250 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLI. No. 1050 



oil escaping to the surface after the well had 

 been capped were ignited by lightning on 

 August 14, and up to the close of the year the 

 fire, though confined to a small area, had defied 

 all efforts to extinguish it. 



During the year the Panuco field was ex- 

 tended to the southwest and the Topila field 

 to the west. Wildcatting at Eanoho El Chapo- 

 pote revealed promising indications of an oil 

 field near Campeche, State of Campeche. A 

 four-still topping plant was installed by the 

 Standard Oil Co. at Tampico, and 'construc- 

 tion work was started by the Tampico & 

 Panuco Valley Tramways Co. on a 25-mile 

 railroad connecting Tampico with the Panuco 

 oil field. 



CENTEAL AMERICA AND WEST INDIES 



Examination of the petroleum indications 

 in Honduras resulted in the formation of the 

 Honduras Oil Co., financed by Honduras cap- 

 ital, which is reported to have obtained conces- 

 sions in the departments of Atlantida, Yoro 

 and Comayagua. 



By legislative decree the government of San 

 Salvador has granted to Alfredo Leon Schles- 

 inger, a native of Austria-Hungary, the exclu- 

 sive privilege of conducting geologic studies 

 of the mineral resources of San Salvador for 

 one year and of exploiting them for a period 

 of 30 years, subject to a 25 per cent, royalty 

 and to the reversion of all property to the 

 government at the end of the concession 

 period. 



Drilling for oil in Cuba continued in the 

 vicinity of Cardenas. 



The testing of promising structure and oil 

 indications in Barbados was retarded by the 

 failure of the legislature to enact laws pro- 

 viding for such exploration. 



Developments at Trinidad resulted in a 

 marked increase in production over previous 

 years, despite the deterring effects of meager 

 storage facilities, which, together with the 

 infiuence of the European war, served to greatly 

 curtail operations toward the end of the year. 



SOUTH AMERICA 



Oolombia. — The discovery of petroleum and 

 natural gas at Tubara, near the important 



Caribbean seaport of Barranquilla, indicates 

 the development of an important oil field in 

 close proximity to the Panama Canal. 



Ecuador. — Investigations of the petroleum 

 indications along the coast and in the moun- 

 tains near Quito, by a Dutch syndicate, sug- 

 gest the possible development of Ecuador's 

 petroleum resources in the near future. 



Peru. — Developments in the proved oil fields 

 of Peru were without notable incident. The 

 production showed a moderate increase during 

 the early part of the year, necessitating the 

 erection of additional tankage at Zorritos. 



Bolivia. — Geologic investigations in the area 

 between the Incahuasi and Aguaraygua ranges 

 have shovm the presence of a considerable area 

 of prospective oil land south of Sucre, and the 

 reported acquisition of petroleum concessions 

 in that region indicates that the area wiU be 

 thoroughly tested. 



Chile. — Several companies were organized in 

 Santiago to test certain districts in which sur- 

 face indications of petroleum have been knovm 

 for many years. 



Argentina. — In the Comodoro Rivadavia oil 

 district, in southern Argentina, 5,000 hectares 

 (12,355 acres) of land has been reserved by the 

 government, of which 350 hectares (865 acres) 

 is being exploited by the state. Legislation 

 providing for the exploitation of the petro- 

 leum deposits in Comodoro Rivadavia is now 

 under consideration by the Argentine Con- 

 gress. 



Venezuela. — ^Work was continued by the 

 Caribbean Petroleum Co., on the east coast of 

 Lake Maracaibo in the shallow-sand field 

 opened late in 1913. 



Russia. — On Apsheron Peninsula the oil 

 fields in the vicinity of Baku showed a steady 

 decline, development being retarded by a strike 

 of the oil-field workmen which lasted from 

 June 11 to July 31. In spite of the effects of 

 the strike and the immediately succeeding 

 mobilization of the Russian army, which in- 

 volved a great number of oil-field workers, 

 the production of the Baku fields made sub- 



