PAPERS ON GEOLOGY AND GEOGRAPHY 201 



upon, and refiners began to see that the increasing demand 

 would necessitate the discovery of new production of high- 

 grade crude oil. Prices rose rapidly and at the present time 

 there are but few states in the Union where active prospecting 

 for new fields is not being conducted. 



PRICES 



During the latter part of 1914, Pennsylvania oil sold at $1.35 

 The same oil is now $2.35 per barrel. Kansas and Oklahoma 

 oils sold at 40 cents, and now bring $1.30 per barrel. Regular 

 Illinois oil sold until September 1st, at 84 cents per barrel, but 

 now commands $1.62. Oil from the Plymouth field, a newly 

 discovered area in the western part of Illinois, sold during a 

 large part of last year at 42 cents per barrel, but now sells at 

 $1.42. 



GASOLINE INDUSTRY 



Gasoline now costs the consumer 9 cents more per gallon 

 than in July, 1915. The steady decline in the production of 

 the high-grade oil at Cushing resulted in a demand for similar 

 oils from other parts of the United States and immediate high- 

 er prices for this product. Although stocks of crude oil at 

 the end of 1915, aggregated 45,000,000 barrels more than at 

 the beginning of the year, operators were holding their stored 

 product because of the certainty of higher prices. The con- 

 stantly increasing demand for gasoline is generally attributed to 

 the increase in the number of automobiles, gasoline engines, 

 and to a wider general use of this product. The domestic con- 

 sumption in 1915 was 25% larger than in 1914, and a similar 

 increase is expected for 1916. It is estimated that in 1915 there 

 were 2,100,000 automobiles in the United States. The manu- 

 facturers of these machines estimate that each automobile uses 

 500 gallons of gasoline per year, a total of 1,015,000,000 gal- 

 lons for automobiles alone, which represents a 77 per cent in- 

 crease in 5 years. All the other uses to which gasoline is put 

 probably increase the total amount used in the United States to 

 1,500,000,000 gallons per year. 



Two general sources of gasoline furnish the entire supply. 

 Distillation of crude oil for the lighter constituents furnishes 

 most of the present supply, whereas casing-head gasoline is 

 becoming more and more prominent. The latter product, 



