242 



oi,s(,()Vi:hy 



or lesser extent, though little is at present known of the 

 commercial possibilities of the fields. North Borneo 

 and Sarawak are perhaps the most important countries, 

 and drilling is proceeding with a view to locating 

 further supplies. In Papua, petroleum has been found 

 along the same line of earth movement on which are 

 situate the oil-bearing horizons of Java and Sumatra, 

 and Dr. Wade has shown that the oil indications are 

 extremely good, though conditions of climate and native 

 labour have hitherto prevented prospecting on a large 

 scale. Reported occurrences of oil in many parts of 

 the Malay Peninsula have engaged the attention of 

 geologists from time to time ; but in the writer's 

 opinion, the knowledge that we have of the geology 

 of this region points to unfavourable conditions for 

 the location of oil in quantity, although certain horizons 

 in the restricted Tertiary formations may give a small 

 yield from time to time. 



The economic and political problems with which the 

 future of the Persian and Mesopotamian oilfields is 

 bound up still remain to be solved, and until conditions 

 settle down from the present deplorable state of flux 

 resulting from the War, it is a little premature to 

 venture upon any suggestions as to developments of 

 the petroleum resources of this part of Western Asia. 

 WTiatever our future policy with regard to these 

 countries may or may not achieve, once the fields are 

 better known and more widely prospected, the resulting 

 influence on the world's supply of oil fuel will be far- 

 reaching. Our knowledge of the Mesopotamian 

 possibilities is largely based on reports and opinions 

 gained during the War, and, geologically, on analogy 

 of structure and conditions to those obtaining in the 

 better-known Persian field to the east. Here the 

 petroleum deposits lie along a belt of country extending 

 from the Persian Gulf to some miles north of Baghdad, 

 in a direction running parallel to the Turko-Persian 

 frontier. The best-known field is that of Maidan-i- 

 Naphthun on the River Karun. Other districts include 

 Daliki, Zohab, and Loristan, all of which show great 

 promise. 



Passing now to the continent of .\frica, our most 

 important field is that of Egypt, where on the coast of 

 the Gulf of Suez, at Jebcl-Zeit and at Gemsah, a few 

 miles to the south, operations are in active progress. 

 The oil is chiefly found in the Miocene deposits, which 

 are still undergoing energetic examination with a view 

 to locating further pools. Latterly, the lower limestone 

 horizons of the Miocene series have been the subject 

 of detailed investigation, but so far no definite results 

 have been forthcoming. Prospecting is also in progress 

 to the east, in the Sinai Peninsula, where geological 

 conditions are somewhat similar to those of the main 

 Egyptian fields, while one or two islands in the Red 

 Sea have been surveyed, but with negative results 



from a commercial standpoint. Other regions in 

 Africa have from time to time been searched for oil, 

 notably the Ivory Coast, Gold Coast, Nigeria, and 

 Somaliland, but in all cases the results were extremely 

 poor and unimportant. In Central Cape Colony there 

 have been several petroleum indications in the past, 

 connected with the carbonaceous Karroo shales, and 

 owing their origin to the destructive distillation of 

 those rocks as a consequence of igneous intrusion. In 

 Northern Cape Colony similar occurrences arc found in 

 the Dwyka series, while carbonaceous shales, with 

 occasional show of oil, are known from the Orange 

 River Colony and in several other regions of South 

 Africa. A great deal of prospecting has been done in 

 these areas, but, as far as present knowledge goes, the 

 geological conditions are entirely unfavourable to the 

 preservation of oil, and it is unhkely that any important 

 supplies will ever be obtained from this part of the 

 world. There are still large areas in Africa unknown 

 to us geographically, geologically, and economically ; 

 and though in mineral resources she is probably one 

 of the richest countries in the world, the prospects of 

 locating large oilfields are, from geotectonic considera- 

 tions, essentially remote. Africa, like India, is a 

 fragment of a " lost continent," in which we find no 

 indications whatever of those great post-Carboniferous 

 orogenic movements which have so fundamentally 

 affected the continental mass of Eurasia ; in it we 

 are unable to trace the results of such tangential earth 

 stresses as were responsible for the production of 

 structures similar to those obtaining in the important 

 Eurasian fields. 



It is otherwise with the American continent, however, 

 where in Canada, and particularly in the West 

 Indies, our resources are considerable. Of the Eastern 

 Canadian fields, in New Brunswick, Quebec, and 

 Ontario, the latter is the most important oil-producing 

 centre. Here the fields are located on what is known 

 as the Cincinnati anticline, a fold extending northwards 

 from Tennessee through Western Ohio to the Province 

 of Ontario, and on which in the States some of the 

 richest oilfields of Ohio and Indiana are situated. 

 The most important fields in the Province are those 

 of Petrolia and Oil Springs in Lambton County, where 

 oil occurs in the Onondaga Limestone series of Devonian 

 age. It is accompanied by large quantities of natural 

 gas, of which the most productive is the Essex-Kent 

 field. In New Brunswick a great deal of boring has 

 been carried out for oil and gas which has only met 

 with indifferent results, though the oil, when met with, 

 has been found to be of a high grade. The fluctuations 

 in output are largely due to the selection of poor sites 

 for boring, and to lack of penetration to sufficient 

 depth. The exploitation of oil in this province is an 

 example of the dangers attending promiscuous boring 



