PETROLEUM 



ixiu\.\ N;M < noN 



.mgyaung, the best kn<>u i, and most developed of the fields, still Timyai> 

 holds the lead as producer. The oil in this area has been worked by N . 

 wells on both sides of the dome for well over one hundred yean, and before 

 1886 the animal yield was grmerally over two million yiillonn, but soon 

 after systemutie drilling was introduce<l in the central Kodaung tra> 

 1887, the output gradually rose to over 10 million gallons in 18'.' < .st rwd. 



1903, reached a record of 56,920,662 gall* I L904 the ou1 



of Yenangyaung was 73,428,960 gallons, and in l'J06, 85,648,749 gallons. 



'' YeniiiiL-yut yielded very small supplies of petroleum before 1891, ToMrt 

 when drilling was started by the Burma Oil Company. The expansion 

 was slow until 1894, when 324,086 gallons were produced, but rose rapidly ywa. 

 to 6,036,088 gallons in 1898, to 22,665,518 in 1903." It has since, how. 

 dropped to about 18| million gallons a year. 



' Singu has suddenly come into prominence. Petroleum was first 8toa. 

 struck by the Burma Oil Company in this area on October 30, 1901, and 

 arrangements were then made to provide tanks for its reception. Pro- 

 duction did not consequently begin till 1902, when only 174,880 gallons YUM. 

 \v> re turned out, with the opening of the new wells, but the output jumped 

 up to 5,617,381 gallons in 1903 ; 23,677,450 gallons in 1904 ; and :'>7,:> 11.177 

 gallons in 1905. The crude oil first obtained had a specific gravity of 

 0'8247 and flash-point under 40 F., in consequence of which primary st ills 

 were erected on the field to remove the light naphthas before transport to 

 the Rangoon refineries." 



" Besides the Upper Burma oil-fields, the islands off the Arakan coasts, Araku. 

 noted for their mud volcanoes, have also been known for many years to 

 contain oil deposits of uncertain value. The chief operations have been 

 carried ou in the Eastern Barongo Island near Akyab and on Ramri Island 

 in the Kyaukphyu district. During the past six years the average output 

 of the former area has been 42,926 gallons, whilst in Kyaukphyu the output 

 in the same period has averaged about 100,000 gallons, with a distinct 

 tendency to decline," but the output from these islands is now rapidly 

 diminishing. 



The total production of oil in Burma in 1905 amounted to 142,063,846 Total Pro- 

 gallons. The output of the various oil-fields was as follows : Akyab, duction. 

 53,455 gallons ; Kyaukphyu, 60,647 ; Yenangyaung, Magwe, 85,648,749 ; 

 Singu, Myingyan, 37,541,177 ; Yenangyat, Pakokku, 18,759,818. 



[Cf. Fritz Noetling, Rept. Petrol. Induet. Upper Burma, 1892 ; Upper Burma 

 Gaz., 1900, ii., pt. 1, 249-77 ; 1901, ii., pt. 2, 300, 400-1 ; Max and Bertha 

 Ferrars, Burma, 1900, 129; Niabet, Burma under Brit. Rule and Before, 1901, 

 i., 392-5 ; Rept. Rangoon Chamber of Comm., 1901, 52 ; 1902, 98 ; Petrol. Induct, 

 in Burma, in The Empress, Aug. 1903, 1-8.] 



Properties and Uses. For particulars regarding the introduction and Uses. 

 expansion of the demand for kerosene oil for illuminating purposes in India, 

 the reader is referred to the particulars given under Oils (see p. 812). 

 The following information on the composition and uses of petroleum is 

 abstracted mainly from the account published by Mr. Edmond O'Neill 

 (Develop, of Petrol. Indust., 1901). Chemically considered, petroleum is a 

 liquid of varying composition. The colour ranges from clear water, white proprti. 

 through shades of yellow, amber, and brown to black. Its viscosity varies 

 from great mobility to a thick tar-like mass, and its specific gravity from 

 0-771 to 1-020. The refractive index and coefficient of expansion are high 

 and the specific heat is low, but both vary in oil from different places. 

 Oils from the same locality usually resemble one another, but not always. 



875 



