THE EVOLUTION OF THE OIL INDUSTRY
[Illustration: The first oil well drilled near Titusville, Pa., on
August 27, 1859, by Col. Edwin L. Drake, the pioneer man of the world]
THE EVOLUTION
_of the_
OIL INDUSTRY
BY
VICTOR ROSS
ILLUSTRATED FROM PHOTOGRAPHS
GARDEN CITY NEW YORK
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
1920
COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, INCLUDING THAT OF TRANSLATION INTO FOREIGN
LANGUAGES, INCLUDING THE SCANDINAVIAN
PREFACE
BY DR. VAN H. MANNING
_Director of the Division of Technical Research of the American
Petroleum Institute. Formerly Director of the Bureau of Mines of the
Department of the Interior_
A glance at the chapter headings in this little book shows that it
is an endeavour to present in succinct form a survey of a great and
ever-expanding economic revolution--the interpenetration by petroleum
of all industries, whether of the factory or the field, land or sea,
war or peace. This phenomenon has been almost exclusively a development
of the past six decades, and the United States of America have been
the predominant factor in the innumerable changes wrought thereby. The
narrative confines itself rigidly to historic records and material
facts, undeniably romantic in themselves. But as the epic unfolds
itself, it assumes a super-phase, the import of which cannot be
measured by mere figures--a super-phase with invaluable applications to
the problems of humanity in an industrial age.
Petroleum, it becomes clear, was the first natural product to
which the abstract theory of order, as understood by modern social
philosophers, was applied in a large and general sense. It must be
accounted good fortune not only for America but for the world at large,
that this movement, though gradual at the outset, commenced almost
within a decade of the birth of the modern petroleum industry at
Titusville, Pa., in 1859. The outcome has tended to influence economic
thought the world over, especially since war on an unprecedented scale
put all established systems, traditions, and institutions to the acid
test.
Foreign observers and critics, friendly or unfriendly, admit that in
one matter American foresight and enterprise have taught the older
nations valuable lessons--and that is in respect of standardized
production--or to put it in another way, organized industry.
America’s achievements in this domain during the past half century
have represented incalculable and beneficial advancement beyond the
industrial conditions of all past centuries. With this record of
progress, the growth and expansion of the petroleum industry have
been inseparably associated. The famous pioneers in organizing the
production, refining and distribution of petroleum have also been
pioneers in the application of the principle of order to industry;
which, in essence, means the elimination of waste and misdirected
energy from human effort.
Organized industry means something entirely different from a system
aiming at quick and enormous profits. It is based on a definite theory
of scientific effort, whereby all the possibilities of a given resource
are developed to their fullest degree, so that waste ceases, the value
of the worker’s labour is increased with benefits to himself, and
the consumer receives the blessings of nature’s dower at the lowest
reasonable cost. As the ensuing chapters show, the accomplishment of
these objects in the case of petroleum has involved much more than
the application of the physical sciences to manufacturing processes.
It has meant the development of systematized methods in discovery and
location, transportation and distribution, so that from the moment
oil is “struck,” in say a barren patch of prairie, until any one of
the many products of crude petroleum is placed in the hands of the
consumer--here, or in some distant isle of the sea--there shall be no
waste and no injustice, and that all the hands through which it passes
shall reap a just benefit.
The far-sighted Americans of the transition period in this country’s
history, who created the modern petroleum industry, and built up the
machinery for its continuous expansion, began with the definite aim
of involving order from chaos. They were from the outset reformers
of business methods and enemies of waste. The latter had become
colossal during the unsettled years that were marked by the duration
and aftermath of civil war. The work of these business pioneers was
gradual, but it developed an ever-increasing impetus; and as the
years went on the ethical import of their mission became more and
more apparent. It would be wide of the facts to say that the element
of gain played no part in these developments. Little indeed would be
accomplished in the way of progress were the incentive of personal gain
in some form or other removed. On this point the Scottish economist,
Adam Smith, spoke pertinently one hundred and fifty years or more
ago: “By pursuing his own interest a man frequently promotes that of
society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it.”
Nevertheless it is clear that in the case of some of the leaders most
closely identified with the organization of the petroleum industry,
personal motive and energy were supplemented by a sincere desire to
promote the prosperity and welfare of the American people as a whole.
