OIL IN WAR TIME.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXX, Issue 49, 14 October 1914, Page 7

OIL IN WAR TIME.

MR J. T HENRY’S BOOK. Mr J. D. Henry, iu Lis book on the' “History and ’nance of the Petroleum Industry,” says: “The Germans never have been, and certainly are not to-day, our masters in any branch of oil commerce and industry, and ,wo can sec this greatest of all wars through feeling absolutely certain that so far as the naval engineering methods of application are concerned, and on all vital questions affecting the supply and distribution of oil, we are the lucky possessors of a fairly safe, if not a considerable, margin of superiority.” In the course of 'his writing, Mr Henry points out that we certainly have Germany at a great disadvantage in the matter of oil supplies, ft is perfectly true that she has two small oilfields—one at Wietza, in Hanover, and tho oilier in Alsace, near Straslmrg, and not far from the French frontier—lmfc he gives statistics to show that they are of comparatively little importance. There is scarcely any prospect of German operators increasing the ‘production of the fields. On the other hand, the Germans have a firm grip on the oil trade and oilfields of Rumania, and they are importing Rumanian benzine in steadily increasing quantities. These me the fields in which, next to those of Galicia, Germany can place some reliance in case of war. If tho Rumanians stop tho supply at the source, it will he a serious matter for the Germans, for their supplies of all kinds of oil must bo depleted long before the end of [lie, war. There i.s no doubt that

Germany and Austria have large quantities of oil afloat, and some of these valuable cargoes are almost certtin to be captured. Mr Henry gives a number of rea-

sons why “the engineering staffs in our glorious fleet” should do well with oil fuel. We own the largest number of naval auxiliary tank steamers, and fully two-thirds of the oil-carrying vessels alloat carry the British flag. Wo start the war with large stocks of oil foe) and petrol at our naval bases, and practically unthrcatonod sea routes to and from the most important oil-exporting ports of allies and friendly neutrals. Our adversaries can only rely on one home source of any consequence the Galician oil fields which will probably he raided by the Russian army, some Cossack regiments- of which are already reported to he sweeping over the plains of Galicia. (A cable message has announced the capture of these fields by the Russians.)