OUR PETROLEUM SUPPLY MISER 305 



transportation, refining, and marketing divisions — of the petroleum 

 industry totals about $14,000,000,000. 



EARLY DEVELOPMENT AND USES OF PETROLEUM 



Before 1859 petroleum and its associated hydrocarbons had been 

 used by the peoples of many lands for at least several thousand years 

 before the Christian era. Seepages and hand-dug pits and shafts 

 provided the entire supply of these materials, except in India and 

 China where oil was obtained from drilled wells. The Chinese, by 

 sinking wells to depths of 1,500 to 2,000 feet for brine, oil, and gas, 

 were recognized as the ancient world's most accomplished well 

 drillers. 



The early uses for petroleum and its products were many, as will be 

 noted below. 



Asphaltic pitch was used to waterproof the ark of Noah, the cradle 

 of Moses, and the cisterns and silos of ancient Egypt and Mesopo- 

 tamia. Also, it was used by the Egyptians in the process of mummi- 

 fication. Asphalt was used as a mortar in the construction of Nineveh 

 and Babylon and also in the buried cities of Ur, as early as 4000 

 B. C. Oil from Sicily was used by the Romans to light the temple of 

 Jupiter, and many centuries later flame throwers fed by naphtha 

 were employed against the Crusaders when they stormed the walls of 

 Constantinople. Petroleum was distilled into products of commerce 

 at Baku as early as the eighteenth century; oil was there used in 

 lamps and also was utilized for cooking in 1723. In Rumania the 

 exploitation of oil by shafts dates as far back as the second half of 

 the sixteenth century. To Rumania is ascribed the first recorded 

 volume of output of crude petroleum. In 1857 that country pro- 

 duced 1,977 barrels, and since then it has an unbroken record of 

 production. 



The early American Indians were familiar with natural petroleum 

 seepages. They set their mosaics in asphaltum; they used it as an 

 adhesive substance; they lined their baskets with it; and they had 

 great faith in petroleum for performing all manner of cures. 



Oil and gas were known and used before 1859 in many other coun- 

 tries. A search and study of the literature concerning their recovery, 

 transportation, treatment, and utilization before that date reveals a 

 fascinating story of the progress of human civilization. 



At the beginning of the nineteenth century, when the supply of 

 whale oil for lighting needs was dwindling, the world was faced with 

 the necessity of finding a reasonably priced substitute for it. This 

 necessity stimulated the research — already being conducted — in the 

 distillation of oil from coal and shale. Paraffin was extracted from 

 both bituminous shale and crude petroleum in France in 1830. Bum- 



