The recent granting of a concession amounting to a monopoly in the most promising oil district of Persia (a region that many oil experts believe likely to become one of the most important in the world) to a British company controlled directly (by stock ownership) by the British government, signifies an aggressive policy of England, outside of her own dominions, to secure and hold, under government control, oil lands in all parts of the globe.
It is understood that the best-known oil territories in Venezuela are already covered by concessions that are practically all controlled either directly or indirectly by British interests, chiefly the Dutch-Shell Syndicate.
So far as observed, German interests actually dominate the petroleum industry in Galicia and at home. Whether forced back on its own petroleum resources or on these reinforced by those of Galicia, Germany will obviously have an inadequate supply, and in consequence German interests are likely to be particularly aggressive in seeking petroleum in Mesopotamia, Africa and South America.
France.
—Since control of the petroleum interests of the Rothschilds passed into the hands of the Royal Dutch-Shell Syndicate (British-Dutch), the influence of French finances in petroleum affairs has been negligible, outside Galicia and Italy, where its potency was not great. French capital will undoubtedly participate in efforts to determine the petroleum reserve of the Barbary States, French dependencies, but it will hardly be much involved in organized efforts to control the world situation with respect to petroleum.
The French mining law holds that oil and gas belong to the state, and may be exploited under concessions, the area and time limit of which are matters of negotiations between the applicant and the authorities. It is understood that the French government is unwilling to grant oil concessions except to companies the majority of whose stock is held by French citizens. A company incorporated recently to work the Algerian oil fields contains in its articles of incorporation the provision that 60 per cent. of its stock must be held by French citizens.
Japan.
—Japanese investments in the world’s petroleum industry have not yet attained significant proportions outside Japan itself, though the Japanese government is officially alive to the importance of Japanese investments in petroleum properties in Mexico, particularly Lower California and Sonora; China; and undoubtedly Russia. Hence large investments of Japanese capital in the petroleum industry in one or all of those countries may be expected in the near future.
SUMMARY
Petroleum in its crude or semi-refined state is used as fuel under locomotive and marine boilers and as a lubricant. The principal use of petroleum, however, is in the manufacture of numerous refined products. Some of the more important products and their uses are as follows: ether, as an anæsthetic in surgery; gasoline, as fuel in internal-combustion engines; naphthas, as solvents and in the manufacture of commercial gasoline; kerosene, as an illuminant and as a fuel for farm tractors; lubricating oils; waxes, as preservatives, illuminants, and surgical dressings in treatment of burns; petroleum coke, in metallurgical processes and in the manufacture of battery carbons and arc-light pencils; heavy fuel oils; road oils; artificial asphalts, for pavements. The use of petroleum and its products as fuel, as a lubricant, and for illumination may be considered essential. Substitutes for most of these uses are known, but they are either inefficient or not readily available.