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PETROLEUM
CHAPTER I
PETROLEUM AND ITS ORIGIN
In dealing with the question of petroleum and its origin, the subject can well be defined under two headings: one, the origin of the word “petroleum”; the other, the origin of the mineral itself. As to the former, this is a matter of historical interest; of the latter, the question is still in doubt—and the doubt becomes even the more doubtful, the more the question is debated.
Let us, therefore, take first the word “petroleum” as we know it to-day. It covers a multitude of products derived from the refining of crude oil, though the word does not suggest any of them. It is quite a generic term, and in a general way represents the whole of that ever-increasing family of hydrocarbons—the refined products of crude oil. There is no doubt that it derives its name from the Latin petra oleum, which, literally, is rock oil, and equivalents of the name are found in all languages. Even in modern practice we use the word, though not in a specific sense, while our own Government usually refers to “petroleum oil,” which, of course, involves tautology. Crude petroleum is known throughout the oil-fields of the world as denoting the crude oil coming from the wells: then we have petroleum spirit, otherwise the lightest form of refined oil; we have petroleum distillate, designating an illuminating oil; but, “petroleum oil” is, it is to be regretted, generally used as suggesting some form of petroleum product.
Though the petroleum industry—in its commercial sense—only goes back some sixty years, the use of petroleum can be traced to Biblical times, for was it not the great Prophet Elisha who told the widow to “Go, sell the oil and pay thy debts and live”?
Job also speaks of the rock which poured him out rivers of oil; in Maccabees we find that the priests hid the fire which they took from the altar in a deep pit without water; while Nehemiah called the liquid which burst into flame and kindled a great fire by the name “Nephthar, which is as much as to say, a cleansing; but many call it Nephai.” And so, in many parts of the Old as well as in the New Testament, oil is clearly referred to, and, in Biblical times, as much later, was looked upon as a sacred fire.
Many ancient authors make extensive reference to oil, prominent among them being Herodotus, who described the methods adopted at the pits of Kirab for the raising of the oil, which liquid “gives off a very strong odour.”
Petroleum, as known in Biblical times, and as so widely known to-day, occurs in greater or less quantity throughout the world, and it is found in the whole range of strata of the earth’s crust, from the Laurentian rocks to the most recent members of the Quaternary period, though it is found in commercial quantities almost wholly in the comparatively old Devonian and Carboniferous formations on the one hand or in the various divisions of the comparatively young Tertiary rocks on the other.
The problem of the origin of petroleum has been the subject of considerable scientific controversy for many years. Not a few of the leading scientists hold to the theory that petroleum is derived from metallic carbides lying far beneath the porous strata in which the oil is stored by Nature, and that even at the present time the process is in operation. This idea, which may be termed the inorganic theory of petroleum origin, was considered to have received substantial support when it was found that the action of water on the carbides of certain metals resulted in the liberation of hydrocarbons.
The view that petroleum is of organic origin is to-day almost universally accepted, although there is no general agreement either as to whether petroleum is derived from vegetable or animal matter, or as to the forms of life that provided for its genesis. In certain places in the world—notably on the eastern side of the Caspian Sea and also near the Mediterranean—there is some conversion of organic matter into petroleum actually to be seen to-day. It is not difficult, as the late Sir Boverton Redwood, Bart., pointed out in an address before the Royal Institution of Great Britain in 1918, to account for the formation of adequate deposits of the necessary material. In the comparatively deep and quiescent water along the margin of the land in past ages, there would be abundant opportunity for the deposition not only of the remains of marine animals and plants, but also of vegetable matter brought down to the coast by the water courses, and the changes which the earth has undergone would result in the burial of these substances under sedimentary mineral matter, the deposits thus formed being ultimately, as the result of further alterations in the earth’s surface, frequently found occupying positions far removed from the sea, and sometimes beneath immense thicknesses of subsequent deposits.
That vegetable matter may be the source of certain petroleums is an opinion that has found increasing evidence to support it. There are two kinds of vegetable matter which are possible, terrestrial and aquatic, and in the deltaic conditions that characterize so many oil-fields, either could be equally well appealed to as a source of accumulation. The extensive coal and lignite deposits in many geological periods bear eloquent testimony to the presence of carbonaceous matter far in excess of that required to provide proved supplies of petroleum. Every important coal-field demonstrates the fact that vegetable matter can be partially converted into bituminous compounds or hydrocarbons by natural processes. Marsh gases often occur in great quantities in faulted zones in the coal measures, though the bituminous substances found in coal are not true bitumens that dissolve in the usual solvents, while the tars derived from the destructive distillation of coal in no way resemble natural petroleums or the products of oil-shale distillation.
In spite, however, of the outstanding differences between petroleum, oil-shales and coal, I might here point out in favour of the vegetable theory of origin, that actual petroleum and true bitumens have been found in some coals, though in small quantities, while solid paraffins have been extracted by means of pyridine and chloroform. Again, low temperature distillations have yielded petroleum hydrocarbons, all of which appear to indicate that even when coal was the overwhelming product, at certain times and places the conditions were merging into those which could yield petroleum. There is no doubt that each of the various views expressed as to the organic origin of petroleum contains elements of truth, and it is reasonable to assume that a substance so varied in its physical and chemical properties as petroleum has not in all cases been created under precisely the same conditions, or from an exactly similar source.
Summing up the whole question of origin, however, the balance of opinion points to its being the result of organic action, and that the petroleum which we now find in the Palaeozoic and Tertiary rocks is substantially of the same geological age as the rocks themselves.
Volumes of technological literature have been written upon this complex question of petroleum origin, and though these may be of intense interest to the student of geology, the brief references which I have already given to the question are sufficient for the purpose of this little publication.
The geographical distribution of petroleum throughout the two hemispheres is no less wide than the geological. The deposits mainly occur along well-defined lines, often associated with the mountain ranges. This is chiefly due to the formation, in the elevatory process, of minor folds which have arrested and collected the oil in richly productive belts.
CHAPTER II
THE OIL-FIELDS OF THE WORLD
Ever since petroleum and its products entered the realm of commercial commodities, there has been a ceaseless search throughout the two hemispheres for crude oil, and to-day there are comparatively few countries in the world where the presence of petroleum has not been proved. The ever-expanding uses of petroleum, which in their train have called for a continually increasing demand for crude oil, have given an impetus to the search for commercially productive oil-fields, which, in mining history, has no parallel. On the one hand, we have those important oil-producing regions which embrace enormous regions of the United States, Mexico, Russia, Roumania, the Dutch Indies, India, and Galicia; on the other, we find comparatively recent enterprise which is bringing into prominence the newer oil-producing regions of Egypt, Trinidad, Canada, the Argentine, Algeria, and various parts of Australia and Japan, though in several of these latter mentioned countries, the production of petroleum has been carried on by private means for not only many years, but even for centuries.
It naturally follows that, with the constant withdrawal of large supplies of crude oil from Mother Earth, Nature’s stores must be growing less, and it is not surprising, therefore, to hear, with persistent regularity, alarming rumours of the coming dearth of crude oil. Experts have devoted considerable time and thought in an endeavour to arrive at a conclusion as to the length of time it will take for the withdrawal of practically the whole of the crude oil from the known deposits in the more developed fields: their conclusions, however, are widely different, for while some assert that in the United States, for instance, the known fields will cease to be commercially productive within forty years, others there are who declare that centuries must elapse before the question of a failing supply need call for serious consideration.
But there is one point which must not be overlooked in this connection, and that is the fact that, while thus far very few thoroughly developed oil-fields have shown signs of permanent decay, there are numerous others which, while having already furnished conclusive proof of their productivity, have, for the most part, been but slightly developed. Each passing year registers the incoming of fresh oil-producing areas, while numerous regions in practically every part of the world, giving much promise of the success of ultimate oil developments, are as yet virgin territory.
The cry of possible shortage of supply was, fortunately, made at the opportune moment: it was a word of warning, and was taken to heart especially by those associated with the development of the older producing oil-fields. In these fields—whether we look to America or Russia—there has always been considerable waste of crude oil, mostly in regard to furnishing power for oil-field operations, while the natural gases which exude from the wells themselves, and to which reference is made in another chapter, have, in times past, been allowed to pass uncontrolled into the atmosphere. To-day, however, we see conservation in every direction—thanks to the application of scientific and engineering knowledge, combined with the exercise of care—and there is no doubt that this new factor will tend in a greater degree than may at first be imagined toward the preservation of Nature’s stores of crude oil for unlimited time.
With these few general remarks, let us proceed to briefly survey the principal oil-fields of the world, leaving those which are in the process of development or exploitation to later consideration.
The United States.—In no other country has such continuous progress been recorded in connection with the production of petroleum as in the case of the United States. Quite recently, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated that there are no less than 9,000 square miles of oil-bearing territory in the States, yet the petroleum industry was not commercially established until the early sixties of the last century. It was in Pennsylvania that the industry had its birth, and the troubles which beset Drake, the pioneer, have filled many pages of early oil literature. His first well, which produced quite a modest yield of crude oil, was at Titusville, Pa., which spot soon became a thriving town. And as Pennsylvania was the scene of the early successes, it also became the pivot round which the petroleum industry of the States prospered for many years. Until 1885, the Pennsylvanian fields furnished over 98 per cent. of the production of crude oil: then a gradual decline set in, until, at the present time, Pennsylvanian regions do not produce 10 per cent. of the oil output of the United States. No sooner had the petroleum industry been firmly established in Pennsylvania than an active search was made for the precious fluid in various parts of the States, and one by one new oil regions were opened up, but it is interesting to recall the fact that, even in the first developed oil-producing region, no district has been entirely abandoned as exhausted of oil, for to-day wells are being pumped quite close to Drake’s first well and the scene of the birth of the American petroleum industry. In the zenith of its prosperity, the Pennsylvanian field produced nearly 5,000,000 tons of crude oil per annum, but to-day the output has fallen off nearly 40 per cent.
When it is mentioned that the output of crude petroleum from the various fields of the United States last year was over 40,000,000 tons, the magnitude of America’s oil industry will at once be apparent. The regions known as the Mid-Continent fields—and which embrace the extensive oil-producing regions of Kansas and Oklahoma—are responsible for a very large portion of this output. Each field has its various “pools,” the most famous of this part, perhaps, being the Cushing pool, which came into prominence but a few years ago. Toward the end of 1914, it was estimated that the daily output of Cushing was 35,000 tons of crude oil. Cushing, like all other prolific oil districts, has many interesting stories associated with its rapid rise as an oil-producing centre, and there are instances on record where, in the course of a few days, land values have increased tenfold.
The rise of the Californian fields, too, is an example of the rapidity with which oil regions can be developed. California’s output in 1919 was, roughly, 120,000,000 barrels of crude oil, or over 14,000,000 tons. It possesses nearly 900 square miles of oil-lands, and though at one time a great difficulty was experienced in disposing of the crude oil production, since it was of a somewhat low grade, the position has now been reversed, and the consumption of petroleum products is greater than the supply. With the improvement of the methods of drilling, and the debut of the rotary system, it has been possible not only to drill to much greater depths, but to considerably reduce the time requisite for drilling a well to the oil sands. Californian records for quick drilling with the rotary machine show that wells have been got down to the producing sands, in some fields nearly 4,000 feet below the surface, within one month. This deep drilling policy, which is now much in vogue among Californian oil operators, has proved the existence at the greater depth of larger volume of oil of far better quality than that met with in the shallow strata, and it is to the discovery and consequent development of the deeper oil horizons that much of California’s recent advance is due.
Though but of small significance, the oil-wells in Summerland, Cal., call for mention for the reason that these are drilled in the sea at quite a distance from the coast. The encroachment of sea-water to the wells themselves is prevented by the continuance of the tubes in the wells to a height above the level of high-water mark, the produced oil being piped to the mainland.
