PETROLEUM.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 225, 11 February 1913, Page 6

PETROLEUM.

f!ASOI.iX E—TIIK MODERX NECESSITY. If M'ciiN al;no-t iinhelieva!>lt> (says tiio Oil aml I '.'i - I ouriui I) that: then'' was once a tin" \v;\eu tht.' refiners unci nianu--1 petroleum products concerned i.licK:.-' 1 i'.'s seriously with finding a nutrket for the higher distillates. °At tin- ]>ri-.~t-nt times it is the higher distillate known as gasoline that is giving not. alone the refiners grave concern, but modem civilisation as well; but for quite :i different reason. Then it was how to find an adequate and profitable market for it. . For gasoline lias become the modern's ( necessity. An immense industry, has come into existence within the past two decades: it lias increased at a rate for which we search history in vain for a 1 parallel; in this industry a livelihood is found for a population greater than some of the nations of the earth; its capital vims into figure- that appal bv their simple magnitude; it affects every convenience and pleasure of the world; it is indissolubly linked with the onward mauli of c h ilisation and the progress jof humanity; and it rests—on gasoline. The present requirements of the <ra?o----110 'wve taxed the gasolme°supply almost to the limit. The chief faotor in the increased demand is. of course the automobile. X„w come the manufacturers of this vehicle with a statement that the number of machines in actual use will be increased bv 300.000'! during the year 1013. Manufacturers of' gasoline assert that a supply of the article to meet this increase alone is seriously questionable. If gasoline to operate these machines cannot be secured or if a substitute for gasoline cannot be found, then the automobile industry faces -a serious situation.

These, briefly, are the facts which the best posted men have in mind when they forecast 30-cent gasoline. The mysterious stranger of a few years ago has become a household necessity, the scarcity of which alarms the industrial world. '

XOTES. . The oil production of (he Baku regions ") October was 4J4.-i.O7S barrels. an in«oaSP of 107,203 barrels over the Soptcmbcr report. The daily average production for October was 133.741 barrels ■iiul in September 134,625 barrels, show- • ing a decline in the output for October. ! The average daily production for October

If the word '•'strenuous" had not already been coined it would be coined out of sheer necessity for some suitable term '> describe the present petroleum mar--0,-' T T'T 18,05 (savs the oil 0.«, Journal) has there been anvil,in. comparable to the almost sensational ad~ 10l"f * S lu,Ve Cllara ' te rised the year - f T. hp • voar closing has been nrofif il 1 T St , most profitable m the history of the industry but even so. the good year 1913 promises to be even more so.

York county (Pa.) farmers within a rad.us of miles have been driving to Conewago creek, in that county, and scooping up oil from the stieani into pails and barrels. This i« the remarkable scene that was witnessed lecently in America. The secret is explained by the fact that a leak in the pipe.line of the Pure Oil Company where it crosses the creek spread about 500 barrels of oil over the surface of the Water.

The Barhadoes Covemment has passed L t a 'e'° risill " the An tf°-Mexicaii odiicts Company to construct and maintain a fuel-oil s „p p ] v ~t ation at Bridgetown, giving the company the exclusive privilege for a period of 25 years from the date of passage of tile' Act. ilns monopoly, however, is confined to imported oil. which is not to be sold except for the purpose of fueling ships, and is to be admitted free of duty It is the company's intention to erect a chain or fueling stations from St Thomas. Danish West Indies, through the West Indies and along the east coast of South America.

Broad fields for the oil trade remain piactically untouched. China, for instance, holds millions of people who do not know what, kerosene is. America is now developing a market there under the supervision of her export departfor 35 cents a gallon, and the supply at that price is not sufficient. The price is bound to advance in face of the increasing demand. There has yet to be a fuel disco\ercd for the internal combustion engine that will take the place of gasoline at anywhere near the price. ° Denature! alcohol at 50 cents a "allon is the cheapest substitute. Recently an oil tractor has been perfected which uses kerosene, and a further adaptation of motive machinery to this fuel is probable in the near future. The demand for crude oil has been materially increased m recent years because of use on roadways.