GENERAL VIEW OF THE PUMPHERSTON WORKS
GENERAL VIEW OF THE PUMPHERSTON WORKS
The seams of shale in the Midlothian fields vary generally from 4 to 10 feet in thickness, say 7 feet asan average, and, on the whole, they are comparatively free from ribs of unproductive rock. With a thickness of 7 feet, experience has shown that the method best adapted for the efficient working of the shale is “stoop and room,” but in the case of two seams of shale, separated by a bed of foreign material of sufficient thickness for packing, the long wall method proves the more suitable. The “stoop and room” method, however, is more generally used throughout the Scottish shale district than any other, its chief characteristics being the (1) “whole” or first working, and (2) the broken or second working. The whole working consists of a series of excavations made in the shale, whereby it is divided into rectangular blocks or pillars. These excavations are called rooms, one set being driven at right angles to the dip of the shale and at regular distances from one another, and commonly called “levels”; another set, driven to the rise of these levels and at right angles to them, being usually known as “ends” or “upsets.” The latter are broken off the levels at regular intervals and driven upwards to meet the levels above.
The shale miner holes as far as he can reach—probably three or more feet—and brings down the shale by blasting, the process being repeated until he penetrates a distance of from 9 to 12 feet from the face at road-head. The shale, being loosened from its natural bed, is then placed in “hutches,” which are taken to the bottom of the shaft by either horse or chain haulage (much as with coal), and then the journey to the mouth is commenced. Before leaving the question of shale mining, it should be explained that the shale miner is subject to dangers much as his colleague in the coal-pit, but the volume of gases found in the shale seams is not so great as in the coal measures. These, however, areof an explosive nature, the most common being fire-damp.
Once above ground, the shale is conveyed to breaking machines by endless wire-rope haulage. Passing through the machines, it is broken into suitable sizes for distillation, and drops into hopper-shaped hutches. These hutches have a capacity of about a ton, and each in turn is conveyed to the top of the retorts on an inclined scaffold by an endless chain. The shale then falls by the operation of a lever into a hopper or magazine communicating directly with the retorts, one hopper with a storage capacity of 24 hours’ supply of shale being connected to each retort of the Pumpherston Company.
This Company’s retorts—they are patented—are in use at the various works of the Pumpherston Company, and are an interesting feature to visitors. The shale is fed by gravitation into cylindrical-shaped retorts, and built vertically in ovens of four, each oven having four chambers. The upper portion is of cast-iron, 11 feet long by 2 feet in diameter at the top, and slightly enlarged toward the bottom. Heat is applied externally from the incondensable gases obtained from the distillation of the shale, and this heat is made to circulate round the retort. In the case of the poorer qualities of the shale, however, the heat is assisted by producer-gas. The heating gas enters near the bottom portion of the retort, which is of fire-brick, along with a certain quantity of air, and a high temperature—from 1,200°F. to 1,600°F.—is maintained, in this portion converting the nitrogen of the shale into ammonia, which is preserved by a continuous supply of steam delivered at a slight pressure at the bottom of the hopper.
The oil gases are distilled from the shale in the cast-iron portion of the retort at a temperature of about900° F., and, along with the ammonia gas, are drawn off by the exhausters through a branch pipe at the top of the retort, through the atmospheric condensers, from which the condensed liquid oil and water containing ammonia flow into a small separator tank. It is here that, owing to their different specific gravities—for one is lighter than the other—they assume different levels, and are thus drawn off into separate tanks. The gases then pass through ammonia scrubbers, in which they are washed for ammonia, and then through the naphtha scrubbers, where the lighter gases, which could not be caught in the atmospheric condensers, are washed with oil and a good quality of light oil or naphtha is recovered. The incondensable portion passing from these scrubbers is burned in the retorts as previously mentioned. With a shale of average yield, the retort can be heated by these incondensable gases from the distillation, and a surplus obtained for burning under steam boilers.
