From oil wells, as the table shows, Germany is getting under 450,000 metric tons of petroleum, while from other sources such as coal lignite the output is about 1% million tons. From all domestic sources, including vegetation, Germany is not getting one-half of her oil needs, and more probably only about one-third.
To encourage German road vehicles io turn over to substitutes for oil. grants are made for vehicle-conversion to producer-gas or compressed gas. Gas producing plant depends largely on wood or charcoal available at one thousand "wood-filling stations." Further encouragement to wood burning seems unlikely now that wood supplies have been brought under control, alternatives to wood in building construction recommended, and the claim made that types of wood hitherto considered fit only for fuel are being put to industrial uses.
Whether the strain on timber resources will be quickly relieved by the exploitation of the Rumanian forests now arranged remains to be seen. The pressure on wood supplies comes from the ever growing demand of the rayon and staple fibre industries. A quarter of a million buses and trucks run on compressed gas, cylinders being available at filling stations and often carried on a trailer.
The German-Rumanian trade treaty signed in March gives Germany certain oil concessions in an area which some suggest may prove unprofitable to work and the resources of which are problematical. The total current output of Rumanian oil is about 1% million tons above Germany's maximum imports so far recorded. The
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