The Oil Conquest of the World

THE OIL CONQUEST OF THE WORLD

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Frederick Talbot

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Copyright © 2016 by Frederick Talbot

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE OIL CONQUEST OF THE WORLD

PREFACE

CHAPTER I.THE COMING OF OIL

CHAPTER II.SEARCHING THE WORLD FOR OIL

CHAPTER III.THE WELL-DRILLER AND HIS TOOLS

CHAPTER IV.THE OIL-BOOMERS AND OIL RUSHES

CHAPTER V.TAPPING AND DRAWING THE OIL

CHAPTER VI.SOME FAMOUS BIG STRIKES

CHAPTER VII.TAKING CARE OF THE CRUDE

CHAPTER VIII.PIPING THE PETROLEUM

CHAPTER IX.THE OIL REFINERY AND ITS EQUIPMENT

CHAPTER X.THE OIL REFINERY AND ITS WORK

CHAPTER XI.WHAT WE GET FROM PETROLEUM

CHAPTER XII.OIL AS A ROAD-MAKING MATERIAL

CHAPTER XIII.OIL FIRES AND THEIR EXTINCTION

CHAPTER XIV.OIL FROM SHALES: A BRITISH INDUSTRY

CHAPTER XV.NATURAL GAS AND ITS USES

CHAPTER XVI.THE OIL INVASION OF THE TABLE

CHAPTER XVII.BUTTER FROM OIL

CHAPTER XVIII.OILS FROM FISH

CHAPTER XIX.METHODS OF DISTRIBUTING REFINED OILS

CHAPTER XX.THE COMMERCIAL USES OF OIL

CHAPTER XXI.THE WORLD’S FUTURE OIL-SUPPLIES

THE OIL CONQUEST OF THE WORLD

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BY

FREDERICK A. TALBOT

PREFACE

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PROBABLY FEW OF THE TREASURES of Nature are exercising such a vast transformation upon the complex social and industrial activity of the community as oil. Comparatively speaking, it is only within the past few years that the significance of this material has become realized, because it has effected its advance so silently and unostentatiously.

It is safe to assert that the average individual fails to recognize how dependent we have become upon this commodity. It enters into every phase of our existence. Elaborate, highly technical treatises have been written upon the subject, which is of exceptional fascination, but they are beyond the understanding of the average reader. This volume has been written with the express purpose of extending some enlightenment, in a popular manner, upon the issue; to narrate the romance of the huge industry which has been created; to relate the many ramifications of its applications; and to show the many conquests it has achieved. Technical details have been resolved into simple language.

I have received considerable and valuable assistance in the compilation of this work, for which I am greatly indebted. I owe my thanks particularly to Lord Cowdray and the officials of the companies in which he has an intimate interest; the Standard Oil Company; Mr. William F. Nye; the Oil-Well Supply Company; the Pumpherston Oil Company, Limited; Messrs. Otto Monsted, Limited; and many of those enterprising engineers who face the dangers of the unknown and the trials of the unexpected in the world-wide search for oil.

FREDERICK A. TALBOT.

October, 1914.

CHAPTER I.THE COMING OF OIL

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WHILE THE NINETEENTH CENTURY WILL be known to history as the Coal Age, the twentieth century certainly will go down to posterity as the Oil Era. Oil is becoming more and more indispensable to our complex social and industrial existence; in fact, it is almost impossible to mention a phase of human activity in which it does not play a more or less prominent part in one form or another.

At the same time, however, it must not be thought that oil and its uses constitute a modern discovery. Far from it. Oil was used for lighting and heating, if not for power, long before the fuel value of coal was recognized. The earliest civilizations employed it, in an asphaltic form, as a cement in their building operations. Two thousand years ago the citizens of Agrigentum, in Sicily, used oil as an illuminant, burning it in crudely fashioned lamps. And does not the Parable of the Virgins indicate that oil was an acknowledged source of light at the dawn of the Christian era? In some countries, where it oozes from the ground in the form of natural springs, the aborigines have regarded it with reverential awe since times immemorial. Pilgrimages were made to the oil-fires of Baku for centuries. The Red Men, long before the white man’s invasion of North America, placed implicit faith in the properties of Seneca oil. The tribes were wont to gather at the oil-springs, where the medicine-man ministered oil treatment for illness and disease, and the braves apparently entertained high opinions concerning the therapeutic properties of this substance. Under these circumstances the present movement may be characterized rather as a revival, forced upon civilization to-day by economic considerations.

