OUR PETROLEUM RESOURCES—PRATT 303 
The earliest historical records of the Near East refer to bitumen, 
burning springs, eternal fires, and other phenomena which unmistak- 
ably indicate petroleum and natural gas escaping at the surface. In 
modern times this region has developed the outstanding petroleum 
reserve of the earth, Russia’s greatest oil fields are situated here, as 
are the famous oil fields of Iran and Iraq, owned largely by the British. 
Arabia, where exploration was undertaken for the first time by Ameri- 
cans only a few years ago, has already built up very large proved re- 
serves of petroleum, and undoubtedly other important discoveries will 
follow. The important oil fields of Egypt and Rumania fall within 
this area. 
Next to the Near East in importance are the environs of the Gulf of 
Mexico and the Caribbean Sea in the Western Hemisphere. Around 
the northern shore of the Gulf of Mexico are situated fully one-half 
of the total proved reserves of the United States. The tremendous 
past production of Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela has come from 
the land fringe along the western and southern margins of this region. 
Further exploration in all these countries is certain to yield many new 
discoveries. vg 
In the shallow depression between the continents of Asia and Aus- 
tralia in the Far East are the great oil fields, owned largely by the 
British and Dutch, on the large islands of Borneo, Sumatra, Java, and 
New Guinea. 
If we accept the prewar estimates of the Russians that their proved 
reserves of petroleum are of the order of 45 billion barrels, the total 
proved reserves for the earth may be safely placed at somewhat more 
than 100 billion barrels. Fully 90 percent of these proved reserves 
lie in these three intercontinental depressions, and it is generally con- 
ceded that these regions also include the best territory by far for 
further exploration for petroleum. 
There is a fourth great depressed segment of the earth’s crust be- 
tween continents which, except for the forward-looking Russians, has 
escaped any real consideration so far by the world’s petroleum indus- 
try. This region lies between the continents of North America, Eu- 
rope, and Asia. It covers the North Pole and is occupied by the Arctic 
Sea, a land-locked body of water into which sediments have been 
transported by the streams draining three continents throughout much 
of geologic time. We are accustomed to think of the waters covering 
the North Pole as the Arctic Ocean and our maps commonly designate 
them as an ocean, but they are in reality a land-locked sea, a fact long 
recognized by the Russians and other European peoples. 
Evidences of petroleum are conspicuous at many places along the 
coasts which encircle the Arctic Sea. Near Point Barrow in northern- 
most Alaska there are copious oil seepages. At Fort Norman, 65° 