What is doubtless a very unique feature of the Pumpherston retort is the mechanical arrangement for withdrawing the spent shale continuously, and thus keeping the whole mass inside the retorts in constant movement. Below each pair of retorts is fixed a hopper made of cast-iron, and fixed to girders supported on the brick piers or columns between the ovens. At the top of each hopper, and immediately underneath the bottom of the retorts, is fixed a cast-iron disc or table, with a space left between its edge and the sides of the hopper. The whole mass of shale in the retort rests upon the table, the space permitting some to pass over the edge. Through the centre of the table a steel spindle projects, on the upper end of which is fixed a curved arm, and this, when rotated, pushes some of the shale off, causing it to fall over the edge of the table into the hopper below. The shaft carrying the curvedarm passes through a stuffing-box on the hopper, and has a ratchet and lever fitted to the lower end, actuated by a rod of T-iron which is made to travel horizontally, and is driven by a small electric motor. The motion is comparatively slow, the arm making but one revolution in about 20 minutes, but the action is most satisfactory, the through-put of shale being regulated at will.
The ammonia water got from the atmospheric condensers is pumped through a heater, in which it is raised in temperature by the waste water flowing from the still, and passes into the top of the still, which is circular in shape, about 30 feet high, and has a series of cast-iron shelves or trays fixed horizontally every 2 feet or thereabouts from the top to near the bottom. Steam is put into the bottom of the still at a pressure of 40 lb., and passes to the top through a series of conical arrangements on the shelves carrying with it the volatile ammonia, while the water, after traversing the whole area of each tray, passes out into a concrete tank containing a cast-iron worm, which is the heater already referred to, for the ammonia water on its way to the still. During its progress from the top to the bottom of the still, the water is diverted into a chamber containing milk of lime, setting free the fixed ammonia which cannot be got by steaming.
The steam and ammonia gas liberated in the still pass over into a large lead-lined tub or saturator, and bubbles through holes in a lead worm placed round the circumference at the bottom of the vessel. Sulphuric acid is at the same time run into the saturator, and, at a certain temperature, sulphate of ammonia is formed. The sulphate falls into a well, formed in the centre of the bottom of the vessel, in which are placed two steam ejectors, and these blow it out along with some liquor. This mixture is delivered into hutches having perforatedbottoms, through which the ammonia liquor drains off, the solid sulphate being left in the hutch. This is now run by an overhead railway to the drying or storage stalls, and from these it is packed up and dispatched to the market. The exhaust steam and waste gases from the saturator are passed into the retorts, and utilized for the formation of ammonia from the shale, while the spent water is pumped to the spent shale bing, and thoroughly filtered before being allowed to escape from the works.
For dealing with the weak acid water recovered from the refinery, the Pumpherston plant consists of lead-lined tubs or crackers, into which a quantity of the acid water is run, and saturated with ammonia gas until it is near the salting point, when it gravitates into settling vessels in order to separate any tar carried over with the acid water. The clear liquid is then drawn into the saturator, where it is quickly converted into sulphate and blown out in the manner already described.
So up to date is the whole of the system governing the treatment of the shales and the resulting products, that the pumping of water from the mines, the haulage of the shale to the refineries, as well as driving of machinery in the works, is performed by electric power, the exhaust steam from the engines driving the generators, as in the case of the sulphate of ammonia exhaust, being sent to the retorts for use in the production of ammonia.
The process of refining the crude oil obtained from the shale into the various products is somewhat complicated and perplexing to those unassociated with the industry on account of the many distillations and treatments which have to be carried out before a good marketable article is produced. The following outline,however, will give a fair idea of the process adopted throughout Scotland.
The crude oil is delivered at the refinery into large tanks, which are placed at a sufficient height to feed the stills by gravitation. The crude oil is allowed to settle for twelve or more hours at a temperature sufficiently high to separate any water that may have passed the test at the retorts, and after this water has been run off, the oil is fed into the centre boiler of a battery of oil boilers. The lightest fraction of the oil—ultimately motor spirit and illuminating oils—is distilled off the feeding boiler and condensed in a coil of cast-iron pipes immersed in water in a tank, cold water being continuously run into the tank, while heated water is run off. The boilers on each side of the feed vessel receive their oil by a pipe connecting with the bottom of the latter, and they also distil over the lighter portion of oil with which they have been fed, the heavier portions passing on to a third boiler, where the process of distillation is repeated.
The oil now left is delivered into a cast-iron pot-still, in which it is ultimately distilled to dryness, the residue left in the still forming oil coke, which is valuable as a fuel on account of its high percentage of fixed carbon and low yield of ash. Steam is admitted to the still in large quantities at all distillations. The various stages of distillation are carried through in almost identically the same manner as that of crude oil, and, therefore, need not be described in detail.
