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Show HAS EXPLORATION OF PETROLEUM RESERVES PAID? Huge Fortunes Made and Royalties to Government Run Into Millions of Dollars Dol-lars in Last Few Years Let us consider the question, from the standpoint of the operator opera-tor and investor: Has actual exploration ex-ploration of the federal petroleum reserves paid? Again let us examine the record. rec-ord. People are in the oil business busi-ness to make money. When companies com-panies or individuals developed in a government oil reserve, have they made money? Take two years: In 1924 a total of 49,640,000 barrels of oil were recovered from government leases. In 1925 this amounted to 48,138,-000 48,138,-000 barrels. Three years later, in 1928, the government got $4,677,000 from bonuses, rentals and royalties in the public domain. These figures are only representative, represen-tative, neither the largest nor the smallest. They merely indicate the development of federal oil lands has paid. The Teapot Dome scandal facts justify the conclusion that private and well-informed oil interests are not only eager, but will on occasions occa-sions spend millions to obtain access ac-cess to the public oil lands. And the fact that, in spite of the very short time the leases were in effect, the government recovered re-covered over $47,000,000 from the Teapot Dome and Elk Hills reserves re-serves alone, evidences the tremendous tre-mendous profits to be made by such operations. Private lessees have 'made over $600,000,000 clear profit in Salt Creek. Sinclair, after getting $106,-000,000 $106,-000,000 in stock from the Mammoth Mam-moth Oil company for his 9400-acre 9400-acre Teapot Dome lease, testified he expected to make another $100,-000,000. $100,-000,000. The Continental Trading company, com-pany, a Canadian corporation, organized or-ganized in connection with development devel-opment of this lease, distributed $3,000,000 in profits to Sinclair, Col. Robert Stewart, chairman of the board of the Standard Oil company of Indiana, and others. This sum was realized from the sale of Teapot Dome oil. Secretary Wilbur states the discovery dis-covery well at Kettleman Hills paid over $125,000 in royalties to the government during the first eight months. Inasmuch as this was on the basis of 5 per cent, it is assumed as-sumed the Milham Exploration Company, owners of the well, realized real-ized about $2,500,000 from this one well in that time. Actual oil. production of this well from November 15, 1928, date of its completion, to March 31, 1930, was given at 1,706,691 barrels, bar-rels, or a daily average of 3336 barrels. Felix No. 1, in the same field, came in at an estimate of 5,500' barrels and 100,000,000 cubic feet of gas daily. Superior Oil company's Huffman Huff-man No. 1, northwest output of the North Dome in this field, raised its output from 13,000 barrels bar-rels a day to 15,000 barrels before being beaned back. It originally came in at about 5000 barrels. M. D. Huffman, who has a one-eighth one-eighth interest in the well and owns the property where it is located, lo-cated, is estimated to have an income in-come from this one well of $1850 daily, or more than $50,000 per month. - In Buena Vista hills, acreage placed under the navy department, at the same time had 383 producing produc-ing wells. Total production of the leased . areas in this ; reserve of June, 1929, was 45,240,000 barrels. The estimate of total recoverable oil from government . land after that date was 104,000,000 barrels, of which the government was reported re-ported to receive an average royalty roy-alty of about 14 per cent. |