Reviews 



Manual j or the Oil and Gas Industry under the Revenue Act of igi8. 

 By the U.S. Bureau of Internal Revenue of the Treasury 

 Department, 1919. Pp. 136, figs. 13. 



To assist the taxpayer of the oil and gas industry in correctly 

 and expeditiously preparing his Federal tax returns, the Bureau of 

 Internal Revenue has prepared a "Manual for the Oil and Gas Industry 

 Under the Revenue Act of 1918." Although the endeavor has been 

 made to anticipate all questions that may be asked regarding the law 

 and regulations, and the latter have been amplified when it was deemed 

 necessary to obtain the desired result, it is recognized that such a manual 

 is only general, and cannot cover all cases that may exist. The Manual 

 is based largely upon information gathered during the fall of the year 

 191 8 by a corps of geologists, technologists, and engineers. The investi- 

 gation was undertaken primarily to furnish a basis for arriving at 

 valuations, and depletion and depreciation deductions, in connection 

 with oil and gas properties. 



The Manual (136 pages and 13 plates) is now being distributed 

 among taxpayers of the oil and gas industry. For the purposes of the 

 Manual, the country is divided into seven districts, each of which was 

 handled by a supervisor and several assistants. These are: (i) the 

 Appalachian Field, (2) the Lima-Indiana and Illinois fields, (3) the 

 Mid-Continent Field, (4) the Northern Louisiana Field, (5) the Gulf 

 Coast Field, .(6) the Rocky Mountain District, and (7) the California 

 Field. 



The book consists of three parts : Part I deals directly with the Law 

 and Regulations, Part II with the question of depreciation, and Part 

 III consists of descriptions and methods of estimating underground oil 

 reserves, especially by means of production curves. A collection of 

 curves and tables covering many of the oil fields and pools in the United 

 States accompanies the text. They are intended as a suggestion for 

 the guidance of the taxpayet in the computation of his depletion allow- 

 ance. 



The work of compiling and editing the material in the Manual was 

 done largely by A. D. Brokaw, J. L. Darnell, and L. G. Donnelly. The 

 investigations leading to the preparation of the Manual and its com- 

 pilation and pubhcation were under the general supervision of Ralph 

 Arnold, Chief of the Oil and Gas Section. 



Copies may be obtained by application to the Commissioner of 

 Internal Revenue, Washington, D.C. 



