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