There is no doubt that a wonderful future awaits California in regard to its oil export trade. The Far East is largely drawing upon the State for crude oil for treatment in the Far Eastern refineries: the oil-burning vessels of the Pacific rely upon Californian fuel oil for their supplies, while the opening of the Panama Canal, and the establishment of oil storage depots there, has brought California within easy transport distance of the European markets. During the past few years several cargoes of Californian refined oil have, in fact, come upon the English market.
The oil-fields of Texas have, perhaps, witnessed more “boom” periods than any other oil regions of the States. The Gulf coastal fields which embrace Texas and Louisiana, came into prominence some seventeen years ago, and they were not long in recording an output of over 5,000,000 tons in a single twelve months. The prolific districts of Spindle Top, Sour Lake, Humble, etc., attracted rapid attention, and the speculator in oil lands became immensely rich. But these boom periods cannot be said to be of much real value to the oil industry, for they are always followed by times of depression, when fortunes are lost almost as quickly as they have been made. To-day, the Gulf coast fields have settled down to a period of steady expansion; systematic development is taking place in every field, and, as in California, the policy of deep drilling has been eminently successful.
THE GLEN POOL—ONE OF AMERICA’S OIL PRODUCING CENTRES
Space forbids my entering into details respecting the more recently developed or partially exploited fields of America, but it is safe to say that there is scarcely a single State that does not hold out hope for profitable oil development: this is evidenced by the large amounts of new capital which are to-day finding employment in regions which are only commencing their oil-field history.
There is no other oil-producing country in the world where the petroleum industry has reached such a highly organized state as in the United States. Each producing field is connected by means of underground pipe-lines with the trunk pipe-line system, by which it is possible to pump oil from the most distant fields direct to the Atlantic seaboard. Some of the principal lines are hundreds of miles in length. In another chapter I deal with this wonderful system of oil transportation: it is, therefore, unnecessary here to more than mention it en passant. The oil-refining branch of the American petroleum industry is also particularly well organized and up to date, but with this subject, too, I deal at length elsewhere.
A TYPICAL GEOLOGICAL SECTION SHOWING THE OIL SANDS
Mexico.—The oil-fields of Mexico can claim to have leapt into prominence at a far more rapid rate than any other oil-field of importance in the world. Their development has been phenomenal, and from being practically unknown sixteen years ago, they now rank as the third largest producing regions, coming but next to the United States and Russia. My object in dealing with the Mexican fields prior to referring to the Russian petroleum industry is that they may be said to form an integral part of the fields of the New Continent, and, from many points of view, are linked up with the petroleum industry of the United States. Indeed, there are several authorities who are now urging that it is to Mexico that the United States Government must look if it is to be in a position to furnish the major portion of the petroleum products required for the markets of the world. Another reason for my dealing with Mexico at the moment is that, when development operations are carried a little further, and when ocean transport facilities are available for adequately dealing with the flood of Mexican petroleum, there is not the slightest doubt that Mexico will rank as the second largest country of petroleum production. Its annual output of crude oil is, approximately, 8,000,000 tons, but even this figure in no way represents the productivity of its prolific oil-producing regions, for according to the official statement of the Mexican Government the production in 1918 represented only 10 per cent. of that possible. The Mexican wells have no parallel in the world, large as have been some of the oil-fountains in Russia.
It will be of great interest here to refer briefly to these, and though it would be impossible to detail all those Mexican wells which have ranked quite outside the limits of ordinary producers, I will touch only upon two of these remarkable oil gushers. They both were drilled on the properties owned by the well-known English firm of Pearsons, the operating company being the “Aguila” (Mexican Eagle) Company. It was in 1906 when the Company commenced active drilling operations in Northern Vera Cruz, and though these were very successful from the start, it was two years later that the famous “Dos Bocas” well came in. A heavy gas pressure developed when the rotary drill was down just over 1,800 feet, and in a few minutes the internal pressure manifested itself by bursting the wire-wrapped hose connected with the drilling apparatus. The oil then commenced to come to the surface in an immense stream, and in twenty minutes the well was beyond control. Fissures began to appear in the ground at considerable distance from the well, and through these came oil and gas. One of these fissures opened directly under the boilers, and though the fires had been drawn, the gas ignited. The position was well-nigh hopeless from the start, the well itself was throwing out an 8-inch column of oil hundreds of feet in the air. The force of the volume of oil below ground flung the heavy English drill pipe out of the well, and soon it became impossible to approach within 300 feet of the “mad gusher.” The flames of fire are said to have reached 1,000 feet in height, and inasmuch as all ground round the well had fallen into the cavity caused, they were over 50 feet in diameter. And for 58 days did this gusher burn with all the fury imaginable, its glare being seen far out at sea. Anything approaching an approximate production of oil from this well will never be made: it can safely be recorded, however, that its mad flow of oil ran into many millions of barrels, and it is placed on record that nearly 2,000,000 tons of solid earth were carried away by the force of the oil from the well’s mouth, for a crater of nearly 120,000 square metres was formed round the well.
A GUSHER OF THE MEXICAN EAGLE CO. UNDER CONTROL—A DOME BUILT OVER THE MOUTH
Toward the end of 1910 another surprise was in store for those in charge of drilling operations for the Company, for it was then that the world famous “Protero del Llano” gusher came in. This well ranks as one of the largest, if not the largest, ever associated with the petroleum industry. Its estimated daily flow was over 125,000 barrels, and within three months the well had produced over 8,000,000 barrels of crude oil.
During November, 1919, a new field at Naranjos was developed by the Mexican Eagle Co., and the first three wells to come into production, commenced to yield over 30,000 tons daily.
It says much for the enterprise of the Pearson (Lord Cowdray) interests that they have been able to build up such a remarkable business in Mexico’s oil industry in so comparatively a short space of time. The production of crude oil, as everyone knows, is but the first link in a long chain of commercial oil operations. To-day, the Mexican Eagle Oil Company owns considerably over 250 miles of pipe-line (mostly of 8-inch capacity), possess several miniature railways, and on the fields of production has bulk oil storage accommodation for several million barrels of crude oil. It has also two large refineries—one at Minatitlan and another at Tampico, which together are capable of handling over 5,000 tons (about 35,000 barrels) of crude oil daily, and turning the same into a complete range of high-grade products—motor spirit, illuminating oils, lubricants, fuel oil, paraffin wax, and an asphalt for road-making.
An interesting equipment of this Company in Mexico is that of its sea-loading pipe-lines at Tuxpam. Here, the water inside the bar is too shallow to allow the gigantic bulk oil-carriers of the Company’s associated concern—the Eagle Oil Transport Company, Ltd.—to come alongside and load. Pipe-lines have accordingly been laid on the bed of the sea reaching out to a loading terminal a mile and a half out at sea. Here, the pipe-lines are connected with the steamers by means of flexible hose, and three or four tank vessels can be loaded simultaneously from the storage tanks on shore. In one recent twelve months alone over 200 oil tankers were so loaded in this way, and on the average, each was loaded and dispatched within 2½ days, for the pipe-line facilities permit of 10,000 tons of oil being pumped into the vessel’s tanks every 24 hours.
INSIDE THE DERRICK OF AN AMERICAN OIL WELL
There are several large amalgamations of capital interested in the development of the Mexican fields—American and English, while, prior to the war, the Germans had anxious eyes upon this growing industry, and even formulated plans whereby German interests would be largely represented in its future.
While on the subject of the Mexican fields, might I say that no other oil-producing regions have, in the short space of time during which developments have taken place, exercised such an influence upon the international oil situation as has Mexico. This may be traced to the fact that Mexican oil is an admirable liquid fuel, and as such is now in regular use the world over. The vast consuming centres in the South American Continent have seen that, whereas coal is very dear, it is possible to secure almost unlimited supplies of Mexican fuel oil almost at their own doors, while overseas, consequent upon the advent of the fuel oil age, Mexican fuel oil is playing a most important part, and to-day is in great demand for the mercantile fleet.
Russia.—Long before the commercial value of petroleum and its products was established, Baku—the present centre of the Russian petroleum industry—had become famous for its “Eternal Fires,” and it was to that place the Parsees made pilgrimages for over 1,000 years; in fact, centuries before the Russians occupied the Caucasus, the tribes of Persia eagerly sought the oils of Baku for their curative qualities.
The Russian oil-fields have an output of, approximately, 10,000,000 tons annually, or, roughly, 15 per cent. of the world’s total production of crude oil. Since the time when the petroleum industry was placed upon a commercial footing, the Russian fields have produced 230,000,000 tons of petroleum. Enormous though this quantity is, it has been more than doubled by the United States.
The oil-fields of Baku have gained a distinction for the reason that numerous individual wells have given forth a flood of crude oil which has, with very few exceptions, been unknown in other petroliferous regions. The Baku fields proper embrace the districts of Balakhany, Saboontchi, Romany, and Bibi Eibat: the first three districts stand on a plateau but a few miles from Baku, while Bibi Eibat is located quite near the Caspian Sea, on a bay from which the field takes its name. One remarkable feature of these fields—as showing their prolific oil content—is that the four main oil-producing districts in Baku have an area of less than 4,000 acres. It is in this locality that the Russian petroleum industry, having had its birth, became centred, and though it is known that there are several really promising oil areas in this south-western part of the Caucasus, the fact that the lands belong to the State has been a sufficient stumbling-block to development in the past.
Apart from the Baku fields, the most highly developed oil-field of importance in Russia is that of Grosny, which is situated on the northern slopes of the Caucasian range and connected with the Vladicaucas railway by a branch line. The Grosny field, however, has only been developed during the past fifteen years in what may be called a commercial sense, but its operated area is almost double that of Baku. It has greatly suffered owing to the inadequacy of transport facilities, but in 1919 a project was drafted to build a pipe-line to the Black Sea.
It is not a feature of this little publication that minor regions shall be all enumerated, and thus I may be forgiven if I refer but to one of the several new districts which have recently attracted the attention of both oil operators and speculators. I refer to the Maikop fields, which prominently came before the British investing public in 1910, and which were directly responsible for the oil boom of that year. A few months before, a very prolific spouter of oil had been struck in Maikop, which was then quite an agricultural centre, and enormous excitement followed. Land was quickly taken over at ever-increasing prices, and the boom, for which English capital was largely responsible, lasted for several months. There have been many opinions put forward by supposed experts in oil geology for and against the Maikop oil region, but the kindest thing of all that can be said for the district is that, while there was really no justification for the remarkable Maikop oil boom of 1910, there was certainly no reason why public opinion should so rapidly change in regard to its potentialities. I have every reason to believe that some day Maikop will justify the optimistic opinions held for it during the boom, but in the eyes of the English investor the region bears the stamp of fraud, for the simple reason that so many have invested their savings in it, and have been doomed to acute disappointment.
Some millions of English money went into Maikop oil enterprises during that ill-fated oil boom, but a very small percentage of this went to really prove the contents of the lower strata. The fact that the ground was simply “scratched” and condemned because it did not respond with oil fountains, cannot in the slightest affect the ultimate career of the Maikop oil region, the presence of oil in which has been known even from ancient times. Looking back upon that Maikop oil boom, one cannot but express surprise at our gullibility generally: we stake our faith and our capital upon what at the best is a sheer gamble, and we seem content if we find that anything approaching 20 per cent. of the money subscribed actually goes into the serious development of the scheme which we fancied. There are a few who grow suddenly rich upon the spoils of such oil booms—I know some of these personally, and to me it has always been a source of keen regret that the State does not exercise something of a rigid control over these publicly invested funds. I cannot here refrain, while on the subject of the Maikop oil boom, just making a remark as to the overrated value which the public generally attach to the reports of many gentlemen looked upon as oil experts. Some remarkable stories are associated with the locking up (and loss) of English moneys in the Maikop boom, but the strangest I know is of a Russian who came to England when the boom was at its height, for the purpose of selling a number of Maikop oil claims. There were many prospective buyers, but it was necessary to possess a report from some supposed “oil expert.” To save time, the seller of the claims drafted what he considered quite an alluring statement, and the next day the report, couched in the same language, bore the “expert’s” signature. And the “wheeze” worked.
