Commercial developments have already been commenced on the Norfolk fields, and it is safe to assume that they will become of enormous National importance, since the production of home oil supplies is to-day considered of vast National interest.
The other shales—such as the Kimmeridge shales of Dorset and Sussex—are not being worked commercially in spite of strenuous efforts, and there remains much to be done before a steady supply of petroleum can be counted upon from these sources. Of the other possible sources of supply, coal yields too little, and at the same time is considered too valuable to be utilized on a general scale; lignites are not yet opened for development on a sufficient scale; and peat has proved troublesome and expensive to treat owing to the difficulty of eliminating the water. This, therefore, leaves cannel coals, torbanites, and blackband ironstones, which are closely associated and, in numerous cases, easily obtainable. Cannel coal, I should explain, differs from the ordinarily known coal on account of its being less carbonized; it contains many fragments and particles of vegetable matter still showing their natural forms, though flattened by pressure. The percentage of hydrogen to carbon is higher in a cannel coal than in the bituminous coal, the percentage of inorganic matter is usually higher also, and the fracture and general appearance serve to distinguish this variety of carbonaceous deposit.
CHAPTER X
PETROLEUM IN THE BRITISH EMPIRE
The desire that the British Empire should be self-supporting in every possible way has been the predominating idea of our statesmen for many years: it is to be regretted, however, that such little progress has been recorded in the direction of the achievement of a practical result. This remark applies to many commodities, yet to none more so than to petroleum and its products. To-day, as much as at any preceding time, the Empire is dependent upon foreign sources of supply for the vast bulk of its petroleum products. It is true that in the United Kingdom there is a growing production of oil from the shale-fields of Scotland, but this total represents but a fraction of the large quantities of products which are annually required to meet the ever-increasing demands in commercial and domestic circles.
At the outbreak of the European War, it was forcibly brought home to us as a nation that we were in a position regarding our petroleum supplies of absolute dependence upon other countries. The refined products were an essential part of the war, for without them it would have been impossible to have continued for almost a single day, and yet, practically every gallon used had to be transported thousands of miles, and from a country which at that time was neutral. To make matters even worse, the Continental sources of supply from which we had been previously drawing large quantities of petroleum were closed to export, for, through the Dardanelles, the Roumanian and Russian export ports were effectively shut off from the outside world.
Fortunately for Great Britain, the United States came forward with the offer of all the petroleum products required for the successful prosecution of the war, and we owe to the United States alone all success which has been the natural result of possessing ample requirements of petroleum products both on sea and land.
The fact, nevertheless, stands out tragically prominent that we as a nation have not developed our own oil resources in a manner we ought to have done, although everyone conversant with the oil business has been for years advocating the giving of serious attention to this important subject. To-day, speculative drilling for petroleum is proceeding in England, and it is to be hoped that some success will be ultimately recorded, but, inasmuch as I dealt with the question of Petroleum in England in the previous chapter, I will at the moment pass over this very interesting phase of the problem, and briefly look at the subject from an Empire point of view. Under the British Flag, we already have, or control, some excellent oil-fields in Burmah, Persia, Egypt, Trinidad, and Assam, and each producing steadily increasing quantities of crude oil. The Burmah fields have achieved fame mainly owing to the very large profits made by the chief operating company—the Burmah Oil Company, Ltd., whose head offices are at Glasgow. These have of recent years been developed upon most up-to-date lines, and the producing limits of the territory greatly extended, until now the annual crude oil production is upwards of 1,000,000 tons. The fields of Persia are very prolific, and their control to-day is in the hands of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, Ltd., an influential concern largely controlled by the British Government, by reason of the investment of large sums of public moneys a few years ago. The development of the Persian fields is more or less in its initial stages, and though huge quantities of oil have already been produced therefrom, the limits of the presumably oil-bearing areas have by no means been defined. In order to facilitate the export of Persian oil, a pipe-line has been laid from the fields to Abadan, on the Persian Gulf, and a programme has already been laid down under which large quantities of Persian petroleum products will come upon the English markets.
The Egyptian oil-fields have lately witnessed developments upon an important scale, thanks to the enterprise of the Anglo-Egyptian Oil-fields, Ltd., a concern closely allied with the “Shell” Combination, and having as its Chairman, Sir Marcus Samuel, Bart. Commercial supplies of crude oil have been found at several points near the coast of the Gulf of Suez, and a large refinery has been built for the refining of the oil. Down to 1914, the only oil finds of importance had been at Gemsah, where a number of oil gushers were struck, but the field there proved to be one of most irregular formation, and none of the wells gave anything like a permanent yield. Fortunately, in that year a field was discovered at Hurgada, the formation of which was found to be singularly regular, and the yield of which has steadily increased until, at the time of writing, the production of crude oil in it is over 15,000 tons per month. That additional wells have not been sunk and the field further increased has been primarily due to the difficulties of obtaining the necessary plant under war conditions. Some very large wells have already been brought in, but, so far, the petroleum industry in Egypt is quite in its infancy. It is quite obvious, however, that in the next few years the production of petroleum in Egypt will be increasingly large, and the developments are bound to have a significant bearing upon the oil situation generally.
The same remarks equally apply to the Trinidad fields, where the anticipations of those associated with the pioneer oil operations have been more than fulfilled. Some prolific fields have been opened up, and the production to-day is such that an export trade of considerable magnitude can be maintained. Developments upon the Island were impeded by the total absence of roads in the oil districts, and much pioneer work had to be undertaken before it was possible to commence the serious exploitation of the fields themselves. The crude oil of Trinidad is of both the light and the heavy grades, the former showing remarkable percentages of motor spirit, while the latter is used not only as fuel oil but also for the treatment of roads so as to render them dustless. It is in Trinidad that there is the famous pitch lake, from which for many years large quantities of asphalt have been removed and exported for a variety of purposes. Trinidad asphalt, in fact, is well known all over the world. The potentialities of the Island are rapidly being appreciated, for its geographical position is such that would make it a practical base for the “oiling” of the great ocean-going vessels which are rapidly passing over from coal to fuel oil burning.
While on the subject of oil-fields which are under the British Flag, mention must be made of Canada, whose oil industry has been developed for many years. The principal producing fields are in Ontario, and the town of Petrolia is the centre of the petroleum interests. But the wells are not of the prolific class, and almost without exception show a very poor return for operating. Many of them are sunk only to the shallow strata, and their operation would certainly be profitless were not a system employed by which quite a number of small producing wells are pumped by central power. From time to time, Canada has experienced various oil booms, one of the most recent being that which occurred in Calgary, in 1914. A well showed a small production of high-grade oils, and immediately the country for miles round became the centre of an oil fever, which gradually died down when a number of unsuccessful developments took place. To-day, the output of the Canadian fields is steadily declining, and all efforts to stimulate the production have so far failed. Even a Government bounty of 1½ cents a gallon of oil produced has failed to encourage an increase in output, and it is evident that, unless new fields are opened out, the future offers little hope.