THE WORLD’S OIL.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4996, 5 July 1926, Page 2

THE WORLD’S OIL.

EXTENT OF SUPPLY. TO LAST A HUNDRED YEARS. How long will the world’s oil supply be sufficient for the ever-increas-ing demands ? From time to timet ’his absorbing question is brought to the public notice ; and the pronouncement mKde recently by Sir Richard Redmayne that the world’s supply of oil would not suffice for more than 80 or 100 years has given the question a still more piquant interest. Sir Richard addedt hat in 25 years’ time there would be no oil left in the United States. The other existing oilfields in the world are being rapidly exhausted- The yearly output from Mexico, second only to' the. United States as' an oil producing country, is this year 70 million barrels short of her output in 1922. Whence will the oil supplies of to-

morrow come ? Look for a moment at the world’s daily increasing need for oil, writes a London correspondent. The enormous increase in the number of motor vehicles in the world from 2,200,000 in round figures in 1914* to 20 1 ,500,000 in 1924 has brought us face to face with many problems. How long will the supply of motor fuel be adequate tor the constantly increasing number of motor vehicles ? And how long will it be obtainable at reasonable

prices ? In 1914 there were 1025 gallons' of petrol available per motor vehicle per annum; in 1924 there were only 550 gallons. The. increase in the number of vehicles per annum may be taken at an average of about 2,000,000, and taking 500 galenas per vehicle per year as a reasonable average, it follows that every yea,r ‘1,000,000,000 gallons more are, needed. In addition to this there is the continual increase in the number of ships using oil fuel. It is clear, therefore, that sooner or later, probably within the next few years', the curve of consumption will overtake and pass the curve of production of oil,