THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY OF CANADA 



gradually reduced this until a few years ago it was removed 

 entirely, and in its stead a bounty of fifty cents per barrel 

 was given the oil men. This has worked satisfactorily 

 save for the fact that the Standard Oil Company has bought 

 out the largest refineries and to-day is the greatest power 

 in refining circles, thus to a large extent being able to 

 dictate the price of oil. In justice to them, however, it 

 must be stated that since they invaded Canada the pro- 

 ducers have obtained better prices for their oil. 



Thus far I have been giving you a historic sketch of 

 the petroleum industry, and I shall now endeavor to 

 describe to you the industry as it is carried on at the 

 present day. 



First, however, I would like you to get a clear idea as 

 to just what petroleum is, what this oil, that has made so 

 many men rich and so many poor, is. You will observe 

 from the sample that is being passed around that it is a 

 dark, oily looking liquid with a very disagreeable odor. It 

 is slightly heavier than water, having a specific gravity of 

 .88 or thereabouts. The disagreeable odor is due to the 

 presence of a large percentage of sulphur in just what form 

 we have not been able yet to determine. This is a sample 

 of Canadian crude petroleum. It is readily distinguished 

 from the American crude oil by the fact that the American 

 oil has not disagreeable odor, it contains little sulphur. In 

 the early days of the industry this made the American 

 petroleum more valuable than the Canadian, as it was 

 much easier to distill and refine on account of this sulphur. 

 At present, however, the difficulty has been overcome and 

 the sulphur does not offer any serious objection. 



Crude petroleum, as it stands, is used quite extensively 

 as a fuel. The International Harvester Works use a con- 

 siderable amount in their forges and furnaces. The only 

 preparation necessary for this class of work is filtering. 



A considerable amount of scientific discussion has 

 taken place as to whether petroleum owes its existence to 



