From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Article from 'The Auto' journal discussing global oilfields and the supply of petrol for motorists in 1913.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 32\1\ Scan018 | |
| Date | 8th March 1913 | |
| THE AUTO MOTOR JOURNAL MARCH 8, 1913. If one took a map of the world and chose to colour all countries that were known to possess oil, little or no land would be left blank, but if one marks, as we have marked on a map herewith, those spots on the face of the globe that mainly concern the British motorist, the predominance is all the other way. At the present time about half the petrol used on pleasure cars in England, and in addition the whole of the heavier spirit used on the London 'buses, comes via the Shell Transport Co. from the East. Sumatra, Java and part of Borneo are their richest oilfields, and the shipments take place from Singapore. The output of these fields is in the order of 1/2 million tons of crude per annum. Another important field of considerable promise has been acquired by the same interests in Egypt near Suez, which is on the line of their transport route, and the same companies control a part of the Roumanian fields on the borders of the Black Sea. Maikop, on the opposite coast, has unfortunately failed to realise expectations, but if the deep drilling now in process turns out to be successful it will be a valuable acquisition to the world's supply of fuel. There is a great quantity of oil at Baku, but as the Caspian Sea that it adjoins has no outlet, it is necessary to pipe-line the product across to the Black Sea. Galicia produces petroleum that is notable for its high percentage of light hydrocarbons, but the fields are small, and suffer from the disadvantage of being very far inland, and it is, of course, the freight charges that constitute the most serious consideration in the supply of petroleum products. There is an important oilfield in Persia, and another in Burmah, but, having mentioned these, one has indicated the chief places of interest to those who are merely concerned with knowing the general state of things at the present time so far as it affects the supply of oil from the Eastern Hemisphere. In the West, the great American oilfields may conveniently be referred to as those surrounding Pennsylvania and Oklahoma. The products of the former are shipped from the East Coast of America while the latter are conveyed by pipe-line to the Gulf of Mexico. Of late years, the internal consumption of petroleum in the United States has increased by leaps and bounds, and there is, as we have said, some indication that the producers are now using up their accumulated reserves in order to meet these demands. Such being the case, the prices must of necessity increase unless new fields of great richness are discovered in suitable localities. Among such fields those on the East Coast of Mexico are at present attracting most attention. The Californian oilfields are also of first-class importance, but unfortunately they must await the opening of the Panama Canal before... [Image Caption] A UNIQUE FLEET OF NAPIER MOTORS FOR WAR PURPOSES.—These vehicles last week made a tour through London calling at several important places. They comprise a Colonial touring model for rapid despatch work by officers, a car carrying one of the big Siemens searchlights, a third with an ambulance, a fourth fitted with a complete [illegible] equipment and pumping apparatus, which can also be used for pumping water for the military camps, and a fifth fitted out with a camp cooking apparatus, always ready for work. 284 | ||