The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1943-07-22
- LOOKING
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~ " GEORGE S. BENSON
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PETROLEUM

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Uncle Sam has an oil shortage to
worry about. This is not the first time
but surely it is the worst time one ever
developed. Our war machine will not
work without oil. On all previous
occasions when petroleum got scarce,
the prizes advanced and lured venture
some prospectors to the wilds to make
hole" and look for more. They call it
validating. But validating is not
active now because oil prices do not
likely locations and prices are not ris-
ing. They are caught under OPA price
ceilings.
A thumb-nail sketch Of the national
picture is this: Prospecting does not
pay. No matter how much undiscover-
ed oil there may be under ground some
where, producers must keep their drill
ing close to proven acreage when prices
are low. Unfortunately for everybody,
oil prices were depressed before the
war. When the government stabilized
prices in general, the oil price was away
down, and il has not been allowed to
rise since. Now the artificial restraint
is about to create a crisis; a crisis for
every ship and plane, ank and jeep in
u. s. service.
Hunting For Oil
Some oil producers are big corpora
tions. some are small companies and
some are private individuals. Big con-
Germs with enough capital to operate
on a large scale could (if priorities
permitted send drillers and tools to
many doubtful, scattered locations and
maybe strike oil in a few months. They
know however that hit-or-miss wildcat
ting costs more than It yields, even
records of oil prospecting in many
states for many years.
Big concerns, by the way, don't do
much validating. Many stockholders
make them conservative. They don't
take long chances. They buy wells
rather than drill them. When it comes
to finding oil. private individuals are
the champions. They locate more thar
half the new oil fields; have found two
thirds of known oil reserves. These
men are pioneers. They are not rich
and there are less than 20, 900 of them.
VI all producers. thesecan least afford
to wildcat at today's pegged prices.
Prices Too Low
1t is no guess that oil prices were
frozen abnormally low. The figures are
official. The u. S. Department of
Labor. for example, has chosen 1926 ca
good year for just about everybody
and called it 100 percent. Prices any
time are compared with 1926 as normal.
And after the first quarter Of l943 the
average all-commodity price was 104.0
percent. or 4 percent above 1926. Soft
coal, at that time was 1852, farm pro-
ducts 1928, lumber 1916 and wages
170.4 but oil. by government order, re-
manned at $50. This explains why wild
eating is off.
When future historians are seeking
to illustrate how a government bureau
can deadlock an industry and stop a
nations progress, this will be an ex-
ample. II was easy to do; just a mat
ter Of making it impractical for pioneers
to engag in private enterprise with
their W money; a matter Of holding
down the price of oil while letting all
the oil mans costs rise. Government
subsidy has been suggested by OPA
in recognition of needed relief. This
would be not only a ruinous blight to
oil production but a further threat to
private enterprise, the foundation of
American prosperity.
Killing Initiative
Government subsidy discourages in
dividual initiative in any industry, but
every taxpayer in America has good
reason to fight government wildcatting
on a basis of opposing wanton waste.
whether he is interested in private in
dustry or not. Think of the artless
parasites who would equality" as drill
ing contractors overnight if Uncle Sam
should assume the suggested &C 2-3
percent dry-hole losses.
Petroleum demand is at an all-time
high today because of war. and Wild
eating is the only known way of dis
covering the needed new fields. Pro-
ducers do not however need subsidy
nor any such tinkering as the farmers
have had to endure An increase in the