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



This small resource-recovery takes on importance in view of the 

 fact that the unmined reserve of petroleum is very small — about 70 

 barrels to each person, little over fifteen years supply at the present 

 rate of consumption. This is especially significant because of the 

 growing importance of the automotive activity and the fact that 

 the world's machinery is lubricated by oil. 



In the normal course of events the maladjustment between the 

 method of exploitation and geological occurrence will straighten 

 itself out, but only at the expense of much of the resource, and in 

 response to a mounting value of the product, which will ultimately 

 react to insure proper production. But petroleum is too essential 

 for the country to await this time without effort to improve matters. 



Part of the petroleum resource is still under Federal ownership 

 on public lands, and in respect to this the Government can insure 

 proper exploitation by the enactment of proper legislation providing 

 for the elimination of the discordance between occurrence and method 

 of production. Legislation is now pending regarding the public oil 

 lands, but the true nature of the issue is not met therein. 



In respect to the oil lands in private hands, the Federal Govern- 

 ment has no such direct jurisdiction. But it may be said that the 

 whole Federal policy thus far, so far as the attitude to date may be 

 termed a policy, has been in opposition to an integrative trend in 

 oil production, and hence has retarded progress. For the most part 

 the large agencies in the oil business do not engage primarily in oil 

 production, but purchase their oil from a thousand and one individual 

 producers who do the exploration and drilling and stand for the 

 gains or losses under this head as the case may be. Improvement 

 in this situation may be hastened by a proper attitude toward inte- 

 grated production. Recognition of the necessity for integration in 

 oil production will go far toward insuring progress, even if no specific 

 legislative means are worked out for pressing the issue further. 



A larger-scale type of production financially affiliated with trans- 

 portation and refining activities wiU hold the oil under ground until 

 needed for the production of motor-fuel, lubricating oil, and by- 

 products; and such a procedure wiU set aright the whole situation, 

 thus bringing about a longer resource life, turning the products to 

 their highest uses, and leading to a significant development of the 

 by-product values still imperfectly drawn from the crude material. 



