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Show B!E COMPANIES BORE FOB DILI ALBERTA EDMO.VTOX, Alta., July 26. Fi-' ntmeial interests .are looking fonvar.l to what they predict will be one of the greatest economic wars in bistory in the efforts of Standard Oil and 'the 'Shell Transport Oil company to gain control of the undeveloped oil fields of northern Alberta. Geologists and government gov-ernment experts who have made a careful care-ful examination of the rock formation J of the province have declared their be- lief that somewhere in Alberta one of the greatest reservoirs of petroleum in the world lies undiscovered. The reports re-ports of the (Jauadian geological survey bave pointed out that the outcropping ! of tar sands along the Athabasca river j is the largest area of mixed asphaltum and petroleum known on earth, and that 'surface indications of oil in the deeper strata are promising. Vliether the theories of the scientists will be proven, this summer probably will determine. The two most powerful oil companies in the world accept the verdict of the geologists with absolute faith. Standard Oil, through its Canadian Ca-nadian subsidiary, the Imperial Oil company, has announced a $5u0,0UU pros- I pecting campaign for this summer. It has five expensively equipped drilling expeditions at present in the field. One of these is boring north of Great Slave lake,' on the Mackenzie river, several hundred miles farther north than an oil well ever was sunk before. Other crews are drilling in the tar sands region, on the Peace river, in the country north of the Canadian National transcontinental line and in the southern part of the province. The Shell Transport Oil company com-pany has made overtures to the Canadian Cana-dian government to lease a vast extent of territory in the Athabasca and Great Slave country, in the work of exploiting which it agrees to .spend several million dollars. Oil taken from one well on the Athabasca Atha-basca river north of Fort McKay showed this analysis: Gasoline traction below lode, 2 per cent; kerosene traction trac-tion 150-2OH"., 70 per cent; lubricating traction 300-350c, 5 per cent; asphai-tuni, asphai-tuni, 23 per cent. Oil from another well in the same region showed: Gasoline traction below be-low liiOc, 2 per cent; kerosene traction 150-r00c, 71.6 per cent; lubricating traction above 300c, 11.8 per cent; residue, 6.1 per cent; losses, 7.6 per cent. This oil was obtained at a depth of around 2S0 feet. The work of drilling so far has indicated that the high-gravity high-gravity oil will be generally found in the lower sands. How ' extensive the reat ml reservoir will prove to bo when it is located is a problem, but many experts believe it underlies the whole Athabasca region. |