But to return to the main subject. Prior to 1870, the crude petroleum in the Baku district, as well as in the minor fields of Russia, was obtained from surface pits, dug by hand, and rarely more than 50 feet deep, and the production was carried away from the mouth of the shaft in leathern bottles. The general arrangements were on the most primitive lines, but, nevertheless, the industry—such as it was then—thrived. Even to-day in several fields in Russia we see the survival of the hand-dug wells, but they are steadily becoming a feature of a page of oil-field history which is almost filled.
It was in 1873 that Robert Nobel went to Baku, and to his enterprise and technical genius a great deal of the subsequent rapid development of the Russian industry is due. Boring by steam power was introduced, and the deeper oil horizons were reached, but, owing to the depth at which the strata became commercially productive, it was necessary to commence the well with a starting diameter of 36-40 inches, so as to ensure the requisite depth being obtained with a workable size of baler—for the Baku crude oils are “baled” from the wells. Upon the question of baling wells, I shall have something to say in another chapter.
Under the improved conditions which were introduced in methods of boring and operating the oil-wells, the industry steadily expanded, the general awakening of boring enterprise being best reflected in the number of oil-wells in operation in subsequent years. For instance, in 1893, the Baku fields could boast of but 458 bore-holes; in 1898, the number had increased to 1,107; in 1903, it was about 2,000; while in 1911, there were over 3,000 bore-holes in the Baku fields. There has been a steady decline in the number of these bore-holes since 1914 due in some part, I assume, to the difficulties of securing the requisite materials for new boring, combined with the enormous increase in the cost of the same. The drilling of the wells in Russia is a very expensive item, for they cost from anything over £10,000 up to £15,000, and usually take a couple of years to drill. But when they are down to the producing strata and commence production, it can be taken for granted that they will continue, providing ordinary care is taken of the well itself, for many years to profitably produce.
The Russian petroleum industry is in the hands of a large number of operating firms, the majority of which work quite independently of each other, and these independent firms are responsible for more than one-half of the total output. The other production of the crude oil, representing certainly over 40 per cent., is in the hands of combines representing the large and middle-class firms, prominent among which we get the firm of Messrs. Nobel Brothers, the “Shell” group, and the General Russian Corporation.
The refining of the crude oil is carried out in Baku, the portion of the town in which this operation takes place being known as Blacktown. It does not belie its name either. At one time these refineries, or at least many of them, were erected in the centre of the town of Baku, or near it, and made it almost uninhabitable by their smoke, smell, and refuse, the latter flowing into the streets and the harbour. A special district was therefore selected, to which all had to remove, and it is this portion of the town which forms “Blacktown” to-day.
One of the great difficulties of the Russian refining industry in its commencement was due to the fact that sulphuric acid, so absolute a necessity in petroleum refining, had to be brought from Europe at great expense, but in 1883, Messrs. Nobel built a factory for its production on the spot from Caucasian pyrites, mined in the neighbourhood of Alexandropol. Other factories for the same purpose and for the regeneration of the acids have since that time been established.
As in other great industries, so in regard to the methods by which the Russian crude oil is transported and to-day handled, great strides forward have been made since the early days. Then the whole of the prevailing conditions were primitive: crude oil, for instance, was carried from the Baku wells to the refineries in skins and barrels loaded on carts or camels. Messrs. Nobel Brothers were the first to lay a pipe-line to their factory, but later on pipes were laid between the refineries and the harbour, these obvious improvements meeting with fierce resistance on the part of the workpeople. The transport of the refined products from Baku to the consumers was equally difficult. There was then no railway from Baku to Tiflis, and the only way to the Black Sea was thus effectively shut off. On the other hand, the navigation of the Volga was only possible during six months of the year, while the monopoly of water transport on the Caspian Sea imposed high rates on all Baku petroleum products.
Improvements were again due to the enterprise of Messrs. Nobel Brothers, who built the first cistern waggons for transporting oil on the railways, instead of using the old wooden barrels, which were far from satisfactory. In order, too, to open an outlet on the Black Sea, the same firm, in 1889, constructed a pipe-line from Mikhailovo to Kvirili, over the Suram mountains. Now, of course, we have the great pipe-line running from Baku to Batoum, a distance of nearly 560 miles, and which is responsible for the transport of the quantities of Russian oil exported.
But the Russian petroleum industry has always existed more or less under a cloud. The old regime of Government did not attempt to foster and encourage the industry from which it received so much yearly in royalties, for it must be recollected that the Russian State was the chief gainer by the exploitation of the Baku oil lands, owing to the prevalence of the system of royalties. It seemed to be content to leave the industry to its fate, so long as it received therefrom so substantial a sum in royalties, etc. Instances are on record where operating firms pay the Government 40 per cent., or even more, of their crude oil production as royalties—payment for the privilege of taking the oil from the ground. Such conditions have been relentlessly imposed, and it is not surprising to find that, operating under this burden of expense, numerous firms find it quite out of the question to earn profits for their shareholders. Several English enterprises come into this category, but the fault is not of their seeking; it is, however, to be regretted, for once an equitable system of payments is arranged, the Russian petroleum industry will expand in a healthy manner, and become a much greater source of revenue to the State than it is at present.
But, apart from the troubles which have to be faced by the Baku oil producers, and which we may call Governmental, the relation between the employers and workpeople is far from being friendly. To-day, of course, it is worse than it was under the old regime of the Tzar, and then it was bad enough. The oil-field workman in Russia is the incarnation of all that is unsatisfactory. He works when he thinks he will, he labours under grievances, many of which are purely imaginary, and then he ventilates his spite upon his masters. The pages of history tell of many a conflict between capital and labour in the Baku oil-fields, with the consequent burning of all that would take fire on the fields, and the damaging of the producing wells by the workpeople. Instances are placed on record where, in a single night, dozens of productive oil-wells, which have taken years to bring into production, have been irreparably damaged by these oil-field workers. Their life, admitted, is nothing to write books upon, and their environments are in some cases of the worst description, rendered no better by the natural aptitude of the people themselves. But their views upon labour are of the most Utopian imaginable. During recent years, there has been a sort of combination between these operatives, whose socialistic tendencies run high, and less than two years ago they collectively put before the managers of the oil-fields the conditions under which they would in future work. There were nearly 100 different claims detailed, and a few of these are worthy of mention, as showing the appreciation of fairness which is instilled in the mind of the Russian oil-field worker. In the first place, a 50 per cent. increase in wages was desired, this to be retrospective. Holidays had to be paid for by the masters, and when the worker went on strike he had to receive his full pay from the master until such strike was settled. Then the workmen had to be represented on the board of management of the companies, their houses had to be improved by the masters, free railway and tramway accommodation had to be provided, etc. Generally, the demands put forward were distinctly arbitrary, though in many cases very humorous.
Recent events in the conduct of affairs in Russia do not suggest that great improvements may be expected in the near future, either in regard to the attitude of the Government toward the Russian petroleum industry, or to the attitude of the workers to those responsible for oil-field operations. Even before the European War, the Russian petroleum industry was rather on the decline. The only hope that can be expressed at this juncture is that when Russia possesses a stable government, and the country enters upon a period of peaceful progress, the Mining Department will take care that Russia takes its proper position as one of the most important oil-producing countries in the world. But before this comes about, there will have to be a complete revision of the Government’s policy respecting oil royalties. The destruction, however, wrought in Baku towards the end of 1918 will take several years to make good.
ROUMANIA: A FEW OF THE HAND DUG WELLS IN BUSTENARI
Roumania.—During comparatively recent time, Roumania has come prominently forward as one of the large petroleum-producing countries of the world, and its yearly output of crude oil, according to latest returns, is about 11,000,000 barrels, or, say, 1,600,000 tons. The production of petroleum in the country, however, has been proceeding for centuries, for, in the seventeenth century, the peasants were in the habit of digging wells by hand and selling the crude oil for medicinal purposes, the greasing of cart-wheels, as well as for lighting. There are many places in Roumania which are named from petroleum, a fact which points to the existence of the industry long before the present-day methods of extraction were thought of. Several hundreds of these hand-dug wells still exist round the fringe of the Transylvanian and Carpathian Alps, and though many of them have now fallen into decay, there are numerous others from which a payable quantity of petroleum is extracted by primitive methods.
The hand-dug wells in Roumania are highly interesting relics of a period which is now relegated to the past, though so long as the Roumanian petroleum industry exists, so long will the old hand-dug wells be associated with it. These wells are about 5 feet in diameter, and are sunk through alternate layers of clay, schisty clay, sandy clay, sandstone, and petroliferous sand to the more shallow oil horizons. They are dug by workmen who descend dressed with the minimum of clothing, usually saturated with oil, and wearing a tin hat to protect the head from falling stones, etc. The sides of the wells are lined with impermeable clay, which is protected by wicker-work. The man is lowered by a rope, air being supplied to him by means of bellows. At some places the rotary fan was employed more recently, but somehow it frequently happened that it was operated in the wrong direction, and the unfortunate digger was asphyxiated. These old wells have a depth of about 450 feet, and though their yield of oil is not considerable, it has for many years been a paying proposition to those engaged in this primitive method of petroleum production. The excavated earth, when digging these wells, was brought to the surface in buckets, lowered and raised by means of either manual labour or horse traction. When the first oil source was reached and the extraction of the crude oil commenced, this was accomplished by means of the use of wooden buckets or leather skins, one being lowered empty while the other was raised full. By this means it was possible to raise as much as 20 tons of the oil per day—quite a considerable amount, considering the primitive means adopted.
Mechanical developments throughout the Roumanian oil-fields on a more or less serious scale began about 1898, as the result of the introduction of foreign capital, and, from that time to the present, the history of the Roumanian petroleum industry has been one steady period of continued expansion. Various systems of drilling have been introduced into the work of developing old fields or opening up new centres, but in regard to these I shall deal at length in another chapter. The advent of the rotary method of drilling, however, opened up a new era for expansion in 1912, and since that time Roumania has made more marked progress than at any time previously.
The Roumanian oil-fields, as at present defined, cover a region roughly 20 miles in width, and extend to a length of between 300 and 400 miles, with, of course, numerous breaks. Of the numerous petroliferous regions in Roumania, those of Campina-Bustenari, Gura-Ocnitza, Moreni, and Baicoi-Tzintea among them provide about 95 per cent. of the total production, and, with the one exception of the Moreni field, all have been previously exploited by hand-dug wells.
The prosperity of the Roumanian industry has been directly the result of the influx of foreign capital, and the majority of the 550,000,000 francs employed in it, is mostly made up of British, American, and German capital. The principal English Company in the fields is the Roumanian Consolidated Oil-fields, Ltd., which concern, with its capital of one and three-quarter millions sterling, represents an amalgamation of many small companies.
Space forbids my referring at length to the momentous happenings in the Roumanian fields towards the end of 1916, but they will ever form one of the most interesting—and at the same time the most tragic—incidents associated with Roumania’s petroleum industry. At that time, the German armies were pushing their way toward Roumania, and, in fact, having crossed the border, were marching on for possession not merely of territorial gains, but in order to secure themselves of large quantities of petroleum products by capturing the prolific oil-fields of the country. It was at that critical time that the British Government sent out its Military Mission, headed by Colonel (now Sir) John Norton Griffiths, completely to destroy all that was valuable in connection with the oil-fields, the refineries, and the installations. One night the Mission arrived at the offices of the Roumanian Consolidated Oil-fields, Ltd., and made its plan of campaign clear. There was nothing to be done but to fall in with it, and the following morning practically everything was destroyed, or rather, a start was made to destroy it. And the destruction was carried out in a complete manner, for not only one, but several concerns which had been steadily built up to perfection as the result of many years of careful and systematic expansion, were all wiped out, excepting in name. The oil-wells were plugged beyond all hope of repair, the refineries were dismantled, machinery broken, pipe-line connections damaged, and both crude and refined oil stocks burned. It was the most tragic proceeding ever recorded in oil-field history, but it was necessary, and not carried out one day too soon, for the incoming armies were dangerously near.
