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Show East Oil Problem Is Becoming Acute NEW YORK CITY.-Adequate distribution of oil supplies, vital to a motorized nation in both peace and war, is creating concern among United States government officials as more military airplanes, tanks and bouncing army "jeeps" (field cars) are lined up daily at gasoline pumps. Secretary Ickes, appointed by President Roosevelt as petroleum co-ordinator for national defense, already al-ready has hinted at "gasless Sundays" Sun-days" in the Eastern states, where transfer to Great Britain of 50 American-flag tankers has cut down the steady arrival of oil. Congress is studying a bill designed to clear the way for laying an oil and gasoline pipe line system to the Atlantic seaboard sea-board from the Gulf states oil fields. "The current oil problem Is largely large-ly one of transportation," says a bulletin bul-letin from the National Geographic society, "for federal statistics Indicate Indi-cate that aggregate supplies of gasoline, gas-oline, fuel oil, and lubricants are sufficient for anticipated needs. Oil reserves are at their highest point in the United States, which since 1906 has produced more than 60 per cent of world stocks. "From 375,000 active wells about twice the number in operation in 1917 petroleum companies in this country last year took a dally average av-erage of 3,500,000 barrels of oil. This was about two-thirds of world production. pro-duction. The vast Texas fields furnish fur-nish about two-fifths of the domestic supply, with other important amounts coming from California; the Mid-Continent field of Oklahoma, Oklaho-ma, Arkansas, Kansas and northern north-ern Louisiana; the Gulf coast area, which Includes southern Texas, Louisiana and the Rocky Mountain region. t |