTOINETTES
The modern Marie Antoinettes" who
have direct charge Of oil matters are
desperately trying to find some method
of alleviating the shortage without re-
sorting to the simplest method offered
to them.
They prate of overall pictures" Tong
range viewpoints ultimate recov-
cries. barrels of oil per pound OF
steel and national reserves"
They apply rules which are as out Of
date today, in the face Of the Eastern
oil famine, as woman's hustle: while
at the same time the famine is increas.
ing in the East and will continue to
increase.
Like Marie Antoinette, when she offered
cake to a starving population, these
modern Marie Antoinettes seek every
method to prevent an increase of pro-
duction in the Illinois Basin. propose
pipe lines from oil fields to oil fields
and not from oil fields to markets, and
promise some relief in from six to nine
months. Anyone familiar with the oil
industry knows that these projects
cannot be completed in time for relief
in the East this winter
They, too, offer cake" to take the place
of bread by asking the people to keep
warm this winter on the "hot" thoughts
that by the winter of 1943-4 they will
have oil brought only as near to them.
as the Illinois Basin, through a pipe
line constructed for someone" by their
prodigal Uncle Sam a new wrinkle"
in the oil business. constructing a pipe
line from an oil field to an oil field, and
not from starving market to the first
available oil.
4 LIFE-SAIING
CONTRIBUTION
There is no need of waiting until 1943
for relief to the Eastern Seaboard. The
Illinois Basin can provide at least a
substantial portion of the much needed
oil products If the hand now choking
that great oil area is withdrawn.
There are thousands of proven 10-acre
locations in productive Oil fields in the
Illinois Basin consisting of Illinois, In
diana and Kentucky which can he
drilled quickly the moment M-68 is sIs.
pended in the Illinois Basin. Production
will Immediately be increased Nv the
coming OF winter that increase may
reach as much as 100000 barrels OF oil
per day.
A temporary expedient' Certainly!
What the Eastern Seaboard now needs
is temporary expedient while all these
longtime projects OF the OPC. designed
to clrcumvent the increased production
of oil in the Illinois Basin, are being
completed, none of which can offer re-
lief this winter.
TRI-STATE PETROL
F OR D EF ( N S <
Sam D. Jarvis, President. Allen K.