Coming to the larger question of what the principle of order means to
humanity in the abstract, it must be noted that all modern thinkers
whether they be supporters of capitalism--the system on which all
past industrial and national progress has been based--or intellectual
socialists pin their faith to that principle as the sole means whereby
mankind can be raised to a higher level. Moderate socialists are
especially emphatic on this point and it is the key-note of their
writings. They attribute the great mass of poverty and suffering
which still exists in this world to lack of order--to the failure of
mankind, in the individual and in the aggregate, adequately to realize
its importance. The goal which all enlightened men, of whatever school
of thought, desire to see attained, is the abolition of poverty; not
the imaginary poverty of the man who chafes because he cannot have
everything he desires; but the actual, galling poverty that is born of
the worker’s inability to produce sufficient to earn rewards that will
enable him to live according to decent standards. It is to the eternal
credit of the leaders of the petroleum industry in America that they
have set a beacon of order and efficiency which lights the road by
which that great end--the abolition of poverty--may be reached. It is a
principle that runs like a golden thread through the vast and complex
system that has grown up around petroleum.
The ensuing chapters show how much it has meant in prosperity and
progress to the world at large to have a great natural resource like
petroleum developed to the fullest degree of its potentialities, so
that all who come in contact with it participate in some measure in the
benefits. These considerations are obviously of greater importance than
some others which have been impressed on the public mind in exaggerated
terms. The fact that a few men of organizing genius may have reaped
fortunes in consummating the aim of bringing order out of chaos and
turning waste to profit is of slight significance in comparison with
the certainty that millions of people have been benefited by their
operations. It is one of the rooted axioms born of human experience
that genius of whatever order, so long as it assists civilization, is
entitled to exceptional rewards. Particularly is it true of that rare
order of genius which lies back of directing minds. Without their
leadership the efforts of humanity to advance itself would be in vain.
What the extraordinarily efficient organization of the petroleum
industry has meant in wealth to such leaders is in the aggregate but
a drop in the bucket in comparison with the benefits conferred on the
people as a whole--increasing rewards for the producer in every stage
of its development, lowered costs for the consumer, and stimulus to
countless forms of industrial activity.
Thus it can be truthfully maintained that the spirit of coöperation,
honest endeavour and hatred of waste and slovenly methods by which the
present condition of that industry has been achieved offers a valuable
and well recognized message from America to the world at large, and
suggests a solution for many of the ills that beset civilization to-day.
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE v
By Dr. Van H. Manning.
CHAPTER
I. PETROLEUM IN HISTORY AND LEGEND 3
II. WHAT IS PETROLEUM? 11
III. DAWN OF AMERICA’S PETROLEUM INDUSTRY 30
IV. FOUNDER OF THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY 37
V. PETROLEUM AS A WORLD INDUSTRY 44
VI. LOCATING THE OIL WELL 57
VII. DRILLING THE OIL WELL 65
VIII. COLLECTING AND TRANSPORTING CRUDE: THE PIPE LINE 76
IX. REFINING AND MANUFACTURING PETROLEUM PRODUCTS 89
X. PETROLEUM AND OTHER INDUSTRIES 106
XI. PETROLEUM ON THE SEVEN SEAS 116
XII. PETROLEUM IN THE GREAT WAR 129
XIII. AMERICA’S INVESTMENT IN PETROLEUM 148
XIV. PETROLEUM IN THE FUTURE 160
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
The first oil well, drilled near Titusville, Pa.,
on August 27, 1859, by Col. Edwin L.