The treatment or washing of the oil to remove the impurities that cannot be eliminated by distillation, consists in stirring the oil by compressed air for a given time in an iron vessel, with a fixed quantity of sulphuric acid, allowing it to settle, and running off the heavy mixture of tar and acid which separates. Theacid-treated oil is then run into another similar vessel, treated with a solution of caustic soda, settles, and the soda tar which separates is run off. The acid tars are steamed and washed, the resulting acid water being sent to the sulphate of ammonia house for the manufacture of sulphate of ammonia, whilst the tar is mixed with that from the soda treatments and burned under the stills as liquid oil. As there is more than sufficient of this tar to distil all the oil at the various stages, the distillation is carried out without cost for fuel, excepting that necessary for steam-raising purposes.
A portion of the oil distilled at the second distillation, or green oil stage, is sent from the stills to the paraffin sheds to be cooled and the scale extracted, this eventually being made into paraffin wax. Stored in tanks until brought down to atmospheric temperature, the oil is pumped into the inner chamber of a cooler, which consists of a series of four vessels having inner and outer compartments. At the same time, anhydrous ammonia is forced into the outer compartment or jacket, and absorbs heat from the cooler, freezing the oil in the inner jacket into a pasty mixture of liquid oil and solid crystals of wax.
This mixture is then pumped into filter-presses, where a portion of the oil flows away through the cloth, while the wax is left behind in solid cakes, still containing a quantity of oil. These cakes are delivered by conveyors to the back of the hydraulic presses, where they are wrapped in cloth and placed on shelves between iron frames in the presses, most of the remaining oils being thus squeezed out. The material obtained from the hydraulic presses is known to the trade as paraffin scale, and as it is discoloured by the small quantity of oil which cannot be removed by pressing, a process of sweating by steaming in large brick compartments isadopted, in order to remove the oil. The scale, consequent upon the removal of the oil therefrom, becomes whiter and of higher melting point, and after further treatment is finally passed through filter paper and run into moulding trays. When cooled, this product is known as paraffin wax, of which there are many grades. One cannot enter into the technical arrangements involved, for obvious reasons, the chief one of which is that these cannot interest the reader; but sufficient has already been written in this chapter to suggest to the reader the perfection which has now been reached in the treatment of the shales of the Midlothians.
As to the future, it is full of promise. There is no doubt that for many years to come the full force of foreign competition, as it has existed in previous times, will not be felt. There is a free field for Scottish enterprise in connection with the distillation of its oil-bearing shales. Nor is the region for development limited to its present area. Reports point to the fact that much area of commercial ground exists, not only on the eastern side of Scotland, but also in the north and north-west, while it is already an open secret that those responsible for the conduct of Government operations are viewing with favour even the liquid extraction of oil from certain areas not far distant from the zone of the present operations. The Scottish shale-oil industry has, so far, managed to defy competition from abroad to an extent which is reflected in the balance sheets of the several operating companies, whose yearly dividends have been from 50 per cent. downward during recent years.
One thing is certain, and that is, the Government is well aware that there are great possibilities associated with the shale-oil industry of Scotland, and it is not only watching developments with direct interest, but isdoing all in its power to foster the industry, and by all means possible encourage the exploitation of areas so far not commercially developed. At some future date there is a great possibility that the present area for developments will be largely extended, and as this is written, there is much evidence forthcoming to suggest that this commercial development of new lands will not long be delayed.
No brief survey of the petroleum industry would be complete were reference not made to a few of those remarkable commercial undertakings in various parts of the world whose interests are not only closely associated with it, but to whose energies has been due much of the expansion that has been witnessed in every direction during the past few decades. It is safe to assert that, had it not been that the petroleum industry has, in its various industrial and commercial aspects attracted the attention of some of the finest financial and business houses in the world, the wonderful progress which has been recorded would, for the most part, have been impossible.
