PETROL 287 



down a channel across which one of the workmen is seen 

 astride. 



In such cases there is usually an immense loss of oil and gas. 

 Attempts are usually made, not always with success, to control 

 the outflow by means of an iron cap with appropriate valves by 

 which the stream of oil can be directed into a reservoir or 

 tank. 



In cases where the pressure of gas is not sufficient to bring the 

 oil to the surface it has to be forced up by the application of 

 compressed air. 



One important oil-field further east exists in Burma, and is 

 interesting to English readers as it exists in British territory. 

 A very large proportion of the oil comes from the rich district of 

 Yenangyoung, where for many generations hand-dug wells were 

 worked by a class of hereditary oil winners under the Burmese 

 kings. The rights of these people were recognised by the British 

 Government after the annexation of Upper Burma, and a 

 certain area was reserved for them in which they were annually 

 allotted oil-well sites. In most cases they sold or leased these 

 sites to the Oil Companies which introduced the American methods 

 of drilling. Most of the oil existed under high gas pressure, so 

 that when a well was bored into the oil enormous quantities 

 gushed out (Figs. 93 and 94). 



The upper sand has now been exhausted and with it the gas 

 pressure. Wells have now to be driven down to much greater 

 depths and pumping is necessary, but the local experts are of 

 opinion that there are numerous sands, one below another, in 

 the district. Drilling has hitherto been done by the American 

 percussion system, but a rotary drill is being tried. The oil 

 from the field used to be carried to the refineries, which are 

 situated in the immediate neighbourhood of Rangoon, solely by 

 barges towed down the Irawaddy River. The Burma Oil Com- 

 pany some years ago constructed a pipe line underground the 

 whole distance. 



Burma petroleum contains a very high percentage of wax, 

 and this has been the cause of much difficulty in pumping the 

 oil through the pipe lines, by reason of its viscosity. 



The following figures, extracted from the Rangoon Gazette 

 for April 29th, 1915, show that a fairly steady increase in the 

 production of this field has been going on for some years 

 past. 