In many of the big oil-fields to-day interesting and contrasting illustrations of the primitive and the modern working side by side are offered. In Roumania the pyramidal derrick of the modern oil-well and the elaborate tackle of the oil-borer, overshadow the crudely hand-dug native well. These latter are driven to a depth of 500 to 600 feet, and the facilities employed are of the most primitive description. Many are worked upon syndicate lines, a number of native toilers participating in the sinking of the well and the raising of the product to the surface, expenses and profits being shared. In this manner as many as 10 tons—3,000 gallons—of oil are raised daily. In the heart of the oil country of Farther India, the Burmese still bail oil from shallow open workings.

One may wonder how such primitive methods possibly can prevail when brought into violent competition with the scientific rival alongside. Nevertheless, these crude workings are financially successful. The world’s demand for oil far exceeds the supply: the companies feeding the markets with this commodity are industrious in their efforts to collect every gallon available; consequently the slender contributions offered by the native toilers are thankfully received. The Burmese toils alone in the primitive because to him it is profitable and enables him to maintain a certain measure of independence; he is his own master. The modern worker forthwith encourages the native because profit is derived thereby. Open tanks are provided especially to receive the oil obtained in this rude manner. The natives come with their vessels filled with oil, the quantity is checked, it is turned into the tank, and the toiler receives a voucher to the value of the volume delivered, which he is able to convert into cash or kind whenever he feels so disposed.

In Roumania the oil is run into small earth reservoirs or ponds, the contents of which are purchased and drawn off periodically. The primitive processes are highly lucrative to the natives because they live cheaply, while, as they are contributing to a certain market, they are assured of a living.

The term oil is somewhat vague. It includes all the oleaginous fluids and solids derived from the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms, although, generally speaking, it is admitted to apply essentially to that drawn from the last-named source. For distinctive and commercial purposes, oil extracted from the earth is generically known as petroleum. This may be regarded as its technical nomenclature, because it is marketed under many colloquial descriptions, such as rock-oil, mineral-oil, coal-oil, and so on; but one and all are the same—petroleum.

Nature has been unusually lavish and indiscriminate in her distribution of this product, because it is found in nearly every country from Alaska to the Antipodes, if not in one, then in another guise. In the crude, or raw, condition it differs considerably, being found in fluid, plastic, and solid forms. The bulk comes under the first category; natural pitch may be said to represent the plastic; while the solid representation is illustrated by ozokerite, which is mined in the manner of coal. It is also found in combination with other materials, such as shale or tar sands, and then the recovery of the essential article involves a somewhat elaborate process.

Possibly one of the most novel and interesting forms in which it is found is revealed in Burmah and Java, although similar conditions formerly prevailed in the Baku region. This is what is familiarly known as the mud volcano, which is virtually a geyser, similar to those found in New Zealand and the Yellowstone Park, only in this instance salt water and finely divided detritus associated with oil are erupted. They are not volcanoes in the strict sense of the word, being in reality oil-gas springs, and are encountered for the most part in the jungle. Here and there the dense bush will be found to be relieved by a large patch of absolutely sterile barren soil, in the centre of which spasmodic agitation is observable. Suddenly a mound or dome of earth is forced a few feet into the air, to burst with a report. The explosion shivers the mound, from the cracks and crevices of which clouds of steam issue. The earth subsides, and all is quiet for a few seconds, when another outbreak occurs. The collapse of the mound is always attended with the dispersion of fumes reeking of petroleum, which plainly indicates the agitation to be due to the subterranean pressure of petroleum gases.