BUSTENARI—ROUMANIA’S FAMOUS OIL REGION
The Germans lost no time in making good a great deal of the damage to the fields, and at the time of the armistice it was stated that the crude oil output of Roumania was up to 80 per cent. of its pre-war level.
Now that the various allied interests are again operating in the Roumanian fields, considerable expansion of the country’s petroleum industry is being planned, though the pre-war German interests therein are now taken over by the Allies.
During the past decade Roumania has necessarily catered for the export trade, for the volume of crude oil produced has been far beyond its requirements. The great petroleum storage port of Constantza has been made the centre for this export business, and the completion of a trunk pipe-line from the Roumanian refineries to the port was one of the most recent enterprises undertaken by the Roumanian Government prior to the war. During the period when Roumania was under German control its terminal point was so changed that the line ran to a spot which rendered the transport of petroleum to Germany a matter of ease. Now, however, Germany’s plans have been frustrated, and Roumania’s great pipe-line will have its terminal point at Constantza, where all kinds of petroleum products can be pumped direct to the oil tankers.
The Dutch Indies.—The growth of the petroleum industry in the Dutch Indies has been surprisingly rapid, and this growth synchronizes with the advent of the “Shell” Company into the Far Eastern fields. It is stated that there are many hundreds of square miles of territory in the East Indian Islands which can be remuneratively developed; at the moment, however, though but the fringe of exploitation has been touched, the production has been amazing. Eighteen years ago, it was placed at 300,000 tons of crude oil; last year it nearly reached 2,000,000 tons. In Sumatra several companies successfully operated for many years, but most of them eventually became merged with the Royal Dutch Company, whose interests now are also those of the “Shell” Company. As to Borneo, the “Shell” Company commenced active developments in 1900, or thereabouts, for it had acquired an area of approximately 460 square miles. The fields rapidly responded to the drill, and the crude oil production rose by leaps and bounds. The crude was of a high-grade character, and for a long time it taxed the energies of those responsible for the good conduct of the concern, as to exactly what should be done with some of the refined products. As a matter of fact, some thousands of tons were burned, for at that time there was little or no demand for motor spirit. I well remember when the Company’s Chairman—Sir Marcus Samuel—faced the shareholders in 1900 and explained that if only the Company could realize 6d. per gallon for its motor spirit, what handsome profits would accrue. But events have marched quickly since those days. The motor-car has come to stay, and what seemed a useless product of the Far Eastern oils in the early days of development, is now one of the chief sources of revenue. The advent of the heavier motor spirits has also been of great benefit to the Borneo petroleum industry, for the public has grown accustomed to recognize that it is not specific gravity which counts in the quality of motor spirit, but the closeness of the boiling points of its constituent fractions. To-day, the Far Eastern fields supply enormous quantities of refined products to the consuming markets of the Eastern hemisphere, and so long as the supplying centres continue their present productivity, there need be no talk of approaching famine, for, if necessary—providing facilities permitted—these regions could materially increase their present output of petroleum products.
OIL PRODUCTION IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THE INDUSTRY IN BURMAH
India also ranks to-day as a very important petroleum producing region, the fields of Upper Burmah—in which the Burmah Oil Company operates—being responsible for practically the whole production. In another part of this little publication, I deal briefly with this Company’s operations, so, for the moment, it is sufficient to mention that, though to-day they produce large quantities of petroleum, there are several new districts which show much promise of new production. For many years the Upper Burmah fields were exploited by means of very shallow wells: it was only when the deeper strata were reached that the potentialities of the region became fully manifest.
AN OLD JAPANESE WAY OF OPERATING THE WELLS
Japan, as an oil-producing country, affords food for an interesting story, for it was here that very early attempts were made to develop production. Even in the seventh century, the Emperor was presented with “burning water” with which the Palace was lighted. The crude oil was collected from pools, or, alternately, wells were dug by hand, the process of extraction being very picturesque, if very primitive. To-day, Echigo is the centre of the industry, for which the introduction of European methods of drilling have worked wonders in regard to progress. The Celestials consume large quantities of petroleum, especially for lighting purposes, and in spite of the now considerable yields from the wells, a gigantic trade is regularly done in imported oils, especially those of American origin, for which there is a most up-to-date organization for distribution. The statement that American petroleum products find their way to every quarter of the globe is strangely exemplified in Japan (as also in China), where the ubiquitous tin container for petroleum can be seen in the most isolated parts.
THE GALICIAN FIELDS, SHOWING DAMAGE DONE BY THE RUSSIAN ARMIES WHEN RETREATING IN 1916
Galicia.—Since the commencement of the period when petroleum and its products assumed a degree of industrial importance, the Galician oil regions have attracted considerable attention. The area of the oil-fields extends over a length of 200 miles, and in width varies from 40 to 60 miles, and though in this territory several fields of considerable note have for many years been systematically developed, there is enormous scope for future operations. Its annual output of crude oil, which nearly reached 1,900,000 tons in 1909, is in itself suggestive of the extensive manner in which the oil-producing fields have been developed during late years. The oil-field history of Galicia is particularly interesting, for the oil seepages round Boryslaw have been exploited for very many years. Long before the introduction of the drilling methods of modern times, the shallow oil sources in the Galician fields were tapped by means of the hand-dug wells, but it was only when the first drilled well was sunk in 1862 that the real value of the Galician ozokerite, which abounds in many places in the oil-fields, was appreciated by the operators. This ozokerite is one of the most valuable of bitumens, and though found in several countries, is nowhere met with in such large quantities as in Galicia. The ozokerite there fills the fissures in the much disturbed cpaly, and evidently originates from a natural process of concentration. The mines are operated by modern machinery, and the industry in Galicia has reached a stage of great importance, some thousands of tons of the mineral being yearly raised. The material is refined, and the resulting wax serves numerous commercial purposes, the refining taking place in the Austro-Hungarian refineries. Considerable quantities of the raw material are exported to Germany and Russia, while the refined products are well known on the export markets. About seven years ago, serious water trouble materially reduced the production of the Galician oil-wells (for when the water courses are not properly shut off, water may encroach and cause the loss of the producing well), but the trouble was to some extent surmounted by the taking of greater care in cementing the wells. The introduction and consequent popularity of the modern drilling methods which were introduced by Mr. W. H. Margarvey in 1882 permitted the testing of the deeper horizons of the Galician fields, and to-day wells are by no means uncommon with depths up to and sometimes exceeding 4,000 feet. The Boryslaw-Tustanowice district still continues to be the centre of the crude oil production, but several new oil areas with great promise have been opened up during the past six years. Naturally, the European War has retarded development work considerably, and the Galician fields have on more than one occasion been the scene of battle. At one time in 1915 they passed over to the Russians, but when the Russian retreat occurred later from Lemberg, considerable damage was done to the fields in order to prevent their being of immediate use to the enemy. The wells were seriously damaged, and the State refinery at Drohobitz was partially dismantled, while immense reserves of refined oil stocks were burned.
The Galician oil industry has for years attracted the attention of foreign capitalists, for the highly remunerative nature of petroleum exploitation is generally appreciated. Prior to the European war German capital was very largely interested in the Galician industry, and the majority of Allied companies had Germans as their local representatives, but all this is now changed, and in the future Allied capital will be considerably increased. The Premier Company is the largest English concern in the Galician fields.
Germany has made great endeavours in the past to institute a petroleum industry of its own, but no great success has been recorded, for while it does possess several oil-producing areas, these are only small fields, with a very limited yield of heavy petroleums. The wells, though producing for many years steadily, do not give forth those large quantities of petroleum so characteristic of the best wells in other petroleum-producing fields, and flowing wells are indeed very rare. Germany, therefore, has to look to imported petroleum for its large demands.
In a succeeding chapter I refer at length to those oil regions which come within the limits of a chapter, “Petroleum in the British Empire”: there is no need at the moment to make reference to them here.
Space does not permit my even briefly touching upon the many other oil regions of the world which are now being successfully operated; it is certain, however, as time goes on that their number will be materially increased.
CHAPTER III
HOW PETROLEUM IS PRODUCED
Time was when the engineering aspect of the production of petroleum was practically non-existent. The ancients, and even those of the last century, were content to resort to the most primitive means for winning petroleum from the earth. Shallow wells were sunk or dug by hand, the eventual securing of the oil being carried out by lowering primitive receptacles (generally leather bottles) into the hole. It was a period long before the advent of the Oil Age, and the methods employed were clearly in keeping with the mode of life of that day. In practically every oil-producing field of the world—though in this respect the United States is almost an exception—the history records the fact that for many years the extraction of oil from the ground was confined to the use of the primitive methods which held sway in those days—those associated with the operations of the hand-dug wells. In the Far East, notably in Japan, we find the first serious attempts to obtain and utilize petroleum, for as far back as A.D. 615, there were shallow wells in existence, from which the “burning water,” as it was called, was collected. In Roumania and Russia, too, the earlier attempts to create a petroleum industry were confined to these methods.
It was only when the demand for petroleum became large and consistently increased with the opening up of new fields, that we find other and more practical methods were introduced for winning larger quantities of the oil from the earth. To-day, in every branch of the industry associated with petroleum—whether it be in producing the crude oil, in transporting it, or in refining Nature’s product into those numerous commodities which are part and parcel of everyday life—the engineering aspect is one of very great importance. In fact, throughout the petroleum industry, engineering science is the Alpha and Omega. By its means we are now able to carefully study the nature of the ground at depths of 6,000 feet, and to extract from the deep lying strata a wealth of minerals; we are able, too, to transport thousands of tons of crude oil daily across thousands of miles of continent, while is it not the direct result of engineering science which allows over 15,000 tons of petroleum products to be carried across the oceans of the world in one vessel with the same ease that one would take a rowing boat from one side of a lake to another?
Great, however, as have been the degrees of progress recorded in connection with drilling for petroleum, the old methods, generally speaking, and which date back to the days of early China, are still largely copied in all pole and percussion systems of drilling, and though steam has replaced manual labour (and electricity now bids fair to replace steam), the operating principles to-day are the same as then. The only exception, of course, is the advent and growing popularity of the rotary method of drilling, to which interesting phase of the subject I will briefly refer later.
The old Eastern method of drilling has obviously been the forerunner of the Canadian, standard, and other systems of to-day, the wire rope replacing the use of poles. In oil-field work, the principal types of percussion drills used are known (1) as the Pennsylvanian cable, (2) the Canadian pole, and (3) the Russian free-fall system, and though from time to time many attempts have been made to introduce modifications of these, the vast majority have been unsuccessful in their operation.
The Pennsylvanian cable system was used for drilling the earliest oil-wells in the United States, and doubtless took its name from the fact that it was so largely used in that oil region. As may also be gathered from the name, the principal feature in this system is the cable by which the tools are suspended and connected to the walking beam. There is no doubt that this system of drilling, which has been so universally used in the oil-fields, gives most satisfactory results. When first introduced in Pennsylvania, the cable system of drilling was particularly simple, and did remarkably good work, for the reason that the strata usually encountered was of such a nature that it did not cave, and, as a result, the well-pipe was only lowered when the full depth of that string had been drilled. The drilling bits were seldom more than 4 inches thick. In order to give a rotary motion to the bit, the continuous twisting of the cable to and fro was necessary; but when in other fields, where deeper strata had to be explored, the cable system was introduced, the semi-sandy nature of the strata called for wells of larger diameter with correspondingly larger drilling bits. As a consequence of the additional weight of the drilling bit, it was found that the swing of the tools was sufficient to give them a rotating movement for the drilling of a circular hole. In regions where caving-in of the walls of the wells was liable to occur, the string of pipe had to closely follow the tools, which, with the old Pennsylvanian type of rig, meant frequent winding of the cable from the bull wheel, so as to allow of the well pipes being handled.