The first place must of necessity be given to that much maligned amalgamation of capital, the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, which was formed as far back as 36 years ago by Mr. John D. Rockefeller and his associates for the primary purpose of developments in the petroleum industry of the United States. At that time, the petroleum production of America had become quite a factor in commerce, but it was, obviously, in want of a guiding hand which could not only place it upon a basis of solidity, but which would tend to remove much of that gambling element which had become almost part and parcel of all developments. The Company, at the head of which were several gentlemen who had already made themselves famous in the land of oil, launched out in several directions, and, through the numerous subsidiary concerns which itsoon created, it owned very extensive oil-bearing properties in practically every oil-field of the States, while it built quite a network of pipe-lines for the conveyance of the oil from the fields to the refineries, and from the refineries to seaboard. It erected and equipped oil refineries, and, so as to provide the much-needed foreign markets for American petroleum products, it built its fleet of oil tankers; and, lastly, opened depots for the distribution of American petroleum products all the world over.
At one time, the ultimate success of its vast operations was open to question, and many there were who predicted that one day it would ignominiously pass on to the list of oil failures. Indeed, it nearly came to this on one or two occasions, and it was only owing to the remarkable perseverance of those at the head of the Company’s affairs that prevented headlong disaster. The Standard Oil Company soon became an integral part of the petroleum industry of the United States, with which it grew up and steadily assumed a position of world-wide importance, though one which was not unassailable. Its ultimate success was the chief cause for the multiplication of its critics, and volumes have been written of its wrong-doings by writers whose knowledge of the petroleum industry was mostly based upon wilful ignorance of facts. Consequent upon a decision of the United States Supreme Court some seven years ago, which held that the Company was violating the Anti-Trust Law of 1890, the Standard had to rid itself of its various subsidiary companies (over thirty in number), but it still controls almost a similar number of concerns to-day which are actively engaged in the production of crude oil and natural gas. It also owns several of the largest refineries in the States, while its fleet of oil tankers will, when present building iscompleted, be considerably over 300,000 tonnage. Its capital is $100,000,000, and during the last twelve years it has paid in dividends over 400 per cent., in addition to an additional cash distribution of 40 per cent.
The Standard Oil Company of New York is another immense concern which, with a capital of $75,000,000, has its headquarters in the Standard’s palatial building at 26 Broadway, New York, and interested principally in the refining industry, its facilities permitting of 20,000 barrels of crude oil being treated daily. Another very prominent company is the Standard Oil Company of California, with its capital of $100,000,000. This Company not only produces its crude oil, but refines it, and engages in the export business. Its refinery at Point Richmond, California, is reported to be the largest in the world, for it can treat 65,000 barrels of crude oil daily. Its fleet of tankers and barges for the export trade is capable of carrying at one trip over 100,000 tons of products, and, for the purposes of its land transport, it possesses pipe-lines over 1,000 miles long.
The second place of importance in regard to the petroleum enterprises of international influence must be given to the “Shell” Transport and Trading Company, Ltd., whose headquarters are in London, with that well-known oil pioneer, Sir Marcus Samuel, Bart., as its Chairman. Formed just over twenty years ago for dealing primarily as a transporter of petroleum products in the Far East, the “Shell” has steadily and continuously extended the sphere of its operations, until the result of a carefully thought out policy is seen in its activities in almost every oil-field of the world. Just over ten years ago, the Company made an amalgamation with the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company, or, to give it its correct name, the KoninklijkeNederlandsche Maatschappij tot exploitatie van petroleum-bronnen in Nederlandsch Indie (whose capital is £12,500,000), and by reason of so doing it materially increased its international position and importance. The “Shell”—Royal Dutch Combine to-day has a controlling interest in some of the largest operating companies in Russia, Roumania, California, Mexico, Venezuela, and other oil regions, one of its most recent extensions being in its advent into the petroleum industry of Trinidad. The “Shell” Company has a record for successful industrial expansion which is achieved by few companies in the world of commerce: its capital is now £15,000,000, and in dividends it has distributed over 300 per cent. Among the “Shell” Company’s associated concerns, that of the Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company, Ltd., which is responsible for the ocean transportation of the petroleum products of the Combine, takes first place, with its capital of £8,000,000; while the Asiatic Petroleum Company, Ltd. (capital, £2,000,000), ranks but second. The recent fusion of the interests of Lord Cowdray with those of the “Shell,” for the latter has acquired the control of the great Mexican interests associated with the Pearson company, is another instance of how the “Shell” Company has trod the road of progress and expansion.
