Show I 1 oil shale industry is now attracting wide attention r dr victor C alderson and adnew new gov activity responsible by victor C alderson most alost likely as a result of the recent announcement that the he governments gove experimental oil shale treating plant at rulison soll colorado had shipped its first tank car of oil renewed interest is being taken in the prospective value and magnitude of the oil shale industry the big denver newspapers are falling failing into line and yielding space to recitals on the he subject tile the rocky mountain news now is publishing in serial dr victor C aldersons recent descriptive educational article on oil the subject entitled an oil skale shale resume in the journal of the institution of petroleum technologists of london E england this article by dr alderson tile the first allotment of which appeared lit in the news of the and the mining ining review quotes liberally here will be found of real interest to readers of the mining review identified in any way with the future possibilities and growth of the he oil shale industry editor the most notable events of the year to the oil industry i have been the erection of the united states government plant at rulison colo the practical distillation improvements made by al J the expected early completion and operation of commercial oil shale plants at casmalia carmalia Cas malia calif elko nev de beque colo green river wyo and mt sterling ky besides pronounced activity in tasmania esthonia sweden france canada and japan the most valuable contribution of the industry as a whole has been the publication of shale oil by dr paul H mckee and seven associates inasmuch as the first american book on the oi oil shale industry printed in 1920 is now out of print shale oil is the only comprehensive american book on the subject now available A comprehensive english treatise on the subject is now being prepared by david brownlie of london from the economic point of view the active interest of oil companies and large financial interests have been important this ams interest has been so intense and so many large tracts of desirable cesi rable oil shale acreage desirable because of the good title tit lehigh high yield of oil and low working costs have been hausted acquired that the supply of such acreage is well nigh ex oil to supplant coal that fuel is the all important need of industry must be on ceded it is available in many forms as coal gas wood pat 3 and edoil oil this is is the age of coal but coal is bulky dirty bas ra and an will he be relegated to the rear in the coming oil age oil lil several ral large sources of supply like tar or oil sands well L and oil shale other sources are out of the question because of a limited natural supply oil shale therefore austry dust be regarded only y as one phase of the general oil in pool decline me in production no present hope of new large 1 rise I and a limited reserve of only six years supply give to dasy a reasonable bab doubt of the ability of the well oil in if this ftc to keep P the price of well oil at a reasonable figure goes 8 cannot be done don and the price of crude oil at the well the up i P then another source must certainly be sought one field that material to meet can supply s sufficient raw the t grev great demand as an adjunct to well oil is oil shale the the total western 81 oil shale field alone can supply PP many y times wells belr past and estimated future production oi of all the oil in sin the united states age of oil Is near f fernl the in 1 ncr creased eased use of oil and its products is fast trans transformation ns ning form this 1 age from an age a of coal lo 10 to an ae a e of oil this by the he is goin going 9 on so quietly that it is not rea realized lazed aliat liat nation on nian man in m the e street virtually all warships of every ow use oil as fuel most of the mercantile steam ships do likewise many of the railroads use oil on some part of their lines the great northern railroad has just contracted for barrels of fuel oil this will be sufficient fuel for use on two thirds of their lines between st paul i aul and the pacific coast the growing demand for oil as fuel for domestic use and in in industrial plants is reflected in the increase of the oil burner business which in 1925 did a business to the extent of fuel oil the oil trade paper reports that there are now oil burner manufacturers manufacturer 5 in the united states that ten reported a production of from two to twelve thousand burners each that one manufacturer reports an increase from 1921 1924 of per cent a second reports an increase of per cent and a third per cent and that there are thirty nine varieties vari aties of industries all using 01 oil burners demand increasing there are now oil burner installations in apartment houses and dwellings it is estimated that in 1926 there will be new industrial installations in hotels and apartment houses and in dwellings dw ellinos this will probably increase indrea se the demand for burning oils by gallons over the consumption of 1925 the national board of underwriters in their laboratories at chicago have tested domestic burners and 97 are now awaiting test the change from coal ashes dust dirt and disagreeable labor in the american amil rican home to fuel oil is a movement of nationwide nation wide significance but is now only in its infancy in addition to the increasing demand for oil by battleships tle ships steamships railroads office buildings hotels and residences the metal glass alasi brick ceramic cement and other industries are steadily calling for more oil every type of machinery demands lubricating oil finally the automobile industry calls loudly for more gasoline because of the increase of closed cars for all the year round service the new motor bus lines the new oil oi I 1 electric locomotive the in increase creage i in i n motor ships the growth of tile the motor truck business and an d the increasing use of the diesel oil en engine gine finally the U S navy is making a careful study of the oil shale situation in order to make use of shale oil as a war res reserve erva when whenever ever the commercial stage is reached we in the e united states use six barrels per capita of oil per annum while the rest of the world uses only one fifth of a barrel per capita no unusual analytical faculty is needed to se see e that this country is rapidly entering anage an age of oil oil shale acreage owned is vast tile the action of the oil com companies banies and other large interests in in securing title to large tracts of shale land in colorado wyoming and utah is especially noteworthy in colorado Cold rado the union oil company of california now has acres the ventura colorado oil company of california the cont cental oil of colorado the standard oil company company of new jersey the honolulu consolidated oil company of california 2500 the millikin schuyler in interests tile the pure oil company compa my the colorado carbon company the federal feder at oil shale company and nd tile the parachute oil shale company acres tn in wyoming the american shale and refining company has 2240 acres the wyoming WYOM ing oil products company the empire gas and oil company and the wyoming shale and metals company acres in utah the N T U company has acres the uintah company and the uintah shale oil company 1520 acres As a result of such acquisitions by strong financial concerns only one conclusion can be drawn that is the available amount of oil shale land in large blocks with good title ample frontage of workable shale within reasonable distance of transportation with water and standing timber is rapidly diminishing in fact to find today a acre tract to fulfill these requirements would be difficult not far from 75 per cent of the valuable commercial oil shale land in colorado is controlled by oil companies or other large financial interests another feature makes the situation still worse many tracts held by small holders with defective titles or tracts held by phoney locators have reverted to the government and can be utilized only under the terms of the leasing bill the actual conditions have thus been recognized by far sighted companies with large financial resources when the commercial manufacture of oil from shale begins they will not lack a supply of oil shale utah has vast deposits the oil shale field in utah is vast in area and yields in many places a large amount of oil still better however is the possibility of mining the shale by the open cut or steam shovel method in many places where the hillside is one continuous mass of shale the uintah basin alone contains tons which at the mini minimum muni of 15 gallons to the ton for commercially c ally valuable shale as determined b by y the government will yield barrels of oil the oil shale laboratory of the bureau of mines is maintained at salt lake city the work consists of a study of fundamental principles involved in oil shale treatment united states senator king has introduced trod a bill in the senate appropriating for or an experimental oil shale plant in utah wyoming oil shale field the oil shale field in wyoming is mainly in sweetwater county and is exposed on both sides of the green river from the state line northward for more than sixty miles A well hole twenty three miles north of the city of green riv river er showed feet of almost continuous shale the celebrated mahogany shale of colorado extends into wyoming and appears in all exposures A characteristic of wyoming oil shale is the small overburden and the feasibility of open cut and steam shovel mining J edson himes of chicago owner of a large acreage of land one and one half miles north of the city of green river has given his oil shale a thorough large scale test in the plant at alhambra calif the results were satisfactory and a ton plant to cost is to be erected and commercial operations begun at an early date the cliffs on his land show feet of shale above the plant site one of the first oil shale leases granted by the government has been taken by brown and rosenberg of kemmerer on 2000 acres in lincoln county the royalty is 25 per cent of all shale oil produced |