"Torrents of Oil."

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 39, 16 February 1914, Page 5

"Torrents of Oil."

JTHE INDUSTRY IN MEXICO. WORLD'S CREATEST OIL PORT. Mr W. 1). Hornaday, of Austin, (Texas, an American newspaper cor- . respondent now in Sydney, supplier the Telegraph with some interesting [particulars of the oil industry in 'Mexico, where he had spent 25 years. '"Mexico is the greatest oil-produc-jing country now," stated Mr Hornaday. "Even if the wells already down were allowed to run freely, and .facilities in the way of pipe lines and other things were provided—as well as a market—no place in the world could equal the Mexican production. The development of this industry reads like fiction. For years Lord Cowdray (he was then Sir Weetman Pearson) taxed his purse and patience endeavoring to find oil along the gulf coast between Tampico and jTuxpam (pronounced Tucepam). His I syndicate was the first to discover a •gusher,' about 10 or 12 years ago. It caught fire, and burned itself out in three months, and a fortune went up in flame and smoke. The well is now a boiling salt water geyser, covering an area of 30 acres, close to the shore of Take Tamiahua. There ire two large companies operating— Lord Cowdray's syndicate and that owned by American interests. It is iaid by some poeple that the com•K'tition between these oil syndicates was responsible to a great extent for the commencement of the revolution. The Principal Export Port. "Tampico is the principal oil exoort port of Mexico. It is fed with i torrent of oil. The field, so fails it has been proved, runs from a )oint about 20 miles from Tampico, jouth of the Tuxparn River, close on 150 miles along the Gulf Coast, and ■X tends back into the interior for, perhaps, 50 miles. A great deal of il is exported from Tuxpam. There s no railroad, but the oil pipeline uns along the river for a mile out it its mouth, and over the bar, vhere ii: is pumped into tank stearasrs. The oil does not flow by gravitation, and pumping stations are )laced along the line at different joints. One oil pipeline from Juan L'asiano to Tampico is 60 miles long, >nd there are three pumping. stations ■long its track. Big refineries have )een erected, one by the Pearson Oil Company, costing five million dollars. The Lord Cowdray Company has built one large refinery, and is erecting another costing about 2J million dollars. The great bulk of the oil is exported in a crude state, most of t going to Texas. It is used prin•ipally as fuel, and in Mexico it is ised on the national railway at the ate of about 10,000 barrels a day. A.II the railroads in Texas use oil 'uel. There is abundance of coal, but the oil is cleaner, and it costs ibout 2s a barrel. About three months ago there wera 'bout 15 million barrels of oil in storage in Tampico territory. Exportation is growing very rapidly, not inly to America but to Europe. Millions of Callons were Lost. The Lord Cowdray Company struck a well about IS months ago at Potrero del Llano. It ran well for several weeks, and its flow could not be controlled. Lord Cowdray was n Mexico City at the time, and be vent up to the spot to Supervise ipsrations. To assist him the Mexian Government sent 600 soldiers to selp in the work. An imemnse reervoir was built, and over 2,000,000 •arrels of oil were stored. Then it -ver flowed and ran along nearby gullies and streams. In this way milions of gallons were lost. Still the il flowed at a remarkable rate. It ould not be throttled. At last a huge iron cap was brought up and ventually the well throttled down to i flow of 5000 barrels of oil per day. t has been tested on several occaions when it was shown that, if reeased, the flow would be at the rate >i 110.000 barrels a day. Lord CowIray worked like a Trojan to get the veil harnessed. The output of the ul from this well is enormous, and f allowed to How at its fullest capacity would mean a return of £ll,)00 per day.

Oil-tanks liko Mushrooms.

When the oil fields of Mexico are 'irought into their fullest capacity rampico will lie not only a flourishing city, hut the greatest oil port in the world. On the hills there is an •ruption of oil tanks standing out like gigantic mushrooms, while in the river below are many vessels all hurrying for oil cargoes.