ABSTRACT

WITHIN a few years of Drake's discovery of oil in commercial quantities two main trends could be distinguished: it was evident that oil was being produced at a rate which left consumption far behind and yet, at the same time, when oil was actually running to waste, people began to worry about the impending exhaustion of the resource. No later than October, 1861, a writer in the Derrick reported:—

“Fears are entertained that the supply will soon be exhausted if something is not done to prevent the waste.” (2)