18 THECUBAREVIEW 



In 1880 Manuel del Cueto drilled a well in search of petroleum on the San Juan de Motembo 

 farm, near the Palma River. During years it had been noted that in many places in that 

 locality, hydrocarbon gases issued from the soil, and this led Cueto to drill the well. After 

 many vain attempts he discovered at a depth of 95 meters a deposit of very pure naphtha, 

 which yielded 25 gallons daily. It is a colorless transparent liquid, very inflammable, leaving 

 no perceptive residue after combustion. Cueto opened another well at a depth of 248 meters 

 and discovered a deposit of najththa which produced 250 gallons daily. Another well is now 

 being drilled at the same place by a company recently formed in Cuba. Accroding to Mr. T. 

 Wayland Vaughan of the United States Geological Service, in the hills which surrovmd these 

 lands, such gases are plentiful. 



In June, 1893, the commercial agents of the- United States Government in Cardenas, 

 reported that petroleum of a superior quality had been found there and that it was more pure 

 than any of the raw oils imported from the United States. In November, 1894, another com- 

 mercial agent of the United States in Cardenas reported that the asphalt deposits near that 

 city could produce from 1,000 to 5,000 tons yearly. 



In 1901 Herbert R. Peckham, describing the asphalt fields east and south of Cardenas 

 mentions the drilling of a well by Lucas Alvarez in search of water, which, at a depth of 78 

 feet, yielded a water so full of oil that it was undrinkable. A second well gave better results 

 because the water had less oil. A few years afterwards Alvarez opened another well in search 

 of petroleum, and at a depth of 500 feet pumped 100,000 gallons of petroleum, which was 

 refined in his plant. This exhausted the supply. 



In Sabanilla de la Palma, thirty miles east of Cardenas, he saw several places with signs 

 of petroleum and reached the conclusion that seepages and wells inchoated the existence of 

 liquid asphalt of a varying density covering a district of 4,500 square miles. Near the city of 

 Santa Clara there is a petroleum field called Sandalina, which oil was analyzed by H. M. 

 Stokes, in 1890, who pronounced the oil very similar to the Russian petroleum. 



In the neighborhood of Sagua and Caibarien, in the northern part of Santa Clara, petro- 

 leum fields have recently been discovered and also in the southern part of the Province of 



Matanzas. 



We might mention places in the provinces of Pinar del Rio and Oriente, as in Mariel, 

 Esperanza and Cayajabos in the first, and Guiza in the second, where attempts have been made 

 to find petroleum, but with what has already been stated, sufficient evidence has been fur- 

 nished to demonstrate that mineral oil in Cuba has been known since the beginning of the 

 16th century. 



More recently, or in 1913, a well was drilled on the property of the Tropical Brewing Co., 

 near Marianao, on the Almandares River. At a depth of 718 feet a great quantity of inflam- 

 mable gas was found. This well was registered by the Company as the Compania de Gas 

 Natural y Petroleo of Havana, in the year 1916. 



Since then many other similar deposits have been found in the provinces of Havana, 

 Matanzas, Pinar del Rio and Santa Clara. 



To give an idea of the activity in this line, we give below a table showing the number of 

 asphalt and petroleum claims in the Island with the number of hectars constituting each one. 

 The greater part of these have been registered since the beginning of the mineral activity 

 mentioned above. In addition to these concessions there are still may others not yet granted. 



Claims of Asphalt and Petroleum Granted in Cuba up to the Slst of December, 1917. 



—A sphalt — — Petroleum — 



Number Hectars Number Hectars 



Province of grants of grants 



PinardelRio 32 4290 26 3623 



Habana 52 1327 35 5956 



Matanzas 38 1893 13 6003 



Santa Clara 62 3044 10 1571 



Camaguey 21 552 .... . ■ - 



Oriente 10 299 4 442 



Total 215 11,405 88 17,595 