The explanation of this phenomenon is simple. The stratum of limestone covering and sealing the oil deposits has become broken and disrupted at places. The natural gas finds a means of escape through these fissures, and draws the oil with it. The oil, moving slowly, mixes with the soft soil immediately above the limestone seal, and forms a kind of slime. The gas pressure below increases, until finally it attains a sufficient degree to force this slime to the surface, the emission being in the form of a big bubble. When these volcanoes first burst into activity eruptions take place at intervals of a few seconds, but as the volume of escaping oil increases, and forms a thicker skin of slime upon the limestone formation, the escaping gases are confronted with a more difficult task, especially as the oil-saturated detritus ejected to the surface oxidizes from exposure to the air and becomes harder. Consequently the periods between successive discharges steadily lengthen, until at last the gas pressure becomes insufficient to effect an escape. The oxidized oil-mud on the surface and the slime below form a seal over the fissures in the limestone, effectively bottling the oil and gas below.

At times the natural gas, finding a suitable outlet through the rock near the geyser, comes to the surface, becomes ignited, and burns continuously. This is the eternal fire of Demak, which is regarded by the natives with superstitious awe. The territory in which this eruptive phenomenon occurs is at the heart of the famous Javanese oil-fields. In fact, it was observation of the action of the mud-volcanoes and of the strong odour of the petroleum accompanying the eruptions, which prompted the first borings for oil, and served to reveal one of the richest deposits of high-grade petroleum in the world.

The fluid oil, being the most abundant, has attracted the greatest measure of attention and capital. Petroleum is found in plenty among rugged mountains, dense forests, sterile deserts, under the sea, and, if the wild catter is to be believed, is even obtainable from the ocean and the air above. New sources of supply are being revealed every day in response to the world’s one insistent cry—oil, oil, oil! This plea is so penetrating that the uttermost parts of the earth are being ransacked and probed diligently for oil-beds.

Some countries, however, have been better favoured by Nature than others. Investigations in the British Isles have proved abortive. Although these islands possess immense beds of coal, oil is conspicuous by its absence. Small quantities have been discovered here and there when hewing coal and sinking water-wells, but the probable extent and volume of the oil-bearing strata are so insignificant as to render comprehensive boring operations wildly speculative, and certainly void of any attractive financial results. Natural gas—that is, gas composed of the volatile constituents of petroleum—has been tapped here and there, and in Sussex is turned to commercial account upon a limited scale. The existence of this gas instantly provoked the contention that oil must exist in South-Eastern England, but so far it has not been found. I have seen one sample of oil which was obtained in the North of England, and it looks promising. It was drawn from the sea-bed. This discovery created a wave of excitement, but expert opinion was so deadly opposed to further development that nothing has been done. The sample is merely a curiosity. Britain’s oil resources are confined to the deposits of shale in Scotland, the exploitation of which is being conducted upon a comprehensive scale, but the yield is insignificant in comparison with the output of other countries.

The United States of America, and indeed the whole American continent, reeks with petroleum. The Appalachians and California constitute the richest producing centres at the moment; but the supremacy of these territories is being assailed seriously by the discoveries which have been made in Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma. Canada, so far, has not proved a very remunerative field, although it is generally believed that the United States beds extend into that country. During the past few years Mexico has created a sensation as an oil-producing country, mainly through the endeavours of Lord Cowdray, while South America gives promising indications of swelling the markets with this commodity to a pronounced degree.

In Europe the oil-beds are probably richer and more extensive than in America. The territory fringing the Caspian Sea, more particularly upon its eastern side, is a colossal subterranean oil reservoir, rivalling even the richest stretches of the United States. Roumania and Galicia are two other immense petroleum fields. Russia, with the exception of the Caucasus, has not been submitted to searching investigation, but it is generally considered by competent authorities to possess petroleum resources, at present lying dormant, which exceed in value any other mineral wealth of that mighty empire. Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and Scandinavia, like Great Britain, appear to have been neglected by Nature when this commodity was bestowed, there being no known petroleum territories.

So far Africa has not entered the lists of oil-yielding countries to a serious degree, but this result is probably due to the difficulties of transport which handicap surveying and experimental borings. The west coast gives promising evidences of petroleum deposits, and one or two fields are in operation. South Africa has proved exceptionally disappointing. Hopes were raised from one or two slight indications that oil existed in abundance, but castles in the air have been rudely shattered by expert investigation. It is a moot point whether South Africa possesses so much oil as the British Isles! Some shales have been found in Natal, but at the moment it is doubtful whether they will pay to exploit. The most promising yields have been obtained in the most unexpected spot—beneath the Egyptian desert near the sweltering coast-line of the Red Sea. Should this discovery materialize, it will be of far-reaching import, inasmuch as Egypt and the Soudan at present suffer from the absence of native fuel supplies. The country will be able to absorb every ounce of petroleum which it may produce for many years to come. Indeed, the availability of a first-class fuel on the spot will give an incentive to industrial development which at present is impossible.

