244 OUR USE OF THE LAND 



amount of oil necessary to make a profit. This put a stop to 

 the competitive drilling where one man would drill wells for 

 the oil he didn't need in order to prevent another company 

 from pumping out that oil through a nearby well. On March 

 4, 1931, Congress passed an amendment to the mineral leasing 

 law. This amendment arranged for agreements like that on the 

 Kettleman field on all government owned oil land. In 1935 this 

 plan was extended by Congress to private land and today there 

 are about fifty oil fields operating under an agreement with 

 the Secretary of the Interior to produce oil on a cooperative 

 basis. 24 



One thing which has greatly confused the regulation of pe' 

 troleum production is the fact that the experts have been so 

 uncertain as to how much there is stored in the earth. They 

 would announce that the supply was practically exhausted, 

 then someone would discover a new field which would, in spite 

 of the increasing demand for oil, provide a supply for another 

 ten years or so. Geologists have given up promising an end to 

 the petroleum supply, particularly since it was learned that 

 vast deposits of oil shale would provide petroleum for many 

 years after the oil wells were exhausted, although probably at 

 considerably higher cost. 



In one way or another, this problem of regulating the pro' 

 duction of oil is related to the production of all minerals. In 

 general, the major influences affecting the production can be 

 listed in this way. (1) Taxation. As we shall see, taxes on min' 

 eral lands have a great effect on how they are used. (2) Scientific 

 development. As ways are developed to use minerals more effi' 

 ciently so that less of that mineral will be needed to do a certain 

 job, that mineral is being conserved. (3) Recover ability. Many 

 minerals can be used many times after they are mined. (4) Price. 

 When the price of a mineral is low, the producers can afford 

 to mine only the richest deposits, often wasting the less rich 



24 Letter from Geological Survey. 