Drake _Frontispiece_
FACING PAGE
A temporary oil reservoir in Oklahoma 26
Early activity; the famous Red Hot Oil Field
near Shamburg, Pa. 42
Where Pithole stood 43
The Drader Well in the Moreni Field, Roumania 66
Burkburnett in Northern Texas 67
Big yield well in Mexico flowing into temporary
storage pond 82
Laying a pipe line through a Louisiana forest 83
Lines for loading oil on vessels standing from
one to two miles at sea 98
Battery of crude stills at the Bayway Refinery,
Linden, N. J. 99
“Look boxes” in the “Still House” where the grades of
oil are separated according to gravity 114
A modern tanker carrying 4,000,000 gallons of oil 115
A tanker being loaded with gasoline and oil
at a refinery dock at Port Arthur, Texas 146
Kansas wells flowing oil into a temporary
sump, or earthen reservoir 147
Steam stills at a modern refinery 162
Storage tank at Cushing, Oklahoma, struck by lightning 163
THE EVOLUTION OF THE OIL INDUSTRY
CHAPTER I
PETROLEUM IN HISTORY AND LEGEND
While the petroleum industry is in the fullest sense modern, it has
been known to, and casually utilized by mankind for centuries. It
is named in the earliest annals of the race; and allusions to it
are abundant in the literature of the East, from which much of our
Western literature had its inspiration. It was applied to the service
of religion, and was a subject of superstition in times which are
enshrouded in legend. In the authorized Bible and in the Apocrypha
there are more than two hundred allusions to it. The legend of Noah
speaks of his having used pitch to tighten the seams of his ark, which
certainly indicates a familiarity with the uses of fluid bitumen
available in the East. In Deuteronomy there is mention of “oil out of
the flinty rock;” and Biblical students could cite countless other
instances where the meaning clearly indicates a common use of the
surface deposits of Western Asia.
It is believed to have been a strong factor in trade between Ancient
Judea and Persia, which latter country has again in the twentieth
century become a factor in oil production. It played its part in
the worship not only of the Hebrews but of other Eastern nations,
and to the primitive minds of those peoples assumed miraculous
characteristics. The burning wells of Baku were the objective of
religious pilgrimages among the prehistoric peoples; and despite the
colossal waste of past ages these wells still flow and are a factor
in commerce. The Zoroastrians, or Fire Worshippers, a sect of Persian
origin, which gained many adherents in ancient India also, regarded
these wells as the manifestations of a great imprisoned spirit, who was
supposed to breathe inflammable vapour from his nostrils. Zoroaster
has a temple at Baku, and students of folk-lore hold that these
burning wells helped to confirm the belief in a literal Hell of fire,
common to races of Semitic origin. The Macedonian conqueror of Asia,
Alexander the Great, witnessed the burning lake of Ectabana in his
march to the east, centuries before the Christian era. Marco Polo, the
Italian explorer of the middle ages, among many fables, revealed to
Europe the truth about the oil resources in Baku, and had sufficient
of the instincts of a trader to discern their commercial value.
Well-founded belief in the medicinal properties of petroleum, common to
all countries where it is found, was also prevalent among the ancient
peoples.
The reference to its use in the construction of Noah’s ark shows that
the utility of pitch, as a binding material in building operations, was
recognized. It is clearly this material that is meant by the “slime”
which is stated to have been used as mortar for the erection of the
Tower of Babel; and it is supposed to have played its part in more
definitely authenticated structures like the palaces of Babylon and
Nineveh, and the Temple of King Solomon.
Less familiar are the Greek legends relative to petroleum. Plutarch,
in his life of Alexander the Great, after recording some experiments
of the Macedonian conqueror with petroleum, in the course of which
he nearly burned a favorite slave to death, suggests that it was the
fluid signified in one of the legends of Medea. The story ran that
Medea, wishing to destroy a successful rival in love, the daughter of
King Creon, gave her a wreath and crown anointed with some inflammable
liquid. As her victim approached the altar flame during a religious
festival, the wreath and veil became ignited and the unfortunate
princess was burned to ashes.
The ancient Egyptians undoubtedly used petroleum for embalming and
medicinal purposes, and filled the cavities of dead bodies with
asphaltum, so that nomadic Arabs in later times have been known to use
mummies stolen from Egyptian tombs for fuel. Petroleum in its more
fluid form is also supposed to have been used to preserve the ancient
papyrus against the boring of insects and the rust and rot of time. To
this extent at least historians and archæologists are indebted to this
gift to man.
Rome, in her gradual conquest of the Western world, made all known
oil supplies her own. Consequently allusions which obviously refer to
petroleum are frequent to the Roman historians; and here once more it
was applied to the use of religion.