The sudden rise to fame of the oil-fields of Mexico gave birth to what may safely be referred to as one of the most enterprising amalgamations of capital in the long list of concerns associated with the petroleum industry, and it is gratifying to note that this enterprise was solely due to the well-known firm of Messrs. S. Pearson & Sons. Lord Cowdray, as the head, was not slow to recognize the vast opportunities which awaited the development of the Mexican fields, and the formation of the Mexican Eagle Oil Company, in 1908,with a capital of now $60,000,000 (Mexican), or about £6,125,000 sterling, was the initial result of his efforts. It was just about this time that the serious fuel oil era opened, both in this country and others, and it was evident that, for the purpose of adequately distributing the products of Mexican oil (and these include the whole range of refined oils, as well as fuel oil), there was room for the operations of a large and influential company. The Anglo-Mexican Petroleum Company, Ltd., was accordingly formed, with Lord Cowdray’s son (the Hon. B. C. Pearson) as Chairman, and a capital of £2,000,000, to deal with the importation and distribution of Mexican petroleum products on the English market.
As already stated, the control of this Company has now passed under the “Shell,” and its future expansion is assured, both at home and abroad.
The Mexican products are transported from Mexico to this country, as well as many others, by the large fleet of Eagle oil tankers, the property of the Eagle Oil Transport Company, Ltd., which admirably managed concern of £3,000,000 capital is also presided over by the Hon. B. C. Pearson. The Eagle Company possesses the largest oil tankers afloat, many of them carrying over 15,000 tons of bulk oil, though others to be built are to be considerably larger; an 18,000 ton tanker is, indeed, already in commission.
Another highly important enterprise in the world of petroleum is that of the Burmah Oil Company, Ltd., which, as its name suggests, is occupied with the petroleum industry in Burmah, and catering for the almost unlimited needs of the Far East in regard to refined petroleum products. It controls enormous acres of oil-bearing territory held under lease from the Burmah Government, possesses extensive refineries at Rangoon,and has quite a fleet of oil tankers. Its capital is three and a half millions sterling, and its consistent success may be judged from the fact that it has paid over 400 per cent. in dividends. Of comparatively recent date, the Burmah Oil Company has turned its attention to other fields, particularly to Trinidad, but it is in connection with the development and subsequent operations of the fields of Burmah that the Company is chiefly concerned.
The Anglo-Persian Oil Company, Ltd., which is closely allied to the Burmah Oil Company (capital, £6,000,000) by reason of its large interest therein, has come into prominence during recent years, owing mainly to its agreement with the British Government, in which the latter has invested over £4,000,000 of the public moneys in the enterprise. The Company acquired its petroliferous concessions from several interests, including the Burmah Oil Company and the late Lord Strathcona, which had been granted to them by the Persian Government. When I mention that the Company’s concessions cover an area of, approximately, half a million square miles, and on which petroleum has been found in quantity on the majority of the small areas already examined, the significance of the enterprise will be somewhat appreciated. There is no doubt that the company’s success is doubly assured, and, from this point of view, the investment of the public moneys in the undertaking has been sound finance, especially when one considers the important part which petroleum products under British control must hereafter play. As a matter of fact, the proposition is a well-paying one to-day, and it is asserted that the Government’s interest is already worth no less than £20,000,000. Persia as an oil-producing country will occupy a very prominent place. The Company has immense petroleum-producingfields: it has its pipe-line to seaboard, and its refineries, situate on the Persian Gulf. It has possibilities without end, and it is rapidly availing itself of them. The Company also now owns the entire capital of three formerly German-owned concerns in London—the British Petroleum Company, Ltd., the Homelight Oil Company, Ltd., and the Petroleum Steamship Company, Ltd. Consequent upon these acquisitions, the Anglo-Persian Company, Ltd., is making arrangements to enter the English market as distributors of Persian petroleum. The question of transport need not here be considered, for the Anglo-Persian Oil Company owns the entire capital of the British Tanker Co., Ltd. The Company thus has the producing and refining possibilities:the acquired concern of the Tanker Company, together with that of the Petroleum Steamship Co., will suffice to bring its products to the English market, while the large distributing organizations of the British Petroleum Company and the Homelight Oil Company, owning depots all over the country, will offer easy facilities for the distribution of the petroleum products imported. My argument all along has been that the advent of the British Government into this enterprise—I will not call it a speculation, though at one time it looked like it—places all that private enterprise, which in the past has brought all the products of petroleum to our own doors at a reasonable and competitive price, at absolute discount. Ever since the petroleum industry assumed proportions of international magnitude, and we became more or less (I should have said more than less) dependent upon our necessities being met by petroleum and its products, private enterprise has always kept us well supplied. But the Anglo-Persian Oil Company has made immense headway since the Government took an interest in its operations, and its appearance on the English market as a refiner of Persian crude oil and a distributor of the products thereof, is but a reflection of the prolific nature of the vast fields in Persia which it possesses. It has decided upon having its first English oil refinery near Swansea, and it is reported that this will be in operation before the end of 1920. It has also secured the control of the Scottish shale oil refineries which will be used for the treatment of Persian crude oil when occasion warrants.
