In view of the persistence of ruincurs of an impending exhaustion of the world's mineral oil resources, it may be of interest to note American reserves were estimated in 1914 at a mere 6,000 million barrels. This figure was alleged to cover oil in all known and possible oil-bearing structures, by whatever method extracted, As recently as 1925, moreover, the first A.P.L estimate put proved reserves as low as 5,000 million barrels. Some 18,000 million barrels of crude oil have been produced since the first of these est mates was made and over 13,000 millions since the second—yet proved reserves are now higher than ever.
In the light of this experience, an xiety regarding future mineral oil supplies is clearly unjustified. It is impossible in the present state knowledge even to guess at the amount of oil actually remaining in the sub-soil of the United States. And there are enormous reservoirs in various parts of the world—in the Near East and Russia, for example—which are likely to remain untouched for years to come.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.