In order to prevent the waste of time which these operations occasioned, the calf wheel was added, by means of which the pipe could be lowered into the hole without the removal of the drilling cable. This cable almost invariably was of the Manila character, and in many instances this rope is retained to-day, though wire ropes have been introduced frequently.
The Canadian pole system, which is largely in use in oil-field operations, is, like the first-mentioned method of drilling, of the percussion type, the chief essential difference being that, instead of a cable connecting the tools to the surface, poles are used. In former times, these poles were of ash-wood, but with the extended use of the system, iron rods took their place. The introduction of these iron rods was a distinct advantage, for they could be welded to whatever lengths are required, whereas the wooden poles, which were seldom more than 20 feet long, had to be spliced for practical work. The rig used with the Canadian system is not so powerful as that for the Pennsylvanian method, but the one great advantage of the Canadian system is that, for the drilling of shallow oil-wells, it could be operated by men of less experience. The success which has attended the operation of the pole system lies in the fact that although drilling by its means is very slow—for seldom is 250 feet per month exceeded—it is one of the best methods of drilling through complicated strata, and, in the hands of conscientious men, does highly satisfactory work. It might be of interest to very briefly refer to the operations of the system when a well is being drilled. The rig (that is, the superstructure above ground) is quite a simple framing, 70 or more feet high, with a base of about 20 feet. The power is usually derived from a steam engine, with the usual means for operating the gear from the derrick; fuel found locally, natural gas, or other form of heating agent used. One shaft and two spools running in bearings transmit the various motions desired, the drive being taken up by a pulley attached to the main shaft. On this shaft are keyed two band pulleys, which communicate by belting with two spools running immediately overhead in the upper part of the framework. Fastened to one extremity of the main shaft is a disc crank, which, through the medium of a connecting rod, transmits an oscillating movement to an overhead pivoted walking beam. In all systems of percussion drilling, the drilling bit is raised and then dropped a distance of several feet, the result being that the strata to be drilled are steadily pounded away. As the ground is pulverized by the percussion tools, the debris has to be cleared away so as to enable the drill to fall freely and to deliver clean blows to the unbroken strata, and this work is performed by appliances known as bailers and sand pumps. There is no need for me to go into the numerous technical details regarding this or any other system of drilling, for my only desire is to give a general impression as to the usual methods adopted for the winning of petroleum.
I will therefore pass on to deal briefly with the Russian free-fall system so much in vogue in the Russian fields. Incidentally, I may here say that when drilling for oil in Russia, one has to recollect several features which are not common to the development of other oil-fields. Bearing in mind the great depth to which wells have to be sunk to reach the prolific oil horizons in the majority of the fields in Russia, which necessitates starting the well with a very large diameter—frequently 30 inches—it will be easily appreciated that the loss of a hole in the course of drilling is a very expensive affair. The Russian free-fall system of boring necessitates patient and hard manual labour. It is, as its name implies, of the percussion type, and is, in fact, a modified pole-tool system which well suits the local conditions. The clumsy drilling tools have a practically free drop, being picked up when the walking beam is at its lowest point, and released at the top of the stroke. When released, the tools naturally force their way downwards in the strata, and are released only with difficulty, although in a measure this difficulty is minimized on account of the fact that the under-reaming (slightly enlarging the diameter of the hole) is done simultaneously with the drilling.
After a Russian well has been started by means of a slip-hook suspended from a haulage rope, and a depth of some 30 feet obtained, the free-fall is added to the string of tools. This free-fall is composed of two separate parts—the rod and the body—and these are held together by means of a wedge working in vertical slots cut in the sides of the body. In operating the free-fall, the handles, fixed to the temper screw, are held by the driller. On the downward stroke these are pushed forward from right to left, but as soon as the downward stroke is completed, they are quickly pulled backwards. The steel wedge enters the recess and the tools are carried to the top of the stroke, where, by a quick forward jerk, the wedge is thrown clear of the recess, and the tools drop freely, the momentum of the string of tools driving the drilling bit deeper into the hole. After several feet of the hole are drilled, the tools have to be withdrawn in order to allow the pulverized mass of debris to be cleared away, while, owing to the caving nature of the strata, it is necessary to case the well as drilling proceeds.
As I have said, the system is very cumbersome, but, in the hands of experienced men, it does its work well, if but slowly. There are many cases on record where, when the well has assumed a considerable depth, it has been completely spoiled by the carelessness of the operators, but, more often than not, this has been deliberate, for the Caucasian oil-field worker has many grievances, admittedly more or less imaginary.
ILLUSTRATION OF THE “OILWELL” HEAVY ROTARY OUTFIT, SHOWING RING AND WEDGE (ON LEFT-HAND SIDE OF FOREGROUND) TO GRIP THE CASING
During recent years, the rotary method of drilling has been successfully adopted, and it is in regard to this revolutionary method of speedy drilling that I will now touch upon. The rotary method of drilling made its début in Texas some fourteen years ago, and since then it is not any exaggeration to say that nearly 20,000 wells for oil have been drilled with the system, which has found popularity in all the oil-fields of the world. Its main operation is simplicity itself: a rigid stem of heavy pipe rotates a fish-tail drilling bit at the bottom of the hole, cutting and stirring up the formation to be drilled. It cuts its way through the underground formations, much in the same way as a screw when rotated forces its way through wood. It is the essence of speed in drilling, for, unlike the necessary principles to be adopted in the percussion methods of drilling, the rotary drill does not have to be lifted from the hole for the purposes of clearing. The pulverized strata are continuously washed from the hole by a stream of water reaching the bottom of the drill. Very frequently, a pressure-fed mud is used, and this serves a double purpose, for in its return to the surface it tends to plaster the walls of the well. The mud emerges in streams of high velocity from the two apertures in the drilling bit (for in its downward course it is carried through the drilling pipe or stem), but naturally loses this velocity considerably in its return to the surface. It is, however, very easy to detect the kind of stratum being drilled through from the returned cuttings, these reaching the surface but a few minutes after the drilling bit has entered the formation.
From time to time various grievances have been ventilated against this improved system of boring for petroleum, but to-day its adoption is world-wide, and by its use wells which, with the old-fashioned method of drilling would take many months if not two or three years, are now got down to the producing horizons in but a few weeks. It is, in fact, solely due to the ever-increasing use of the rotary drill that the universally increased demands for petroleum products have been met by an ever-increasing production of the crude oil.
Leaving the question of drilling methods, I cannot fail to mention the interesting fact that in oil-field operations progress is now being recorded in another direction, and that is by the increasing utilization of electrical power in the place of steam. At the time of writing, it is safe to say that fully 60 per cent. of the power requirements on the oil-fields is provided for by steam plants, with their attendant waste. Oil and gas engines, with their greater efficiency, may claim to be operated to an extent of 35 per cent., while not more than 5 per cent. of the requirements are satisfied by the use of electric motors. There is no doubt that prejudice has had a deal to do with the very minimized use of electrical power on the oil-fields in the past, but this is being gradually swept aside, and, in the next few years, I have no doubt that both electrical manufacturers and the petroleum industry generally will materially benefit from the use of this cheap and very economical form of power. In the past, many disastrous oil-field conflagrations have been due solely to the use of open-fired engines in close proximity to the wells, but with the use of electrical energy this fire danger will be rapidly removed.
Before closing this chapter, I would say a word or two with respect to the bringing into the producing stage of the oil-wells when once they have been drilled. In the early history of oil-held developments, it was not infrequent to find the crude oil ejected from the well by natural pressure, but to-day it is the exception to find those oil-fountains which have made the early history of the Russian oil-fields so famous. In many of the fields, explosives are used to promote the flow of oil, and when the well “comes in” to production, the ordinary methods of bailing or pumping are resorted to. Compressed air is also used for bringing about and sustaining production. The quantity of air and the periods of admission naturally vary with the diameters of the wells, the amount of gas present, the level of the liquid, etc., which latter also determines the pressure of air necessary.
The natural exhaustion of oil-wells can obviously have no remedy, but areas conveying that impression can often be revived by methods, the study of which is being carefully continued. As I write, I find that the officials of the United States Bureau of Mines, who have been studying this question of exhaustion, have arrived at the conclusion that from 20 to as much as 90 per cent. of the crude oil remains in the strata tapped by the well, even when it is abandoned as no longer capable of profitable production. This conclusion opens up what may prove some day to be a most interesting chapter in oil-field history.
CHAPTER IV
THE REFINING OF PETROLEUM
Inasmuch as the aim of this little volume is to interest other than those who are directly associated with the petroleum industry, I shall endeavour in this chapter to refer to the refining of petroleum in a manner which shall be readily understood by the reader, and shall, wherever possible, refrain from entering into those highly technical matters which do not lend themselves to popular expression.
The refining of crude oil as it is produced from the earth, consists in the classification of its various hydrocarbons by means of fractional distillation, into the various products which so largely enter into our commercial and domestic life of to-day. The refined products, in the order in which they are received by distillation, are: motor spirit, illuminating oils, solar oils, lubricating oils, fuel oils, residuum, etc.—the first mentioned being the lightest and the last the heaviest in specific gravity.
Almost simultaneously with the discovery of petroleum, there sprung up the first attempts to refine Nature’s product, and though these early experiments were of a most primitive character, they doubtless served their purpose admirably. In this respect, probably the most primitive oil refinery in the world was built near the Tigris, in Mesopotamia.
Crude petroleum varies in its character, for while certain crudes are pale in colour and almost transparent, others are almost black and viscid. Some, indeed, would appear to have undergone a course of refining by Nature itself, for in some fields the crude oil will freely burn in lamps without any refining treatment: in the vast majority of cases, however, the crude oil, as withdrawn from the producing wells, represents a liquid somewhat like molten tar.
The chemical composition of petroleum consists essentially of carbon and hydrogen, together with oxygen and varying amounts of nitrogen and sulphur. The crude from Pennsylvania—and this is the finest crude in the United States—consists chiefly of a large number of hydrocarbons of the paraffin series, whilst in the Russian petroleums, the predominant constituents are naphthenes or polymethylenes. Then the crude petroleum of the Dutch Indies and Burmah is of a different character from that found elsewhere, for in it aromatic hydrocarbons are largely present. The various series of hydrocarbons found in crude oils—the paraffins and naphthenes—readily lend themselves to conversion into other compounds of carbon and hydrogen by dissociation, and this conversion produces compounds of higher volatility, such as motor spirits, etc. When the compounds of hydrogen and carbon are submitted to distillation, certain chemical changes occur, as the result of which other series of hydrocarbons are formed, and, though it is not my intention here to dive into this comparatively new realm of chemical investigation, it is interesting to mention that, by carrying the treatment of the compounds still further, it is possible to obtain aromatic hydrocarbons, including trinitrotoluene (generally known as the explosive T.N.T.), in addition to various dye products.
In the earlier methods of refining, the stills usually consisted of a vertical cylinder in which the charge of crude oil was distilled almost to dryness, but this method was completely revolutionized many years ago, especially in the United States, by the introduction and immediate success of a principle known as the “cracking” process, and by the separation of the distillation into two portions, one for the removal of the more volatile constituents in the crude oil (such as motor spirit) and the other for the treatment of the heavier products.
