PETROLEUM 



4615 



PETROLEUM 



of the liquid in the retort as the distillation 

 proceeds. At the lowest temperature naphtha 

 and benzine are obtained, then gasoline, fol- 

 lowed by kerosene. The last-named was once 

 the most widely used and the most valuable 

 product of the distillation, but gasoline is in 

 <uch inrr-a>ing demand that it has reached first 

 place, and kerosene is accumulating in vast 

 quantities, without an adequate market. But 

 n products are not all, for from the re- 

 maining contents of the retort we obtain lubri- 

 4 oil. vaseline and paraffin wax, and the 

 ill remaining is made into coke. 

 Over 200 different commercial products are ob- 



1 from petroleum. 



Transportation. The oil refineries are lo- 

 l at or near great centers of the industry. 

 Oil i Tt.l from the oil fields to these 



iirou^li lines of iron pipe, or "pipe 

 died in the trade. More than 

 25.000 miles of these lines are in operation in 

 I'nited States; could all of them be put 

 together they would form a line encircling the 

 i at the equator. From the refineries kero- 

 sene and gasoline are distributed to various 

 - of the country in tank cars, which are a 

 common sight on all railways. Every city and 

 i of importance has an oil station, consist- 

 closed iron tanks filled with the 

 different products, and from these the contents 



United 

 States 

 81 



Rumania 

 12. 



Russia' 

 ' 68 



East Indies 

 \Z 



India 

 7 



Figures Represent Mil lions of Barrels 



OIL PRODUCTION I'.Y COUNTRIES 



age annual 

 ti'ui for a period of flve years. 



i >iitcd to local dealers. Oil is shipped 



i countries in tank steamers, con- 



d especially for the purpose. 



Production. Petroleum i> found in all parts 



of the world, but mo>t of the world's supply is 



of Baku, around 



ih" Caspian S sja, and in the Unit, d 



ich leads in the production. In aver- 

 age years tin- yi. Id in the United States is 

 281,000,000 barrels, of i gallons ea 



The five leading states, in the order of their 

 oil production, are Oklahoma, California, 

 Texas, Illinois and Louisiana. West Virginia, 

 Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana were also im- 

 portant producers, but these fields have been 

 worked so long that their supply is becoming 

 exhausted; Pennsylvania for years led all states. 

 The oil fields of Canada are located between 

 lakes Erie and Ontario, in the province of On- 



OKIahoma 

 98 



Louisiana 

 18 



California 

 87 



Illinois 

 19 



West Virginia 

 9 



Figures Represent Millions of Barrels 



STATE PRODUCTION 



The yield in each instance is the average an- 

 nual production during a five-year period, ending 

 in December, 1915. 



tario. They produce about 230,000 barrels a 

 year. To encourage the local industry the 

 Dominion government pays producers a bounty 

 of one dollar per barrel. 



Uses. We are all familiar with the use of 

 kerosene for illuminating purposes, of gasoline 

 for furnishing power to motors and of benzine 

 for cleaning; but there are many other uses of 

 petroleum products with winch we are not so 

 well acquainted. In the Pacili 

 eially, crude petroleum is used for fuel in loco- 

 motives and in furnaces of steam boilers. It is 

 also used in all sections for oiling roads to pre- 

 vent dust. Lubricating oil obtained from pe- 

 troleum has practically driven animal and \ 

 table oils out of the market for this purpose. 

 Vaseline i> i-xt-n>ively u>ed as a toilet article 

 and in medic. :iin is used for candles. 



and mod "ly in the manufacture of 



wax paper. 



History. seen that petro- 



leum was known tg the Indians. Il was known 

 io the ancients centuries before America was 

 d. The slime and pitch mentioned in 

 tin- Hiblr were forms of crude petroleum, and 

 ni ilnM- timi > it was used as a cement. 



first oil well in the United States was 

 sunk by Col. E. L. Drake at Tifu.-ville. 

 and oil wa> found August 28, 1859. This was 

 the beginning of the petroleum industry in the 

 I 'mtcd States. Drake's well yielded 2,000 bar- 

 rels the first yen and the oil was sold at $20 a 

 barrel Within a short time hundreds of wells 