The early records of Russia, the Scythian nation of ancient history,
are obscure, but it is quite clear that the properties of petroleum
were known to them for ages. When Igor descended on Greece, his
vessels were destroyed by a fire that burned on water; which has led
some modern historians to believe that petroleum entered into the
composition of “Greek Fire,” the secret of which is lost.
The Greeks, indeed, are said to have made ingenious use of petroleum
at all times. Those who have read in Gustav Flaubert’s “Salammbo” the
story of the rising of the mercenary troops of Carthage after the
first Punic war will recall the tactics of one of the Greek captains
who turned back the Carthaginian elephant corps, by sending among them
swine smeared with petroleum and ignited.
In later days the greatest of Russian Emperors, Peter the Great, showed
himself alive to the commercial value of the Baku wells. When in
1723 he obtained from Persia control of the Baku Khanate, he ordered
the seizure of as much white petroleum as possible, and directed
that a refining master be sent there. “This,” remarks a historian of
petroleum, “is the first record of a vacancy for a manager of an oil
refinery.”
As we go farther east history becomes less exact and legend more
quaint. In Burma the story of a sweet-smelling deposit of petroleum is
the subject of a tale more than a thousand years old. It is related
that King Alsungsithu was making progress through his realms with his
seven wives and on his magic raft. At one point the ladies went ashore
and finding sweet-smelling earth, anointed themselves and delayed so
long that they forgot the hour appointed for their return. The angered
king issued the decree “let the queens who love scented earth more
than me, their Lord, be put to death.” The doomed ladies replied “From
too much love of this fragrant earth we must now die. Let it lose its
fragrance and become an overflowing stream of foul-smelling oil, and
let those who collect it pay us honour as their protecting deities.”
They were executed and became Nats or guardian spirits and belief in
them is still preserved among workers in the Burmese oil fields. But
if the legend could be accepted as true the slain women assuredly took
a sad vengeance, for the only offense that can be charged against so
beneficent an agent as crude petroleum is its odour, which assuredly
belies its virtues.
There are the remains of very ancient oil workings in Burma, Japan and
China. Indeed, China, a pioneer in many arts, was undoubtedly one in
oil production. Boring in the modern sense was unknown to most of the
ancient peoples but it was practised in China centuries ago, a fact
which will come under consideration when we take up the mechanical
phases of oil production. They had some deep wells at a time when other
nations were merely utilizing surface accumulations, and eruptions.
A natural substance which has played so considerable a part in the
literature and legend of Europeans and Asiatics did not fail to appear
in the beliefs and practices of the aborigines of this country. From
time unknown the red man has gathered and made medicinal use of the
surface petroleum of the Oil Creek region of Pennsylvania; and its
utility in more than one respect was known to the Indians of California
and Mexico. The Senecas imparted to the French Jesuit missionaries--who
in the seventeenth century, explored not only Eastern Canada but the
Northern States and the Mississippi Valley--the curative virtues of
oil; and two hundred years later it was known to the settlers of
Northern New York State, Pennsylvania and Ohio as “Seneca Oil.” The
early Spanish missionaries to Mexico and California found the natives
selling in their market places petroleum gathered from the surface of
the water along the seashore, chiefly for burning purposes. Father
Acosta, one of the early missionaries to Peru, noted petroleum floating
in the water off Cape Blanco and, as early as 1692, the Spanish
Government granted concessions for the collection of Peruvian oil.
In the years immediately prior to our war of Independence, allusions
to the petroleum resources of what are now the United States became
frequent; and the commercial value of the product was known to General
Washington himself. Washington, who was a great believer in the future
of the country, which was in his day called “the West,” acquired three
large tracts of land on the Ohio River bottoms. One of these was at
Point Pleasant, the birthplace of General Grant; a second at Round
Bottom, later the site of the City of Cincinnati; and a third at the
mouth of the Kanawha River, rich in coal and oil. The father of his
country had a singular prescience with regard to the element which was
to play so great a part in modern American industry; for in his will,
speaking of this third tract, he says: “This tract was taken up by
General Lewis and myself on account of the bituminous spring which it
contains, of so inflammable a nature as to burn freely as spirits and
is nearly as difficult to extinguish.” Certain of its immense future
value, he requested his heirs not to dispose of this particular tract.