DIAGRAM SHOWING THE PRODUCTS OF PETROLEUM BY FRACTIONAL DISTILLATION
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I will first deal with the method of refining known as the “straight” process, or the process which does not involve “cracking.” At one time, the refiner had to consider the saleability of his refined products before he commenced to refine them, but to-day, with the perfect system which prevails for the handling of huge quantities of refined products, and the transporting of them to the most distant markets, the one desire of the refiner is, naturally, to secure from his treatment of the crude oil, as many refined products as possible, always keeping an eye on the production of the largest quantities of the higher priced products than upon those which are of low value.
The process of refining to be applied to any particular oil naturally depends upon its composition as shown by analysis. It may be that the crude oil to be treated, apart from containing a small percentage of distillates with a low boiling point (motor spirit), is principally made up of residues of little value except as fuel, or, on the other hand, it may be that the crude oil is of high quality and contains all possible products. In the former case, the process of distillation is brief, and the plant inexpensive, as compared with the lengthy process of full refining necessitated in the latter case.
The refining operations consist of three distinct branches: (1) the distillation, (2) the extracting of paraffin and refining, and (3) the chemical treatment. When only a small percentage of the low boiling fractions has to be removed from the crude oil, the process is known as “topping,” and a convenient form of apparatus for the purpose is the tower still. This consists of a vertical cylinder fitted with perforated plates resting at intervals on pipes through which superheated steam travels. The pipes serve the double purpose of conveying the steam to its inlet and of heating the oil to be distilled. The steam, on entering the cylinder, ascends, meeting the crude oil, as it descends from plate to plate in a regulated stream, and carrying with it to the outlet the light fractions which the operation is intended to remove.
DIAGRAM SHOWING THE PRODUCTS OF PETROLEUM OBTAINED BY THE “CRACKING” PROCESS
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A few years ago, a Californian chemist invented an improvement of the principles of maximum heating and evaporating surfaces. His name was Trumble, and the process is known as the Trumble process. The crude oil is heated to the desired temperature in pipes or retorts set in a primary furnace, the hot gases of combustion from which are utilized to heat the distillation chamber proper. Entering the vertical cylinder at the top, the oil is spread over and through perforated plates falling on a cone-shaped plate to divert the continuous stream of oil to the sides of the still, down which it flows in a thin film. Other conical plates, arranged at intervals underneath, maintain the flow in the desired channel until it reaches the outlet at the bottom. When 60 or 70 per cent. (comprising the motor spirit series, the kerosenes, and perhaps the intermediate fractions) are to be removed, it is common practice to distil the crude oil in a series of stills, cylindrical in shape, connected continuously. The best-known system is that patented 35 years ago by Mr. Henderson, of the Broxburn Oil Company, Ltd., for the distillation of shale oil, and since adopted by many refiners of petroleum. In this system, the crude oil flows from a charging tank by gravity through a pre-heater, heated by the passage, from the second or other still, of distillates of suitable temperature, and thence into the first still. Here it is raised to distillation temperature, and the specific gravity of the distillate therefrom fixed. The feed of the crude oil is constant, the residue formed in the still passing through a connection at the bottom into the second still in the series, at the top, and led from back to front so that the inlet and outlet shall be as far apart as possible. It is here raised to a higher temperature, yielding a distillate of higher specific gravity, the residue passing on to the next still, and so on through the series of stills until it reaches the point where all the motor spirit (or benzine, as it is called), kerosene, and the intermediate distillates are removed.
The distillates obtained from the refining of the crude are usually purified by treatment successively with sulphuric acid and solution of caustic soda, this process of chemical treatment being necessary before the products are fit for the market.
The “cracking” process of distillation briefly consists in distilling the oils at a temperature higher than the normal boiling points of the constituents it is desired to decompose, and, in practice, the result is that the heavier oils are turned into lighter hydrocarbons of lower boiling points: thus the yield of the more valuable of the refined products is materially increased. The “cracking” process, which very largely obtains to-day, was quite accidentally discovered by a small refiner in America many years ago. The man in charge of the still left it with the intention of returning very shortly. He was, however, absent for several hours, and to his dismay found that; as the result of his neglect in attending to the still, a very light coloured distillate of much lower density than that which it was usual to obtain, was issuing from the condenser.
Upon investigation, it was found that a portion of the distillate had condensed upon the upper part of the still, which was cooler, and had dropped back into the still, where the temperature was sufficient to produce products of a lower boiling point—certainly a distinct improvement. As may be imagined, this “cracking” process does not commence until the lighter products of distillation have been removed, and is now so popular because by its use a greater yield can be obtained of those more valuable products for which there is an ever-increasing demand.
It is unnecessary here to enter into those various improvements which have been introduced from time to time, all of which have as their aim the production of larger quantities of refined oils, and it would likewise be invidious to enumerate even the more popular scientists to whose energies much of the resulting progress has been due, for the simple reason that it has ever been the aim of the petroleum chemist to turn his abilities in the direction indicated.
As may be imagined, the industry of petroleum refining has had to adapt itself to the altered conditions of to-day. For instance, prior to the advent of the internal combustion engine, which now is responsible for such a wide application of motor spirit, the demand for this, the lightest product of petroleum distillation, was non-existent. Consequently, when such spirit was produced, there was no market for it, and its production represented sheer loss to the refiners. Both in the Far East and in Russia, we have examples of the enormous loss which accrued to the refiners by reason of there being no market for this highly inflammable product. In the Far Eastern fields, in particular, this loss was very heavy, for in the earlier days of its operations, the “Shell” Company had to remove thousands of tons of this now valuable motor spirit from its refineries and burn it in the open fields. The successful introduction of the internal combustion engine, however, completely changed the aspect of petroleum refining, and the desire became general, not to see how little motor spirit could be produced, but to perfect methods by which the yield of the benzene series of hydrocarbons should be as large as possible. Even to-day progress is still being recorded in this direction, and each American refiner is vying with his neighbour as to how far that output of gasoline, as it is there called, can be increased.
Many and varied are the means which have been resorted to for this purpose, but most of them have reference to improvements in the processes for refining the crude oil. One, however, is worthy of being mentioned in this little treatise, inasmuch as it deals with quite another aspect of the problem of increased motor spirit supply.
As I have mentioned in another chapter, enormous quantities of natural gas exude from the oil-wells, and this in the past has been for the most part allowed to go to waste in the air, causing an ever-present danger to oil-field operations on account of its liability to ignite. Being heavier than the air itself, for it is impregnated with oil gases, it remains for long periods in the lower air strata, and, consequently, not infrequently, has been the direct cause of great oil-field fires. This gas—casing-head gas, as it is termed—comes from the oil-wells between the casing and the tubing, and, in the case of numerous wells, the flow is remarkable, some wells giving forth 300,000 cubic feet of gas every 24 hours, and the only useful purpose that this vapour has served until recent years has been to light several towns situated comparatively near to the oil-producing fields. The great volume of the gas, however, has been allowed to go to waste.
But experiments have proved that the gas is capable of condensation into motor spirit, and the general yield of such spirit may be taken as fully 2 gallons per 1,000 cubic feet of natural gas treated. What wonderful possibilities lie in the direction of the conversion of this vapour into motor spirit! The oil-producers in the United States have not been slow to appreciate this, and to-day there are hundreds of plants in the United States which have been erected solely to condense these oil-well gas vapours. Some of these plants are dealing with as much as 3,000,000 cubic feet of gas a day. The most recent official returns available from the United States show that the production of gasoline (motor spirit) from this process of oil gas condensation is, approximately, 150,000,000 gallons per annum, and even this substantial figure is being steadily increased.
There is also another phase of the oil-refining industry which, during recent years, has materially altered. I refer to the production of solar oil during distillation. It is an apt saying that we can scarcely look to any section of our commercial or domestic life without being confronted with the fact that oil products play some part therein: there are few, however, who, without reflection, would agree that when they light their gas they are dependent upon petroleum for much of the light the gas gives. It is, nevertheless, a fact, as I will proceed to show.
Many years ago, the oil refiners in Baku were confronted with a problem which appeared for some time to be insurmountable. After the distillation of their kerosene, or illuminating oil, and before they could commence to take off the lubricating oil fractions, there was an intermediary product which, while being of no use for lamp oil, did not possess the necessary constituents of viscosity to make it acceptable as a lubricant. It was a fairly decent volume of something for which there was no market at the time.
Experiments were made, and with these the name of Dr. Paul Dvorkovitz will ever be associated, and it was found that by the passage of a current of gas over the surface of this intermediate product, the gas caught up as it were a richness which materially increased the lighting power of the gas. To cut a long, but highly interesting, story short, this solar or gas oil was subsequently introduced by Dr. Dvorkovitz to England for gas enrichment purposes, and the extent of its employment to-day may be judged from the fact that the United Kingdom regularly imports between 60,000,000 and 70,000,000 gallons per annum for the enrichment of the coal gas which finds useful employment in practically every home throughout the land. As is known, the gas companies have to produce gas of a certain lighting quality, and it is in the upholding of the lighting strength of the gas that solar oil to-day plays so important a part. At first, the oil came almost exclusively from Russia, but now the competition from the United States has secured for our American friends the vast bulk of the trade, which, as I have shown, has reached enormous proportions.
Solar oil is also largely utilized for the production of refined perfumery oils, which are quite colourless and inodorous, while the finest quality is used in pharmacy and known as paraffinum liquidum, and is in much demand, but in this connection it is the Russian petroleums that have gained distinction. It was held for many years that such tasteless and colourless oils could not be produced from the United States petroleums, but from the commencement of the European War, and the consequent closure of Russia’s export port, whereby all overseas trade in Russian petroleums was held up, much progress was made in the manufacture of tasteless medicinal petroleums in the United States, such articles having now become popular throughout the world.
One of the most important discoveries made during recent years has been the finding of large quantities of toluol in petroleum. This article is necessary for the manufacture of high explosives. In Borneo heavy petroleum, toluol exists to a very large extent, and it was its discovery and consequent use by the allies—thanks to the offer made to the Governments by Sir Marcus Samuel, Bart.—that almost unlimited quantities of high explosives were manufactured.
Vaseline is another useful commodity which is derived from the refining of crude petroleum, and this article is turned out of the American refineries as well as those of Russia and Galicia, in large quantities, but, beyond mentioning this fact, no useful purpose would here be served by relating the various processes employed.
With reference to the methods generally adopted in the refining of the products from the distillation of the Scottish oil shales, these are briefly dealt with in the chapter devoted to the Scottish oil industry.
It is safe to say that the past two or three decades have witnessed marked progress in perfecting the methods by which crude petroleums are refined into the innumerable common commodities of commerce, and it is doubtful whether in any branch of chemical research there has been such concerted energy shown as in regard to the refining of mineral oils. Signs, however, are not wanting to show that the zenith of this progress has by no means been reached.
CHAPTER V
TRANSPORT BY LAND AND SEA
The remarkably perfect methods by which petroleum and its products are transported by land and sea before they reach the consumer may not at first sight appear to be anything but commonplace, but a moment’s reflection will be sufficient to suggest that a vast and complete organization must be required in order that petroleum may be brought from practically the ends of the earth to the consumer in the most remote village in the British Isles. But it is the demands of necessity that have been responsible for the building up of this vast organization of transportation which represents, in the United States alone, the investment of many millions of pounds sterling.
Taking first the methods of oil transportation by land, in no other oil-producing country do we find such an elaborate system for dealing with enormous quantities of petroleum as in America, for it is safe to say that at least 500,000 barrels of crude oil have to be dealt with daily at the present time.
Going back to the time when petroleum first became a commercial commodity—when the first wells in Oil Creek commenced to open up a period of new prosperity for the United States—these wells were situated so close to the water that their product could easily be loaded into canoes and barges, and floated down the Alleghany river. In the dry season, the flow was insufficient to float the craft, and then some hundreds of the boats, carrying each from 50 to 1,000 barrels, would be assembled in a mill-pond near the wells, and the water impounded while the loading was in progress. Then the gates would be opened, and the fleet, carried on the flood of rushing water, would be hurried down the river in charge of pilots. The fleet of creek and river boats engaged in this novel work at one time numbered 2,000.