Asia possesses enormous oil resources. Trial borings in Mesopotamia have proved promising, while troublous Persia contains untold oil wealth. The largest oil-fields known at the moment are those of Burmah and the Dutch Indies including Borneo. The Chinese Empire, which has been closed to development until recent years, is an unknown quantity in this connection. It is generally believed to possess immense oil-beds, but this is merely conjecture. The Standard Oil Company, having entrenched itself in the country and having received valuable concessions, has laid its plans with its characteristic enterprise and energy to satisfy itself upon the point, while British interests are equally active in a similar direction.

The Australasian continent has not been neglected, but the prospectors have failed to reap attractive fruits from their labours. Australia’s oil resources, at all events so far as the settled and explored regions are concerned, appear to be concentrated in shales, although petroleum wells have been sunk and are being worked upon a limited scale in Tasmania and New Zealand. Wresting the oil content from shales is not a process to be undertaken lightly. The Scottish deposits are remunerative because they are worked scientifically and upon well-accepted commercial lines. The majority of other shale-fields have proved little else than financial sinks, owing to the lack of knowledge and absence of commercial acumen in their operation.

While petroleum is a natural product, it is not a definite chemical compound. It is a mixture of a series of hydrocarbons—combinations of hydrogen with carbon—the number of the members composing which, as well as their respective proportions, vary according to the district in which the substance is found. These variations cause the crude oil to differ very considerably in its general characteristics, and also affects the yield and number of various articles derived therefrom. Thus the petroleum obtained from California, Texas, Russia, and Mexico is dense, heavy, and viscous, while that obtained from Pennsylvania, Kansas, Roumania, Burmah, and the Dutch East Indies is lighter and far more fluid. In appearance and colour there is also great variety, according to the district of origin. One will be of the consistency of thick, sluggishly-flowing treacle, densely blackish in colour, and will emit a pungent aroma. Another will have a lightish grey, amber, or light greenish hue, will run almost as freely as water, and be practically odourless. Oil from one district will be eminently suited to illuminating purposes, while that from another will be rich in lubricating constituents. The Roumanian, Dutch East Indian, and Pennsylvanian petroleums under refining yield large quantities of naphthas, of which petrol or gasoline is probably the best known. But the Texas, Russian, and some of the Mexican petroleum is indifferently fitted for the yield of such a valuable product, but forms a first-class liquid fuel for firing locomotives, steamship boilers, and so on.

Under these circumstances it has been necessary in the interests of commerce to establish a system of grading petroleums. This was not a simple task, inasmuch as a scientific graduation would have fallen short of requirements and would have contributed to trading confusion. The urgency for simplification brought about quite a different method of grading the oil. Instead of regarding oil drawn from the earth as petroleum purely and simply, irrespective of district of origin, those from different localities are assumed to be individual products. Classification is carried out according to the predominating or characteristic basic constituent, and these comprise two broad groups. For instance, the light oils, such as come from Pennsylvania, Roumania, and so on, which are rich in paraffins, are said to have a paraffin base, and are known as paraffin oils. On the other hand, Mexican, Californian, and Russian oils have an asphalt base, and in the same way are described as asphaltic oils. But it happens sometimes that a particular petroleum has some other predominating characteristic, such as sulphur. Then it is described as a sulphur oil. The characteristic constituent provides the index for gradation or classification.

Petroleum is found at varying depths. In some places it will be struck in large quantities comparatively near the surface of the earth; in others it is necessary to bore to 3,000 and 4,000 feet or more. The popular impression is that oil occupies immense cavities in the crust of the earth, forming huge lakes resembling the subterranean stretches of water about which one reads occasionally. This is a mistaken impression. Oil is found associated with sand, the latter acting somewhat in the manner of a sponge. The sand fills the cavity, and is saturated with the oil. Perhaps a better idea of the composition of the oil layer in the earth’s crust may be gathered by taking a tumbler and filling it with small shot; then, after the glass has been so charged, to pour in water until it rises to the brim. One will be astonished at the quantity of water which a glass apparently occupied entirely by the shot will contain, the reason being that the water occupies all the interstices between the beads of lead. If one withdraws the water, leaving the shot behind, the glass apparently is still full. In the oil strata the grains of sand do not occupy the entire cavity: the oil occupies the spaces between them.

