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would sink for a few seconds lower than 200 feet, to rise directly afterwards with a burst and a roar to 300. Some idea of the mass of matter thrown up from the well could be formed by a glance at the damage done on the south side in twenty-four hours-a vast shoal of sand having been formed which had buried to the roof some magazines and shops, and had blocked to the height of 6 or 7 feet all the neighbouring derricks within a distance of 50 yards. Some of the sand and oil had been carried by the wind nearly 100 yards from the fountain. Standing on the top of the sand shoal we could see where the oil, after flowing through a score of channels from the ooze, formed in the distance on lower ground, a whole series of oil lakes, some broad enough and deep enough to float a boat in. Beyond this the oil could be seen flowing away in a broad channel towards the sea."

The well was capped on the 29th of December, 1883, after giving an amount of oil variously estimated at 220,000 to 500,000 tons.

On August 13th, 1887, a well belonging to the Baku Mining Company commenced to spout at the rate of 7,000 to 8,000 tons daily on the Balakhany field. The well flowed unchecked for over 6 weeks, the yield at the end of that period being about 2,000 tons daily. It was finally capped, after about 50,000,000 gallons of oil had

been wasted.

The first great well at Bibi-Eibat was struck at a depth of 714 feet on October 5th, 1886, by Tagieff, and resulted in a flow which largely exceeded the maximum daily output of the "Droojba " well.

The Baku Isvestie thus describes this fountain :

"From the town the fountain had the appearance of a colossal pillar of smoke, from the crest of which clouds of oil sand detached themselves and floated away a great distance without touching the ground. Owing to the prevalence of southerly winds, the oil was blowing in the direction of Bailoff Point, covering hill and dale with sand and oil, and drenching the houses of Bailoff, a mile and a-half away.

The

The whole district of Bibi-Eibat was covered with oil, which filled up the cavities, formed a lake, and on the fifth day began flowing into the sea. outflow during three days was estimated at 5,000 or 6,000 tons daily. On the eighth day the maximum was reached, the oil then spouting at the rate of 11,000 tons, or 2,750,000 gallons, a day. After the tenth day it began

to diminish, and by the fifteenth day the engineers had so far got it under control that the outflow was only 250,000 gallons a day. Altogether over 10,000,000 gallons of oil came to the surface, and most of this was lost for want of storage accommodation."

On March 20th, 1887, the "Zubaloff" fountain commenced spouting in the same district at a depth of 672 feet. The fountain rapidly reached a height of 350 feet, and continued with some intermission for several days, almost all the oil being wasted.

The most productive well ever drilled, however, appears to be one mentioned by Mr. P. Stevens, H.M. Consul at Baku, in a communication dated March 1st, 1893. This well was drilled between a quarter and half a mile eastward of the existing wells on the Apsheron Peninsula, and was yielding at the rate of about a million poods (17,742 tons) daily. Much of this oil was running to waste owing to the impossibility of controlling the flow.

The deposits on the Taman Peninsula have been known from very early times. Colonel Novosiltzoff, having acquired the monopoly of the Cossack lands, commenced in 1864 to sink wells at Ilsky; but failing to make the venture a commercial success, he in 1879 leased 1,500,000

acres of the property to Dr. Tweddle. This property was ultimately transferred to the Standard Russe Company of Marseilles.

In 1866 Colonel Novosiltzoff commenced drilling at Koudako, near Ilsky, and at 123 feet struck the first flowing well in the Kouban. After yielding at the rate of 5,000 gallons daily for a short time, the bore became choked; but it again flowed at double that rate when the depth was increased to 242 feet, and the outflow became uncontrollable, a large lake of oil being formed, which finally ran out to sea, and was totally wasted.

In 1874 the Ter district yielded 400 tons from 113 wells; while in the district of Tiflis, 14 wells produced about 2,000 tons.

From a submerged mountain range in the Caspian, a considerable quantity of petroleum and gas rises to the surface of the sea, and in the Island of Tcheleken or Naphtha Island, on the Transcaspian. coast, there are large deposits of ozokerite besides some heavy oil.

The Transcaspian region has long been known to yield petroleum, and since 1881 the oil has been used as fuel on the Transcaspian Railway. In 1883, the region around "Naphtha Hill," situated about 100 miles inland of Krasnovodsk, which had been noticed as a promising territory by a party of engineers in 1881, was inspected by Conchine, who estimated the petroliferous land around the hill at 20,000 acres, and its producing power at 1,000,000 tons annually. Large quantities of ozokerite also occur there.

The recent developments of the Russian petroleum fields are fully described in Section II.