But, as the production of oil increased, and new districts were successfully tapped, it became obvious that some different method of handling the crude oil would have to be adopted. The inland wells could not get rid of their production, and it is not surprising to find that at one time—about 1862—crude oil prices at the well fell to 10 cents per barrel. A system of horse haulage was initiated, and in time thousands of animals were required to haul the oil from the inland wells to shipping points. The waggon train of the oil country in the pre-pipe-line days at its maximum consisted of 6,000 two-horse teams and waggons, and a traveller in the oil region in those early sixties could not lose sight of an endless train of waggons each laden with from five to seven barrels. The roads were almost bottomless, and the teamsters tore down fences and drove where they liked. These men, always of the roving, picturesque type, would earn anything from 10 to 25 dollars per day, spending the most part in revelry on the Saturday night.
It was at this time that a Bill was introduced into the States legislature authorizing the construction of a pipe-line from Oil Creek to a spot known as Kittanning, but the opposition of 4,000 teamsters defeated the Bill and the first effort to organize an oil pipe-line company. The modest beginning of the present-day system of oil transportation on land by pipe-line was due to the enterprise of a Jerseyman named Hutchings, who laid a 2-inch pipe from some wells to the Humbolt refinery. The teamsters, foreseeing the possibilities of this innovation, proceeded to tear up the line, and warned the oil-producers not to adopt these new methods of oil transportation.
But Hutchings was undismayed, for he laid a second line, this being composed of cast-iron joints caulked with lead. Although this was impracticable, the teamsters again wrought vengeance on the proposition, and completely destroyed it. Hutchings still persisted in his efforts, but died—disappointed and penniless—a genius living a little before his time.
A PRIMITIVE METHOD OF TRANSPORTING OIL
At the end of 1865, a Henry Harley commenced the laying of a pipe-line to the terminus of the Oil Creek railroad, but teamsters cut the pipes, burned the collecting tanks, and retarded the work in every possible way. Armed guards eventually came on the scene, the mob was quelled and dispersed, and the line completed. It was of 2-inch diameter, and laid to handle 800 barrels of oil daily: this was the first successful and profitable pipe-line on record for the handling of oil.
From this time, the number of pipe-lines have multiplied, until to-day there are thousands of them scattered throughout every oil-producing field of America. The first long main transportation line for oil was laid in 1880 from Butler County to Cleveland, a distance of over 100 miles, and immediately after its completion, trunk lines were commenced from the Bradford oil region to the Atlantic seaboard. The popularity of this new method of oil transportation may be judged from the fact that within three years from the completion of these first propositions, the National Transit Company possessed over 3,000 miles of oil pipe-lines, and had iron tank storage for 35,000,000 barrels of crude oil.
Then a few master minds came to the front, and loyally supported by Mr. John D. Rockefeller, of Standard Oil fame, they undertook the herculean task of practically girdling the States with a system of oil pipe-lines that has no parallel anywhere. They eliminated the jaded horses, oil-boats, wooden tankage, and slow freights, tedious methods, and questionable practices of handling petroleum, and substituted therefor the stem pump, the iron conduit, the steel tank storage, and systematic and businesslike methods which soon commanded the confidence and respect of all oil-producers. They extended their pipe-lines to practically every producing well and established a transportation system which serves the industry to-day as no other on earth is served. The advantages of the modern pipe-line to the oil-producer are obvious. A pipe-line connection to a producer’s tank ensures prompt service and a cash market for his product at all times. The small line connected with his tank conveys the crude oil therefrom, either by gravity or by means of a pump, into a receiving tank of the gathering or field lines of the pipe-line system, from which it is pumped into the main trunk pipe-lines to the refineries.
OIL PIPE-LINE CONNECTIONS IN THE AMERICAN FIELDS
The system by which the producer can have payment for his oil at any time, for he is credited with its value when it once enters the pipe-line, is the perfection of simplicity, accuracy, and efficiency. The pipe-line of which the gathering or field lines are composed varies in diameter from 2 to 8 inches, the joints of which are screw threaded. The main trunk lines are from 6 to 10 inches in diameter, and pumping stations, supplied with powerful plant driven by steam or internal combustion engines of the Diesel type, are located at suitable points of the line. According to the nature of the crude oils to be passed through the pipe-line must the erection of pumping houses be governed: for instance, in handling the heavy Californian or Mexican crudes, the pumping stations have to be much nearer each other than when a lighter crude oil is transported. Some of the heavier oils have, in fact, to be heated before they enter the pipes at all.
As already mentioned, the total oil transported to-day by the American pipe-line system exceeds half a million barrels daily. The lines themselves—all laid, of course, below ground—are so unobtrusive and do their work so quietly and unseen, that they attract no attention, and yet they are vastly important to not only the business of the States, but to those myriads of consumers abroad.
It is, in fact, impossible to over-estimate the importance of this up-to-date system of oil transportation in the United States as it exists to-day. To show the impossibility of conducting the present-day American petroleum industry without the use of pipe-lines, let me give a few facts. The large oil-tank cars, which are not unusual sights on our railways, hold, at the maximum, about 25 tons of oil. Excluding California altogether from these illustrations, the half-a-million barrels of oil which are transported daily in the States by pipe-lines would fill over 2,500 tank cars. Taking 25 cars to make up a freight train, it would require fully 100 trains daily to transport the oil that now goes by pipe-line, and inasmuch as it is estimated that the oil on the average is transported overland (or, rather, under-land) 1,000 miles, it would require, approximately, 200,000 railroad tank cars to do the daily work in connection with the transport of oil in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, for the average movement of tank cars is 30 miles daily, and all empty cars must be returned. No less than 8,000 railroad engines would be required to do this work, which, on the face of it, is a railway impossibility.
I am afraid I have devoted more space to the question of pipe-line transport in the States than the confines of this little work warrants, but the subject is one of great interest to all who would know the magnitude of the organization which is comprised in the limits of the petroleum industry.
The United States, however, is but one of the large oil-producing countries where the pipe-line system for the land transport of oil has become the backbone of transport. In Russia, for instance, the fields of production are situated hundreds of miles from the exporting ports, and, following upon the principles which obtain in the United States, the pipe-line system had, perforce, to be adopted. In this respect, however, Russia has still a great deal to learn from our Western friends, and the conservative policy which permeated the Russian Empire as a whole has precluded the making of much headway.
The Russian oil-fields—those of Baku and Grosny—are situated at great distance from the coast, and the necessity of connecting both fields with the export port of Batoum, on the Black Sea, has frequently been put forward as a project offering the one solution of the difficulties attending the retention of a large export oil trade. The Grosny pipe-line is still a scheme for future solution, but that affecting Baku has been solved by the laying of a pipe-line from Baku to Batoum. This line, which is approximately 650 miles long, runs direct between the two oil centres and, assuming it operates 24 hours in the day, has a capacity of transporting over 3,000 tons of oil daily. Inasmuch as the Russian oil refineries are at Baku, the line is used solely for the transportation of the refined products. The line itself is laid alongside the railway line of the Transcaucasian Railway, at a depth of 4 feet, but many strange stories are related as to the tapping of it at various points, and a lucrative trade being done in the oil so caught.
When normal conditions return to Russia and the petroleum industry rights itself, Russian petroleum products will again come on the international markets, and in this respect the Grozny oil will be able to secure an outlet via Novorossisk.
Roumania can also boast of a main trunk pipe-line for refined products from the inland refineries direct to the port of Constantza. This important project, which has been carried out practically by the Government itself, was just about ready for service when the European War broke out: it has, therefore, had little time in which to display its practical use to the petroleum industry at large. When one recollects that Roumania’s future, so far as the petroleum industry is concerned, lies in the direction of the building up of its already established export trade in petroleum products, the necessity for such a trunk pipe-line to the seaboard has been obvious for many years. Unlike the case of the United States, there are no interesting events to recall which delayed the advent of this new form of land oil transportation. There is only one oil pipe-line of any considerable length in the United Kingdom and this runs across Scotland from Old Kilpatrick (on the west) to Grangemouth (on the east coast), its terminal being in close proximity to the naval base at Rosyth. The line, which is 36 miles long, was laid to circumvent the activity of enemy submarines, but was only completed in November, 1918, after the conclusion of the European hostilities.
The one other important oil-pipe-line which calls for mention is that connecting the oil-fields of Persia with the coast. In this scheme, the British Government is heavily interested, and, though there has been much criticism of its action, there is no doubt that, in due time, the Persian fields will play an important part in the supply of petroleum products to England, and, in that connection, the Persian pipe-line must naturally prominently figure, since, without it, there would be numerous difficulties to be contended with in getting the oil to the coast.
The carrying of large quantities of petroleum products over the seas of the world is a subject which has taxed the minds of experts quite as much as that of land transport. For many years it was the rule to ship petroleum products overseas in the ordinary barrels (approximately, 42 gallons each) to the consuming countries. It was a costly business, for, apart from the initial cost of the barrels themselves, they took up a very considerable space on the vessels, which was not proportionate with the quantity of oils carried. Leakage also played a very important rôle in this ocean transport, and, generally, the principle left much to be desired. The Atlantic was doubtless the first vessel designed to carry petroleum in bulk from America, but records show that some years previously—in 1863—a Mr. Henry Duncan, of Kent, sent the first oil-carrying vessel to Europe. The vessel, however, never completed her voyage, for she was lost in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, just as she was starting on her trip across the Atlantic. The Charles—quite a small vessel—also played a part in the early days of bulk oil transport across the Atlantic, for this steamer was, I believe, the first to employ iron tanks for the bulk transport of petroleum. After these first few attempts to convey petroleum in bulk from continent to continent, tank vessels steadily wiped the barrel-carrying boats off the seas. It was found that not only did oils carried in bulk take up but one-half the space of those in barrels, but the cost of the oak-staved barrels themselves (usually 5s. each) was obviated. At first, sailing ships were adopted to meet the newer requirements, but later, vessels propelled by steam were introduced.
At first the shipbuilders had nothing to guide them in the shape of practical experience of bulk oil carriers, but, from small things, a great ocean trade in bulk petroleum products soon grew. It is interesting to note the enterprise which English shipbuilders displayed in this new method of handling petroleum for ocean transport, for during at least two decades the vast bulk of construction of oil carriers took place in English shipbuilding yards. The opening of the Far Eastern fields of production led to the construction of a large number of oil tankers—each of increasing size—for Messrs. M. Samuel and Company, and these were named after various shells. The fleet of “Shell” tankers to-day ranks as one of the finest in the world, and forms the connecting link between the prolific oil-producing properties of the “Shell” Transport and Trading Company, Ltd., in the Far East, and the demand for petroleum products in this and other countries, the vessels themselves being owned by the Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company, Ltd., one of the influential owning interests in the wide ramifications of the “Shell” Company.
For several years the oil tanker Narragansett, owned by the Anglo-American Oil Company, Ltd. (London), held claim to being the largest bulk oil carrier in the world, for the good ship had a capacity of nearly 11,000 tons of products. The size of this vessel may be judged from the fact that she had a length between perpendiculars of over 510 feet, with a 63 feet beam, while her moulded depth was 42 feet. This vessel, which marked a distinct step forward in oil tanker construction, belonged to Lloyd’s A1 three-deck class. The Anglo-American Oil Company has shown its belief in oil fuel for ocean power purposes by contracting for internal combustion-engined tankers, and the first of this class was launched in November, 1919.
