PETROLEUM. 
n 
hence that there is no need for water-power development ; the blind 
adherence to this dictum, ignoring its inevitable bearing upon trans- 
portation, has probably caused sufficient disaster to arouse suspicion 
of its wisdom. 
A constructive economic policy, then, will not ignore benzol and 
alcohol, but on the contrary will promote their use. Benzol, indeed, 
demands such consideration on its own account, for a market for this 
product must be built up to help carry forward the important matter 
of proper coal utilization, as explained in the paper, 44 Coal : The 
Resource and its Full Utilization. 5 ’ 1 Alcohol, too, is not without 
claim on grounds outside the petroleum interest, for its fuel uti- 
lization would give an outlet to the growing number of distilleries 
going out of service, while its possibilities as to generation on farms 
and its peculiar adaptability to tropical conditions form considera- 
tions of considerable weight. But for the sake of the petroleum 
resource itself, it would not be unwise to bring some relief to the 
growing demand for gasoline, 'which unhelped must face eventual 
curtailment. 2 
SUMMARY. 
The petroleum resource stands out because of its limited size and 
decreasing availability, the growing importance of its products, and 
the notoriously high percentage of waste involved in its exploitation. 
According to conservative estimates, scarcely 10 per cent of the re- 
source value is recovered under present conditions, while the unmined 
supply now available in the United States is only about 70 barrels 
to the person. A survey of the resource and of the industrial activi- 
ties engaged in its development indicates that the bottom cause of 
the present wasteful employment of this invaluable resource is a 
lack of adjustment between economic circumstances affecting produc- 
tion, and the unique geological conditions under which petroleum 
occurs. The geological unit or reservoir, by nature indivisible, is 
arbitrarily subdivided into small parts for purposes of individual- 
istic production. This discordance leads to a train of wastes that con- 
sume the bulk of the resource. Its cause may be removed by 
reshaping the method of production so as to fit with the occurrence 
of the resource, and the means for this accomplishment will come 
through development and* application of a constructive economic 
policy. 
The betterment of the situation, in the last analysis, depends upon 
the pressure of public opinion. The whole matter now rests upon 
1 Bulletin 102, part 4. 
2 It may not be beyond the interest of the automotive industry to bend its energies 
toward providing a situation where benzol and alcohol will come Into action. Such 
effort, if undertaken, should merit popular support because of its constructive tendency ; 
and in particular will it stand in need of sympathetic governmental help when it ap- 
proaches the legal aspects of alcohol exemptions. 
