PETROL SUPPLIES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 September 1938, Page 9

PETROL SUPPLIES

DEPOTS IN NORTHERN CANADA. PRESENT DAY REQUIREMENTS. OTTAWA, Canada. Today, as never before, gasoline is closely associated with the march of civilisation in the northern stretches of Canada. Dotted through the Arctic and sub-Arctic are to be found caches of gasoline placed there for the convenience of aviators, prospectors, traders, fishermen and even native Eskimo and Indian trappers. With modern means of transportation by aeroplane or motor boat having supplanted, to a large extent, the canoe and the dog team, an ample supply of gasoline is required in the far north. Discovery of oil in the vicinity of the Arctic Circle has greatly benefitted' transportation and has eliminated, to a large extent, the necessity of shipping large quantities of gasoline to points throughout Northern Canada. Discovery Wells No. 1 and 2, near Fort Norman, today supply most of the needs of the north-western districts. These wells supplied 5,399 barrels of oil in the summer months of 1936 and 5,115 barrels in the corresponding period of 1935. Figures for 1937 are not yet available but unofficial reports indicate the output was considerably greater. The wells at Fort Norman are close to the junction of the Mackenzie River ' which has been the chief water route to the Arctic Ocean since before the white man came to Canada, and the outlet of Great Bear Lake the scene of extensive development of the pitch-

blend deposits from which radium is extracted. In the ever-expanding development of the more settled sections of the Dominion of Canada, the use of gasoline is playing an active part. The most recent a vailable, statistics show that there are fifty petroleum refineries in operation in the Dominion, with a combined capacity of 171,160 barrels of crude oil per 24 hours. Sixteen of these plants have cracking units with a total capacity of 77,700 barrels a day. While crude oil is obtainable from domestic wells in different parts of Canada, particularly in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, a large proportion of the requirements is imported in bulk from the United States and South America. Imports of crude petroleum in 1937 amounted to 1,361,348,312 gallons at a value of over 46,500,000 dollars. Other than imports from the United States which supplies the bulk of the crude petroleum received, Canada shipped in 130,212,279 gallons from Venezuela 127,827,124 gallons from Colombia and 92.858,130 gallons from Peru.