The construction of the earth’s crust for the most part follows well-defined lines. The strata are distinct, but they do not extend in a perfectly horizontal direction. Instead they have an undulating formation, the lower parts of depressions being known as anticlines, and the humps, or elevated portions, as synclines. Now, one would naturally think that the oil, being a fluid, would collect in the depressions. But, for the most part, this is not so. It gathers upon the crests of the humps, or synclines. A little reflection will reveal why this is so. Oil is a comparatively light fluid; it will float on water. The latter, gravitating, finds its way to the depressions, and occupies all the available spaces. Consequently, the oil is forced to the upper levels; hence its position upon the humps.

Unfortunately, however, the formation of the earth’s crust is not regular. The rhythmic undulations have been upset by volcanic action. Consequently, the geological character of the country in which oil is being sought must be borne in mind. For instance, in California, the movement of the earth’s system, which brought about the formation of the towering Sierras, disturbed the oil-beds very seriously. The wavy layers running horizontally suffered disruption and upheaval. In places the strata have been set actually on end, with the result that the oil occupies a vertical cavity. In the Caucasus, where volcanic energy has been exceedingly violent, the disturbance has had a different effect. The strata containing the oil appear to have been pushed to one side and superimposed, with the result that there are successive layers of oil-yielding sands.

Generally speaking, oil never is found in districts where there has been excessive volcanic disturbance. This is due to the fact that at these points the upheaval of the crust has been so terrific, and such enormous pressures have been exerted, that the oil-sands have been expelled or else have been burned up. For this reason oil has not yet been found among the Swiss Alps, nor among the Rockies. Likewise it is not apparent in the British Isles, which owe their existence primarily to volcanic activity. This action has produced some very curious results. As is well known, the Andes range thrusts itself towards the clouds near the western shore of South America. The mountain flanks are exceedingly abrupt. No oil has been discovered in the range itself , but upon the level shore it is found in abundance, and is being profitably worked. The same phenomenon occurs in California, where the Sierras have produced a similar effect. One or two trial wells were put down above high-water mark. Oil was tapped, and flowed forth in copious streams. A survey of the situation was then made. Did the deposits run out to sea? Everything pointed towards such a conclusion. Accordingly, derricks were erected in the water, where drilling met with complete success, the oil being more abundant than on shore. The inevitable boom set in, and to-day clusters of derricks protrude above the water, connected by plank gangways with the shore, and winning oil from the sea-bed flourishes. Depth of water alone will restrict the enterprise proceeding seawards, but there is every indication that the deposits extend some distance beneath the Pacific. Fortunately this coast is free from attack by tempest, otherwise wind and wave would make short work of the timber oil structures. In the Caspian territory there are similar evidences that the oil strata extend beneath the Caspian Sea, but no effort has been made to tap them upon lines similar to those practised in the United States. In Russia the proposal is to reclaim sections of the foreshore beneath which oil is known to exist, and then to tap the oil from a dry position. Coal and tin are mined from the sea-bed, but the Californian undertaking represents the solitary effort that has been made to make the sea give up the oil wealth which it covers.

The mammoth oil industry of to-day owes its existence primarily to a British chemist, Mr. James Young, who was the first man to produce illuminating oil from crude petroleum. Young was apprenticed to his father, a humble cabinet-maker in Glasgow, but the boy devoted his evenings and spare time to the mastery of chemistry. In this he proved so brilliantly successful that he was appointed assistant to Professor Graham, and subsequently abandoned working in wood for the position of industrial chemist in Manchester. While there Lord Playfair drew his attention to a thick, viscous, liquid matter which was oozing into a coal-mine at Alfreton in Derbyshire. Investigating the material, Young found that it was crude petroleum, and, succeeding in distilling paraffin therefrom, he left Manchester, erected a small refinery near the mine, and devoted his energies to the production of the illuminating oil, which in those days was regarded as the solitary useful product of mineral oil. When Young commenced operations the spring was giving about 300 gallons of oil per day, but the yield diminished steadily, until at the end of two years it gave out completely. Young had anticipated such a contingency, and had made arrangements accordingly. This period of activity had proved sufficient to enable him to perfect his great idea. In 1850 he took out his famous patent for the production of paraffin by distillation, which has proved to be one of the most historic and momentous developments associated with the oil industry.

