SOUTHERN HORIZONS 



totaled only seventy-eight thousand barrels a day. Daily 

 production of crude petroleum was four million five 

 hundred thousand barrels. Chemicals are literally a drop 

 in the oil bucket, less than three per cent of our gaso- 

 line. As for synthetic rubber, we could produce a pre- 

 war year's natural rubber imports from two days' sup- 

 ply of crude oil. Besides, don't forget that many of the 

 hydrocarbons most useful for chemicals are useless for 

 gasoline and lubricants." 



These are indeed comforting assurances. But best of 

 all, this confident chemical view of the gasoline future 

 does not lull our petroleum people to sleep. The finger 

 of fate, or better, of science beckons them to a new 

 career. They are off on the new job as eagerly as a boy 

 to a ball game. 



That new job is chemical synthesis, making from gas 

 and oil not only gasoline and lubricants, but great 

 families of consumer goods, rubber, plastics, fibers, lac- 

 quers, perfumes and flavors, gums and waxes, insecti- 

 cides and disinfectants, medicines. As certain as sun- 

 light these new products will become better and better, 

 cheaper and cheaper. Synthetic products always do. 



Chemical synthesis from gas and oil will be on a scale 

 hitherto unknown. From these new chemical raw ma- 

 terials of the South will spring vast new industries, mak- 

 ing not only these synthetic products, but processing 

 and fabricating them into all manner of wares from 



250 



