68 BULLETIN 102, VOL. 1, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



whereby the capacity of the resource may be enlarged so as to post- 

 pone or obviate the necessity for such curtaihnent. These means will 

 be examined without special reference to their immediate availability 

 under current economic practice, reserving for the next section con- 

 sideration as to how the most important of them may be brought 

 into effective play. 



The enlargement of the resource capacity may be brought about 

 in three ways: By prolonging the life of the unused portion of the 

 domestic resource as it is now known; by developing low-grade do- 

 mestic sources not yet drawn upon ; and by building up the use of sub- 

 stitutes, particularly for gasoline, upon which a heavy and growing 

 demand is falling. 



PBOLONGINO THE LIFE OF THE PETBOLBCU BESBaVE. 



The supply of petroleum unmined is so limited that the maximum 

 should be obtained from it in order to prolong its availability. The 

 enlargement of the reserve through the discovery of new oil fields, 

 the elimination of wastes, and the extraction of a greater measure of 

 service from the products represent the lines of progress in sight.* 



Discovery of new oil -fields. — While much of the oil-bearing terri- 

 tory of the United States is still undrilled, there is no hope that new 

 fields, uncounted in our inventory, may be discovered of sufficient 

 magnitude to modify seriously the estimates given. The reasonable- 

 ness of this assumption will appear from considering the fact that 

 between 1908 and 1916, during which time the most active exploration 

 campaign in the history of oil development was carried on, the reserve 

 was enlarged by only 1,200 million barrels, a scant three years' supply 

 at the present rate of consumption. This means that the petroleum 

 resource of the country, like the coal resource, is now fairly accurately 

 measured ; and it would be vain to expect a significant increment from 

 an unforeseen direction. Of course, new strikes and oil booms are to 

 be expected, but these will lie for the most part within the area al- 

 ready represented in our measure of the petroleum reserve. 



Elimination of wastes in production. — Far more may be accom- 

 plished in the way of enlarging the reserve by the elimination of un- 

 necessary wastes in connection with production.^ Under present 



^ The bearing upon the matter of the oil fields of Mexico and Central America is dis- 

 cussed on pages 76, 77. 



' An effective and readable description of the physical wastes involved in oil produc- 

 tion under present practice will be found in the Yearbook of the Bureau of Mines. 1916. 

 by Van H. Manning, Washington, 1917, pp. 116-133. The technological investigations 

 of the Bureau of Mines have been of the highest value to the industry in the way of 

 supplying the technical means whereby these wastes may be combated. The ensuing 

 paragraphs under this heading are largely a record of the accomplishments of the 

 Bureau of Mines in this connection. 



