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Show COLD IS RETARDING OUTPUT OF GASOLINE Decreased Production and Difficulty of Transportation Are Affecting the February Dividends. While tho use of automobiles has been curtailed to a great extent,, on account of extremely cold weather throughout the country, oil refining companies have not been able to add to their surplus etoeks of gasoline. Severe tvoather in tho oil fields has greatly reduced production of icrudo oil, and operations of refiners in some caes are on a smaller scaJe. I Not only has the weather prevented jmen from operating wells, but in a good ! nianv case; the smaller wells even froze. Heavy snowfalls have put roads In such j shape that tt 1b practically impossible for I producers to send material. Water lines ' fi oze. and many hurst. Producers are waltincr for better weather conditions before be-fore they will seek new production. This decrease in output of nearly all producing companies, combined with dif-flultv dif-flultv of t rannportinff oil, affected earnings earn-ings in January, and, if condition do not I improve, they wi'd in February a Isrt. ; In the opinion of oil men, gasoline will I not show any niat'-rial advance in pri.-e jdnrlng tho i-omlng summer. Sonic believe there will be no increase. Where formerly a greater part of th oil companies' profits depended on gaso-iline, gaso-iline, today, owins to the biz demand for ! keros'-ne and other rcftm-d ma tria Is, i refiners' profits are more evenly distributed distrib-uted over all their products. Refiners now a re receiving" as high as lfi cent a gallon for keroMense, which compares with ahout H ccnlB a year a?-0, Boston News Hureau. |