YENANGYOUNG. 51 



back this dates. It is unquestionable that the oil field was in 

 full working order at the end of the last century, but I doubt 

 whether the production of oil dates back to prehistoric times as 

 some authors have supposed it to do. Surely the exploitation of an 

 oil field during say only 2,000 years ought to have left some traces be- 

 hind, but there is nothing to point to it being worked more than 200 

 years. At present the Berne tract is exploited by pits and a few 

 drilled wells ; seven in all have been sunk in the Government hold- 

 ings, but it cannot be said that they have been a success from a 

 commercial point of view. In fact every indication points to the 

 probability that the petroliferous sands within the Berne tract are 

 fairly exhausted. 



(b) The Kodoung tract. 



Immediately to the north of Berne follows the Kodoung 

 tract, which chiefly occupies the land on the plateau between the 

 Kunnhitse-yo (northern branch of the Yenangyoung choung) on the 

 south and the Aungban-yo on the north. The length of this tract is 

 about 52 chains, and its breadth is at the outside 40 chains ; the area 

 known to produce oil can, for the present, be estimated at the outside 

 at 108 acres ; its western limit has been clearly defined by the results 

 of the deep borings, the northern and southern boundary are fixed, it 

 is therefore only the eastern boundary about which there might be 

 some uncertainty. However, as far as my experience goes, the eastern- 

 most well cannot be far off from the eastern limit of the petroliferous 

 tract, and the above estimate of 108 acres allows a very fair margin 

 in my opinion. 



The Kodoung area is at present exploited by 58 drilled wells 

 which produce on the average about 12,891 barrels a month. For 

 further details I refer the reader to Chapter IX. 



(c). The Twingon tract. 

 Immediately to the north of Kodoung and separated from it by 

 the narrow but steep Aungban-yo is the oil tract of Twingon. The 

 area covered by the pit wells forms a somewhat irregular square, 

 E 2 ( 97 ) 



