Oil Power

fields, crude, oils, supply, fuel, production, coal, products, deposits and output

Page: 1 2

Let us review briefly the fundamental factors in this question of supply. Economies to be effected subse quent to the raising of the oil are merely contributory ; the most important aspect of the matter is the duration and extension of the natural resources available. Oil as a commercial product has been in existence for little more than fifty years ; its recognition and application as a power producer has a history of only half that period. It is this latter development which has deter mined the great increase that has occurred in oilfield exploitation and supplies. During the past twenty years quite a number of new prolific sources of supply have been added to the list, and it may be advisable to set these out in some detail in order that a more stable perspective may be gained of the question as a whole. In the United States, the pioneer and premier of petroleum-producing countries, we have the following remarkable record— It is quite true that the Pennsylvania and Ohio fields are coming near the point of exhaustion, but this fact throws a powerful light on Nature's capability of more than recouping her failure in some directions by a most prodigal supply in others. Outside America, there are the widely scattered examples of Borneo, Mexico, Persia and Egypt. The development of the Borneo fields is one of the romances of the petroleum industry and Mexico follows it very closely for its astonishingly rapid rise in so short a period. Here are the figures— These tables deal with only those fields which have come into prominent production during the last twenty years, and do not take into account the established sources of supply which have, in many cases, shown considerable expansion and arc capable of being more widely extended. In addition to these, however, there are known dept)sits of unestimated yield which have either been but slightly tapped or have, up to the present, remained untouched. Among these are the vast oil-bearing tracts located in the South American Republics ; the unexploited districts of Russia and the extension of those already opened up ; the numerous undeveloped resources of the British Empire, of Mesopo tamia, of China, of Madagascar, and Algeria, and in addition there still exist as yet untouched the bituminous shale deposits of France, Serbia, Spain, New South Wales, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, etc.

In the year 1910 the world's crude oil production amounted, in round figures, to 327,500,000 barrels ; in 19'21 the output had increased to approximately 760,000,0(X) barrels, showing, as between these dates, an advance of over 130 per cent. The figure for the latter year must, of necessity, be approximate, inasmuch as it is possible only to include Russia, Rumania and Galicia as estimates. A table is given on page 6 of the crude production of the world's oilfields for the years 1910 to 19'21 (1 1,000 barrels).

It is interesting to note that of the total increase between the years 1910 and 1917 more than two-thirds were derived from the four new large sources of supply, which were brought into substantial production during the last twenty years. At the same time, the European fields were practically eliminated from the world's supply though their capacity of output, which was being more thoroughly exploited before the war, remains, as far as one knows, of the same extent. Another feature which has an important bearing on the fuel question is that the character of the oil obtained from the large areas brought into production during the last twenty years is such that the yield of fuel oil is higher than that of the older fields. This is true more especially of the Californian and Mexican petroleums, which, being heavy oils and yielding a small proportion of the lighter products are very suitable for use in oil fuel apparatus and engines of the Diesel type and those designed especially to consume the heavier oils. The table appended indicates the petroleums providing the largest quantities of fuel oil per cent together with the totals available from the fields referred to Thus from these fields alone the supply of fuel oil amounts to a total of 250,000,000 barrels or, approx imately, 34,444,000 tons, a provision which is being extensively increased every year. These figures can only be estimates, though they give some idea of the available supply, while another 50,000,000 barrels, or about 7,000.000 tons, may be relied on from the fields not included in the above table. The oils from the fields detailed above are also those possessing the highest calorific value among the world's petroleums, a feature shown in the following table— Apart from the advantages of oil over coal in numerous directions, its calorific value is considerably higher. For instance, the best South Wales steam coal yields only 15.000 B.T.U's. per lb.. Yorkshire coal 14.500, while other English coal of high grade yields only from 11,000 to 14,000 B.T.U's.

The crude petroleums obtained from the various fields differ considerably in character. These may be

divided into two main categories—those having a paraffin base and those having an asphalt base. The former are the more valuable crude oils, possessing a larger proportion of light products ; the latter yielding smaller quantities of these and a large quantity of heavy oils. The crude oils, from which a high precentage of light products are obtainable, are worked for securing these, their market value being greater and more profitable to the producer, These paraffin crude oils found chiefly in the Appalachian and Mid-West fields of America, in Rumania, Galacia, Russia, and one or two other sources, arc so rich in the more valuable products that the residue suitable for fuel oil is not sufficiently plentiful to be regarded in the refinery. It is, therefore, to the younger fields that we must turn for supplementing our supplies of fuel oils suitable for burning under boilers and for the Diesel type of engine. Outside America, which provides nearly 70 per cent of the crude oil of the world to-day, there are few prolific deposits the crude oil of which is capable of yielding large quantities of the lighter products. I am not speaking of the percentage yield of the oil itself, but of aggregate quantities. The deposits of Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, the richest oils of America, are all indicat ing the approach of exhaustion. The output of Pennsyl vania in 1919 was little more than one fourth of the figure representing production in 1882 ; Ohio shows a decline to one third of its output of 1896 ; West Virginia, a decline to approximately half of its output in 1900, while in each field the decline is marked by a consistent downward gradient. On the other hand, the fields which register an upward movement such as California, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, yield crude oils from which a com paratively small proportion of lighter proaucts are obtainable. The crudes of Mexico and Persia, the two younger and most prolific fields, fall under a similar cate gory ; they are essentially fuel oil petroleums. When, therefore, we hear alarmist reports of the possible shortage of supply, it is apparent that no discrimination has been exercised in studying the question, for a comprehensive survey of the position, of the unexplored and unexploited lands, of the possible extension of developed areas as well as of the potentialities of fields now producing, leads one to the belief that the oil deposits of the world have not as yet reached anything like their capacity of output. If these critics asserted that the deposits of crude, from which a large per centage of the lighter products were obtainable, were showing signs of exhaustion, they would have a certain amount of evidence on their side ; but to bulk the whole oil resources of the world together, irrespective of description, not only is erroneous but displays an entire ignorance of the subject. For after all it is the deposits of crude oil which are the essential factor, and these are still in their infancy from the production point of view. An illuminating fact on this aspect of the matter is that of the oil lands of Mexico, which cover an area of 230.000 square miles, only SOO square miles having been exploited at the present time. Similar conditions prevail in other fields, though not in many cases to the same degree, but it may be asserted that there exists as good ground for a belief in the unreliability of coal supplies as for the uncertainty of oil supplies. It may also be contended that the wastage accompanying the working and distribution, apart from the actual burning under boilers, of the former is equally as great as the latter. Furthermore, the methods of winning, raising and transport of petroleum appear to offer greater possibilities of economy than those associated with coal, and many improvements have been introduced during the last ten or fifteen years which have undoubtedly conserved the oil resources of the world to a considerable extent. This movement is still in progress and methods will continue to improve, eliminating still further the wastage attending the production, transport and storage of oil.

A highly important experiment has been carried out in the oil fields of Pechelbronn, which may open up great possibilities in the direction of increasing the supplies of the world's oil resources. The process consists of driving galleries into an oil bed, which has been exhausted by borings. The originator of this, M. Paul de Chain brier, contends that the quantity of oil remaining in the bed after exhaustion by boring is still so large that it is a waste of this material not to endeavour to extract it by more modern means. This is probably true, and was indeed, proved at Pcchelbronn, but whether this method can be applied in other fields has been questioned by many high authorities. If, however, it could be applied successfully, the value of such a process would be inestimable.

Page: 1 2