A FEW OF THE BURMAH COMPANY’S PROLIFIC PRODUCERS
A FEW OF THE BURMAH COMPANY’S PROLIFIC PRODUCERS
One might go on to interminable length in briefly referring to the great concerns whose operations have been responsible for the expansion of the world’s petroleum industry to its present magnitude, but theexigencies of space prevent this. The brief list of companies already referred to represents an amalgamation of capital to the extent of nearly £120,000,000 sterling, though this cannot be considered as representing more than one-half the total world’s investments in petroleum enterprises.
So far, I have not touched with the magnitude of the petroleum companies operating in the distributing oil trade of England, though, to some extent, this may be gathered from the references to such companies as the “Shell,” the Anglo-Mexican Petroleum Company, etc.
Practically the first company of any magnitude to distribute petroleum products in this country was the Anglo-American Oil Co., Ltd., which has actively engaged in this branch of commerce for the past thirty years. It imported and dealt in American oils long before the advent of the companies before mentioned, and, to-day, is certainly one of the largest—if not the largest—company so engaged. Its name is known in every hamlet in the country: its tank cars are seen on every railway, and its depots are to be found in every centre throughout the length and breadth of the land. Its name is legion. Its capital is £3,000,000, and it is to the Anglo-American Oil Company that, throughout the clatter of European War, the credit is due for having supplied us with those almost unlimited quantities of petroleum products so necessary both on sea and land, for it is the largest importer in the Kingdom. As its name implies, the “Anglo” deals mostly in American petroleum products: it was at one time the importing concern of the Standard Oil Company, but to-day it purchases broadcast in an endeavour—and a very successful one, too—to supply the British consumer with all the petroleum products he requires.
The present chapter deals, I feel, most inadequately with the general question of concerns whose interests are directly allied with that of petroleum; in fact, it was not my desire to give an encyclopaedia of the thousands of companies so engaged, but, rather, to suggest the names of a few which have secured world-wide distinction.
The world’s total production of crude oil for 1917, and for the period of years 1857 to 1917, is given in the following table. The details are given in barrels, which, divided by seven, will give the output in tons.
* Quantity marketed.# Estimated.¶ Includes British Borneo.#§ Includes 19,167 barrels produced in Cuba.
The imports of petroleum products into the United Kingdom for the past seven years are given in the following table. Those for 1917 are only approximate quantities inasmuch as, toward the end of the year, the Custom House authorities decided for the time being not to compile such statistics for general use. The figures in every case are given in gallons—
The output of crude petroleum in the oil-fields of America during the past fifty years has been as under, the figures being given in barrels of 42 gallons (usually reckoned at seven to the ton)—
Roumania’s crude oil production for the past fifty years is given in the following table in barrels of 42 gallons (seven to the ton). The officially recorded output goes back as far as 1857, when the twelve months’ yield was just under 2,000 barrels. During 1861, the production passed the 10,000 barrel mark forthe first time, and six years later reached 50,000 barrels for the year. The figures are as under—
Fourteen years ago, the crude petroleum production in the oil-fields of Mexico was officially recorded for the first time. Its remarkable progress since that time will be seen from the following table, the figures being in barrels of 42 gallons—
The output of crude petroleum in the Galician fields during the past thirty years is given herewith—
Official figures were first recorded of Germany’s crude oil production in 1880, when the total output for the twelve months was about 9,000 barrels. For the past thirty years, the yearly output has been as under—
The following table gives the total export movement of petroleum products from the United States from the year 1865, when American petroleum products commenced to have an international overseas market—
The output of crude petroleum in the Russian oil-fields during the past fifty years is given in the following table. For the purpose of comparison, the figures are given in barrels of 42 gallons, rather than in poods (62 to the ton) which is the usual manner of recording Russian quantities. The figures are as under—
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