BULLETIN OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 

 Vol. 28, pp. 603-616 September 30, 1917 



GENERAL CONDITIONS OF THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY 

 AND THE WORLD'S FUTURE SUPPLY ^ 



BY EALPH ARNOLD 



(Presented before the Society Decemher 28, 1916) 



CONTENTS 



Page 



fntroduction 604 



General conditions surrounding the petroleum industry 604 



Present world's output 604 



General conditions affecting the industry 606 



Factors governing the petroleum industry 606 



Natural factors and their related problems 607 



Origin 607 



Migration and accumulation 607 



Chemical and physical properties 607 



Conditions necessary for commercial deposits of oil 608 



World's supply limited 608 



Why petroleum deposits are rare 609 



The world's future supply 609 



North America 610 



Canada 610 



United States 610 



Mexico 611 



Central America 611 



West India Islands 611 



South America 611 



Peru 611 



Argentina 612 



Colombia 612 



Venezuela • • 612 



Ecuador • • 612 



Europe 612 



Germany 612 



Austria 612 



Roumania 613 



Russia 613 



1 This paper is one of a series composing a "Symposium on the Geology of Petroleum." 

 See this volume, p. loB. 



Manuscript received by the Secretary of the Society December 20, 1016. 



XLVI — Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., Vol. 28, 1916 (603) 



