CHARACTER AND COMPOSITION. Petiole ligRidl of varying color. being black. brown red, :Hither. or straW, and by reflected light often ap ptaring greenish in tint. The black oils in the :states are obtained from the Trenton linftstone of Ohio and from California; the Penn oils arc of amber tint. lu additimr to the hydrocarbons, Nvhieh are the chief constitu ents of petroleum, the following substances may be present : Solphur, nitrogen. hydrogen sulphide, carbon disulphide, arsenic, and phosphorus. The carbon percentage may vary from 71).5 to 88.7 per vent.; the hydrogen from 9.6 to 11.8 per the sulphur from ((.7 to 2 per cent., and in rare eases even 3 per cent.: nitrogen from 0,008 to 1.1 per cent. The hydrocarbons of all crude petro leums fall either into the fraraIlin or olefin group, those of America belonging chiefly to the first and those of Russia to the second group. The number of different members of the paraffin series present may be very largo; some Pennsyl vania oils, for example have yielded IS different paraffin compounds, as well as a number of sub stances belonging to the ethylene group. The hydrocarbons of the olefin series predominate in the Russian oils and many others. The composi tion of crude petroleum from a number of differ ent localities is given below: boniferous. the _latter being especially important in West Virginia. Four fields are recognized in Pennsylvania, the oil varying from amber to dark green. Ohio contains two districts. One of these, the Mecca-Belden field, is of minor importance; a second in eastern Ohio is a westward extension of the West Virginia area. The Lima-Indiana field extends from Lima southwestwardly into In diana, lying without the Appalachian region as usually defined. The oil here is carried by the Itento'n limestone of the Lower Silurian, the depth being about 1300 feet; it was first discov ered near Findlay, Ohio. The oil is dark and heavy and resembles the Tennessee and Canada oils in its sulphur contents. Farther south oil is obtained from the Carboniferous in eastern Kentucky and in Tennessee. While new pools are discovered occasionally in the Eastern fields, the most important developments in recent years have been in the Southwestern and Western States.
Oil has been found at a number of localitie. in the Tertiary rocks of eastern Texas, and several fields, including the Corsicana. Nacog doches, Beaumont, Elgin, San Antonio, and Sugar The gravity of an oil is most commonly ex pressed in the degrees of thwIlaunul (13.) scale, on which water has a specific gravity of 10 degrees. The oils from Allegany N. V., run from 38° to 41° 11.; from Vona ngo County, Pa.. 46° to 48° B.; Warren County. Pa., 43° B.; Lima County, ()bin, 36° to 38° 13.: Florence, Colo., 30° 11. Russian oils overage about :12° B. The lighter oils yield a better quantity of illuminants, while the heavier ones often serve well for lubri cating purposes, etc. On exposure to the air many petroleums lose their more volatile con stituents and change to at viscous or even solid rondition reseinbling asphalt. The lighter col ored varieties are often quite liquid, while the black or dark oils may be slightly viscous. The temperature at which crude petroleum solidifies ranges from 82° F. in some Burma oils to several degrees below zero in certain Italian The flashing point may be equally low in the lat ter. but in others found on the (fold Coast it rises as high :as :170° E. The boiling point likewise shows considerable variation, from 180° F. in some Pennsylvania oils to 33S° F. in certain oils found at Hanover, Cermany.
DisTemtilim The most noted and most productive field in the States is the Appalachian, which extends along the west ern slope of the Appalachian Mountains. from southwestern New York (and eastern Ohl()) through western Pennsylvania into West Vir ginia. Kentucky. and Tennessee. The oil-bearing sandstones are partly Devonian and partly Car Lake, are now being exploited. The first men tioned supplies both light and heavy oils. which I are obtained from depths of 1150 and 1175 feet re speetively. The first well put down in the Beau mont field yielded 75,000 barrels of oil a day, spouting the liquid in a six-inch column to a height of 160 feet: nine days elapsed before the flow was brought under control. The Beaumont oil is a dark asphaltic oil with much sulphur. and is obtained at a depth of 1000 feet. Petroleum has also been discovered in western Louisiana. especially near .Jennings. where it is found at a depth of 1800 feet. Southeastern Kansas and northeastern Indian Territory produce some oil from the Cherokee shales and sandstones of the Carboniferous. In Wyoming petroleum occurs in IS scattered fields, and in formations ranging from the Upper Carboniferous to the Upper Ter tiary. but mostly in those of Mesozoic age. The Cretaeeous sandstone at Florence, Colo.. yields a heavy oil which resembles that of Wyoming in being valuable as a lubricant. Oil has also been obtained in moderate quantities at Boulder. Colo. It is obtained at depths of as much as 2850 feet, and has a gravity of 42.5° B. California con tains several oil fields in the southern part of the State. The rocks are of Cretaeeous to Neocene age. The oil has an asphaltic base, and is chiefly valuable as a fuel. Petroleum is also known to occur in Washington. x\rizona. New Mexico. Mon tana, and Utah. A moderate amount of oil is ob tained from Lambton County, Ontario. at a depth of 400 to 500 feet. Cuba is known to have at least small supplies of oil. and a limited quantity has been exported from Porto Rico. In Mexico active exploration has been carried on at several points in the Gulf Coast region with the result of finding supplies of good oil around Tampico. It has an asphalt base. Of the South American countries, Peru is the most important petroleum producer, most of the output coining from the Zorritos field. Petroleum is also said to occur in Venezuela, Argentina, and Ecuador, hut it is not taken out of the ground to any extent.
Russia is not onlythe most important foreign pro ducer of petroleum. but the largest producer in the world, the fields in the Baku region of South eastern Russia supplying enormous quantities an nually. The greater part of the output comes from the Baku field proper, although important quantities are obtained from the Gro.ni field, 500 miles north of Baku. Rumania contains several promising oil fields, which occur in the same for mations as the Russian fields. In Germany oil is obtained near Hanover, and also in Alsace, while some is supplied by the Carboniferous rocks of Great Britain. but does not begin to supply the local demand. In Japan petroleum is obtained on the northwestern coast, and some of it is refined. The crude material sometimes yields 00 per cent. of illuminating and lubricating oils. A high paraffin oil is found in Java, and Sumatra, Borneo, and the Burma field of India are important producer.. While petroleum is known to occur in the Philippines. little is ob tained, and that by primitive methods; the isl ands of Panay, Leyte. Guimaras. Negros, Bohol, Mindanao, and Cebil all carry some petroleum.