Young’s success had not escaped the attention of certain interests in the United States of America. The remains of the ancient oil-workings and natural oil-springs were accepted as conclusive evidence that oil existed in plenty in the earth. Its extraction could be converted into an attractive commercial proposition. The patent taken out by Young represented a triumph in refining, and as there was great scope for an illuminating oil to supersede the rush light, the Pennsylvania Rock-Oil Company came into being in 1854, to sink wells for oil and to refine the product. For two or three years the proposal languished, but in 1859 operations were commenced in grim earnest under Colonel Drake. He selected a spot on Oil Creek, Pennsylvania, which in those days was a picturesque sylvan dale, through which the stream wound its tortuous way. The hills rising gradually from the depression were densely clothed with scrub and forest, relieved here and there by patches of pastureland, where the grasses grew luxuriantly. Drake drove his well in the floor of the vale, and essayed to tap the oil upon the lines generally practised in sinking an open water-well. He commenced operations on May 20, 1859. He had not descended more than a few feet, when an inrush of water and mud, filling his excavation, brought about a sudden cessation of work.

A pretty problem for those days was presented. Drake strove might and main to overcome the visitation, but in vain; thereupon he decided to drive a pipe into the ground until he touched solid rock. The actual drilling operations were carried out by William, familiarly known as Old Billy Smith, who was assisted by his sons. Drake supervised the task, bringing his knowledge to bear upon the solution of the troubles as they developed, and successfully breaking them down one after the other. It was pioneer work from beginning to end, and in the manner of such operations the troubles at times were of no mean description, while the tools, primitive in comparison with those used today, had to be contrived specially to meet the situation.

But perseverance brought its due reward. On August 27, 1859, when the drill-pipe had been carried to a depth of 69½ feet, petroleum was observed to be welling to the mouth of the bore-hole; the flow increased slowly as the bit shattered the remaining thickness of rock. Drake and his diligent toilers realized that the goal of their ambitions had been reached. Oil had been struck! The yield was not imposing, judging from modern standards, being only twenty barrels—840 gallons—per day, which output was maintained for a year.

The news of Drake’s success spread rapidly, and there was a tremendous wave of excitement. Curiously enough, Colonel Drake appears to have underrated the significance of his discovery and its importance to the world at large. He was completely satisfied with what he had accomplished. He had undertaken a certain task and had completed it. Forthwith his interest in petroleum appears to have disappeared; he never became an oil-king, nor a millionaire. Just when Fortune was within his grasp he retired from the new world which he had opened up, to devote his attention and interests to more congenial occupation. In his later days, while he never regretted the loss of the wealth which should have been his, he was sometimes in sore need of the bare necessaries of life. Illness overtook him, and he died practically unknown, with few to sound his praises for creating a new industry.

Within a few months of Drake’s momentous discovery a mad rush set in to the spot where he had found oil. Prospectors, adventurers, ne’er-do-wells, and financiers, flocked to Oil Creek as frenziedly as if a gold-mine had been revealed. The placidity of the Pennsylvania countryside was rudely disturbed; its picturesque sylvan beauty was destroyed ruthlessly. The country for miles around was overrun in all directions, and the land, which had hitherto been deemed of little value except for the quiet humdrum of agricultural pursuits, resounded with the staccato clank of axes felling trees, the resounding crashes of hammers striking nails, the raucous shouts of the uncouth who had contracted the get-rich-quickly fever, and the wild screech of steam.

The vale fringing the stream beside which oil had been found was promptly christened Oil Creek; towns of curious and fantastic names, suggested by some incident associated with the oil rush, came into existence. There were Petroleum Centre, Bonanza Flats, Church Run, Funkville, Red Hot, Pithole, Cow Run, Wild Cat Hollow, to name