ONE OF THE MAMMOTH TANKERS OF THE EAGLE OIL COMPANY’S FLEET
It was left to the enterprise of the Eagle Oil Transport Company—that important concern associated with Lord Cowdray’s immense oil organization for handling Mexican petroleum products—to make what will ever go down as the most bold policy of increasing the size of oil tankers by 50 per cent. upon all predecessors. Some six years ago, just when the Mexican fields were commencing to pour forth their flood of oil for the world’s requirements, the Eagle Oil Transport Company included in its programme of activities the building of an immense fleet of oil tankers, and it was decided that a number of these should each have a capacity of 15,000 tons of petroleum products. There were many who asserted that the limit to the size of oil tankers had been reached, but, undaunted, the Company went forth with their policy. It was a bold stroke, yet a successful one, for not only have the vessels proved to be very practical, but they have taught a lesson in economy of ocean transport which has been seriously taken to heart by practically all engaged in ocean oil transport.
I had the honour of being one of the invited guests at the launch of the first of these gigantic oil carriers, and of subsequently experiencing a trip in the mammoth floating “tank.” The vessel behaved admirably at sea, and in a chat with the designer, I recollect asking if there were any reason to believe that the limit in size had been reached. The reply was pointed: “So long as we can have loading and discharging berths large enough to enable such large vessels to be manipulated, we can easily go beyond the present size.” Events have proved that the policy adopted by the Eagle Oil Transport Company was justifiable, for already a new oil tanker, the San Florentino, has been built, having a capacity of over 18,000 tons.
Before leaving this interesting subject of ocean oil transportation, I should like to emphasize the distinct step forward which is marked by these latest oil tankers. To-day, we have entered the era when oil fuel has passed its experimental stages and become one of the greatest boons to those associated with the navigation of the seas. The ease with which oil fuel is handled is remarkable, for vessels of the largest size—that is, those using oil instead of coal for power purposes—could replenish their stores within a few hours at any oil port. In the transport of petroleum by the modern tankers, the taking on board of a full cargo is accomplished in about a single day, thanks to the most improved means of pumping oil from the shore tanks through flexible pipes. The great oil tankers trading between this and other countries and Mexico, load up off the Mexican coast by means of a submarine pipe-line, and, reckoning but fourteen return trips per annum, it will easily be apparent what immense stores of petroleum can with ease be brought to the centres of consumption. Compare this with the primitive methods of transport in barrels, and it will be readily seen with what rapidity the hands of progress have moved during comparatively recent years.
The vast majority of oil tankers to-day, true to their calling, derive their power from oil, for they burn it under their furnaces, and, therefore, are not liable to those tedious delays so inseparable from the use of coal, and should severe storms beset their passage in Mid-Atlantic, then a little oil pumped overboard will quell the most turbulent sea and permit a safe passage onward.
It is evident, however, that the motor-engined oil tanker will be the order of the future, for already vessels are being built which utilize oil fuel internally—a much more economical process than burning it under boilers.
CHAPTER VI
PETROLEUM AS FUEL
So much has been written of late as to the use of petroleum as fuel for the purposes of steam-raising, that the reader is bound to be more or less au fait with the subject. It is, of course, one of vast importance, and during the next decade is certain to receive far more consideration than it has hitherto done, owing to the general desire that our coal wealth shall be conserved as much as possible. Given the one allowance that oil fuel can be procured at anything approaching a reasonable figure—and there is no reason why, in normal times, this reasonable price should not be prevalent all over the world—then petroleum offers many advantages over its older competitor, coal. The ease with which large quantities can be handled, the simple method of operating anything which is fired by petroleum as fuel, and the fact that its heat-giving units are far higher than those of coal, will ever be the chief factors governing its popularity.
Many years ago, fuel oil made its serious début, but at that time the supply of the product was very uncertain, and, consequently, progress in passing from the old to the new form of power-raising was slow. To-day, however, matters have materially changed. The crude oil output has been immeasurably increased, and many fields whose production of crude oil is essentially suited for fuel purposes have been opened up. In this respect, the oil-fields of Mexico have no parallel, and it is recorded that, once these fields are provided with adequate storage and transport facilities, they can easily supply the whole of the fuel oil necessary for the world, and at the same time have immense quantities to spare.
But, though the subject of petroleum as fuel has aroused much attention for some years, there is still an erroneous idea prevailing as to what really is fuel oil. A word or two on this question will, therefore, not be without interest. Fuel oil is that portion of crude oil which is incapable of giving off by the process of ordinary distillation those lighter products of petroleum known as motor spirit, illuminating oils, or lubricants. It is, in a word, the residue of distillation which is unsuitable for refining purposes. It represents a black, tarry liquid, and is, of course, minus those fractions that go to produce the refined products. Many there are who refer to crude oil as fuel oil, but this is a misnomer, though crude oil, in many instances, is utilized for the purposes of fuel. In this chapter, however, when I speak of fuel oil, I am referring not to the crude oil as it comes from the ground (and which has a comparatively low flash) but to the article of commerce, the residue of distillation, which is the real article—fuel oil.
The headway which fuel oil has made during the past few years has been remarkable, though it is safe to say that its general use is still in its infancy. In no matter what capacity it has been tried as a heating or steam-raising agent, it has proved itself capable of withstanding most successfully the most stringent tests, and has convinced all who have given the question serious consideration that it holds numerous advantages over coal, yet has no drawbacks. Perhaps the most recent impetus which has been given to the use of fuel oil is that following the introduction of it, and now its general adoption, throughout the units composing the British Navy. On land, however, it has for some years achieved marked distinction. Especially is this the case in regard to its use on locomotives, the United States railways alone consuming last year over 6,000,000 tons of fuel oil. In the realms of industry, fuel oil, too, is claiming the attention of those large industrial establishments, and to-day is largely used for creating intense heats, such as are necessary in hardening, annealing, melting and smelting, rivet heating, glass-melting, etc.
Let me first of all refer to the use of oil fuel for marine purposes. Fifteen years ago, its use was very strongly advocated by Sir Marcus Samuel, Bart., for marine purposes, and he approached the British Government in an endeavour to get it taken up. Matters moved very slowly, but eventually oil fuel was adopted, and Admiral Sir William Pakenham asserts that it was due to the unceasing efforts of Sir Marcus Samuel that the Admiralty vessels constructed during the war were oil burners. The largest of this new class of vessels is the Queen Elizabeth. Oil fuel is now largely used in place of coal on our great liners, vessels like the Aquatania and Olympic having gone over to its general use.
There are, of course, many reasons which have commended fuel oil to the experts as a substitute for coal. In the first place, inasmuch as one ton of fuel oil is equal to more than one-and-a-half tons of coal, the radius of action of units fitted for utilizing fuel oil is increased over 50 per cent.—I speak from the point of view of bunker weight. Again, one ton of oil occupies considerably less space than an equivalent weight of coal, while this advantage can be materially increased—as is now the usual practice—by carrying the fuel oil in double-bottom tanks. Then the bunkering question is one of vital moment. Fuel oil can be taken on board under far cleaner conditions, and at a greatly accelerated rate, than would be possible with coal. There is no arduous manual labour required. Once the hose connections have been made, the fuel oil is pumped on board at the rate of hundreds of tons an hour, and a few hours suffice to re-fuel our largest battleship. But it is when bunkering at sea is required that fuel oil further emphasizes its immense advantages. This question was some years ago one of the problems of naval strategy: to-day it is regularly carried out in the simplest possible fashion, hose connections to a standing-by oil tanker being all that is required.
Another advantage of fuel oil is that materially increased speed can rapidly be attained, for, with fuel oil fired furnaces, the ship’s boilers can be forced to nearly 50 per cent. above normal rating without that great strain on the personnel which would be essential in burning coal under forced draught. Then there is the great saving of labour effected when burning fuel oil, the stokehold staffs being reduced by quite 90 per cent. The fuel oil is automatically fed to the furnaces and mechanically fired, the maximum heat of the oil burners being attained within a few minutes of starting. But the absence of smoke when the battleship is proceeding at full speed is, perhaps, one of the most important advantages which the use of fuel oil gives to the units of the fleets employing it. The emission of dense volumes of smoke, which are ever present on a coal-fired vessel, is quite absent when fuel oil is used, and this advantage is twofold, for not only does it prevent the giving away of the location of the battleship, but it also renders its own gun-fire more efficient.
The advantages attendant upon the use of fuel oil for naval vessels are, in the main, also strikingly apparent when oil is adopted for the mercantile marine. It is many years ago since the oil tankers of the “Shell” Transport and Trading Company, Ltd., commenced to do the voyage regularly from the Far East to this country and back without an intermediate port of call. To-day, practically every oil tanker afloat burns fuel oil. But, of recent date, fuel oil has reached wider application by reason of its being adopted on many cargo and passenger vessels, and, had the European War not considerably hampered ordinary shipbuilding construction, we should have seen ere this a number of the largest vessels crossing the Atlantic exclusively running on oil. In fact, arrangements have been made whereby many of our Transatlantic lines will operate exclusively on fuel oil, which will be taken on board in the United States.
TAKING OIL FUEL SUPPLIES ON BOARD
My friend, Mr. J. J. Kermode, of Liverpool—the well-known fuel oil expert—has taken the most prominent part in calling general attention to the immense superiority of fuel oil over coal, and it is due to this gentleman’s untiring energies that not only does our Navy to-day use fuel oil to such an extent, but that those responsible for ocean passenger transport have taken the matter up so seriously. There are three general headings under which fuel oil use will affect transport costs. They are as follow: (a) by increased passenger or cargo capacity, (b) by increased speed, and (c) by a great reduction in running costs. As to the increased capacity, I have already shown that fuel oil can be stored in considerably less space than coal, and the simplicity of both bunkering fuel oil, and using it on vessels, has also been touched upon. With reference to the increased speed which vessels utilizing fuel oil can attain over those running on coal, I have a concrete example in front of me. Two sister ships of the Eagle Oil Transport Company—the San Dunstano and the San Eduardo—each of 9,000 tons deadweight capacity, are fitted to burn coal and fuel oil respectively. Upon a trip carried out under careful observation, the weight of fuel consumed worked out as two to three in favour of fuel oil, while the indicated horse-power developed showed an 18 per cent. improvement in the case of the oil-fired vessel. But the striking fact of the comparison is that the San Eduardo made the round voyage to Mexico—out and home—eight days quicker than the other, this additional speed being solely due to the fact that with fuel oil it was possible to maintain consistent speed throughout the voyage—an impossible matter when coal is consumed. If space permitted, I could enumerate many cases where the results in favour of fuel oil are even more strikingly apparent, but I will content myself by briefly referring to calculations made by Mr. Kermode, based upon voyages of our largest liners: they are sufficiently interesting and suggestive to record here. On an average, says Mr. Kermode, to maintain a speed of 25 knots, 5,500 tons of coal are consumed upon the voyage between Liverpool and New York by one of the mammoth liners; or 11,000 tons for the round trip. Some 3,300 tons of fuel oil—which could be stored if necessary (and as will frequently be done in the future) in the double bottom of the vessel—would, by automatic stoking, do even more work than 5,500 tons of coal. Calculating the daily consumption of 600 tons of coal now used for 24 hours, this represents about 2,000 tons less fuel on a five days’ trip, land to land run, or 4,000 tons less, out and home. The utilizing of the vacant space thus saved for merchandise would bring in a very handsome income. Of the 312 firemen and trimmers now employed for a coal-fired liner, 285 might be dispensed with, and occupation found for them under healthier conditions ashore, say in handling the additional cargo which would be carried. The saved accommodation in this respect could be allotted to third-class passengers, of whom at least another 250 could be carried. Our mammoth liners are fitted with 192 furnaces in order to produce 68,000 horse-power (as was the case of the Mauretania and the Lusitania), and, on the assumption that thirty-two fires are cleaned every watch, 10,000 indicated horse-power is lost every four hours through burning down and cleaning, a quite unnecessary operation with fuel oil. Figures such as these show the startling possibilities of fuel oil for marine purposes.