Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 January 1918 — Crude Oil Is Consumed in Excess of the Production [ARTICLE]

Crude Oil Is Consumed in Excess of the Production

It is interesting to read that the country is consuming crude oil at the rate of 26,000,000 barrels a year in excess of production. A demand to rush production is raised. There is refining capacity for 1,250,000 barrels a day, while the production is about 1,000,000. Many of us who are not yet superannuated can remember when oil was put to use. Since that time how much has gushed or been drawn from underground? Nobody can calculate, says the Hartford Courajit. We know where the perpetual brooks and rivers come from. The water flowing to the sea returns in rain and the supply is continually selfrenewing. But how about oil? How can that return to the inner earth after being separated and burned? Everybody takes it for granted that there is an unlimited supply of oil to be had, and nobody discusses the possibility of its giving out. What would the world do today if it suddenly found itself without oil?