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PETROLEUM AND OZOKERITE INDUSTRIES OF GALICIA.

As previously stated, the Galician petroleum industry is of great antiquity. As "earth balsam," Galician petroleum was known as far back as 1506, and in local records it is mentioned early in the 17th century. Mr. Nelson Boyd has pointed out that no reference is made to it in the Austrian Mining Laws of 1786-in fact, the first official notice appears in a Governmental decree of 1810 relating to the registration of mining rights. In 1810, or between that date and 1818, oil from the Drohobycz district is said to have been distilled by Hecker and Mitis at a small refinery at Kabicza. These operations, however, soon ceased, and refining does not appear to have been again practised until 1852, when a manufacturer of cart-grease, Schreier by name, took some of the liquid condensed on the cover of a vessel in which he had heated the crude oil, to an apothecary of the name of Mikolasch. His assistants, Lukasiewicz and Zeh, treated the distillate with sulphuric acid and caustic soda, and obtained a product of such excellence as a burning fluid that renewed attention was directed to the subject. In the following year Galician petroleum replaced candles for lighting the station of the Emperor Ferdinand's North Railway, and in 1854 obtained a footing as an article of commerce in Vienna.

One of two dug brine wells in the Sloboda-Rungurska district, which were said to have continuously yielded petroleum from the time of sinking in 1771, was deepened to 25 metres in 1859 and to 50 metres in 1865, giving a larger yield each time, although the production does not appear to have exceeded 5 barrels daily. The depth was increased to 150 metres in 1875, and was finally carried to 213 metres by boring, in 1884, the yield then rising to 10 barrels.

It was, however, in the Bobrka district on the left bank of the Jasolka, between Krosno and Dukla, that the foundation of the present industry was laid in 1854. Here, after unsuccessful attempts to collect the petroleum by digging trenches and shallow wells, Lukasiewicz and Klobassa completed, in 1861, a well which yielded 6,000 kilogrammes per hour at a depth of only 14 metres. Other wells were soon drilled by the same proprietors and others, and in 1870 the total yield of the field was estimated at 70,000 barrels annually.

In the Sloboda-Rungurska district, active development commenced in 1881, and by 1883 the production had increased to about 550 barrels daily, on an area of 1,500 by 350 to 500 metres. This field at one time yielded as much as 1,600 barrels daily, and formed the principal oil-producing district in Galicia, most of the wells having given a fair yield. The depth of the wells usually ranges from 215 to 330 metres, but has in some cases exceeded 400 metres.

The town of Boryslaw has formed the principal seat of the ozokerite industry, which has been carried on for more than 30 years. The ozokerite occurs in well-defined veins, and is worked by the pick, as in ordinary mining. It is largely extracted in the most primitive fashion by small proprietors; but a French company some years ago commenced mining near Wolanka by a system resembling that employed in getting coal. As, however, the site selected does not lie within the most productive area, the operations have not been successful. Many accidents occur from the caving-in of the galleries, or from the influx of gas or of semi-solid ozokerite. In the case of one mine, the perforation of a thin layer of sandstone by a miner's pick resulted in the gradual appearance of a stalk of ozokerite, which for a long time was forced out as fast as it was removed. This curious appearance of growth gave the name of the " Asparagus" Mine to

the shaft.

The production of petroleum by the principal wells of Galicia in 1889-90 (12 months) has been officially given as 785,042 metre centners, erch of 100 kilogrammes; but this is undoubtedly far below the actual output. This amount corresponds to about 523,300 barrels, of the value of about £234,181 sterling. The Bobrka district yielded 99,000 metre centners from the Klobassa wells; while the Sloboda-Rungurska district, in which are some 20 different properties, yielded 120,084 metre centners. The property of Trzecieski & Co., at Rowne, yielded 101,000 metre centners.

The Galician petroleum and ozokerite producing districts are further described in Sections II. and V.

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY IN INDIA.

The earlier history of the wells on the Irrawadi from which the so-called Rangoon oil was obtained has already been given, and a further account will be found in the next section of this work. The oil territory of Upper Burma, which has been elaborately reported upon by Dr. Fritz Noetling,1 is situated about 2 miles east of Yenangyaung, near the villages of Twingôn and Bemè.

The wells in the Bemè field are older than those at Twingôn, and less productive. The only drilled wells in the Yenangyaung district are at Kodaung, midway between Twingôn and Bemè, where work was commenced in 1887 by the Burmah Oil Company, Limited.

Petroleum has also been collected in quantity at Yenangyat, not far from Pagan, but on the opposite, or west, bank of the Irrawadi.

Mr. F. R. Mallet2 gives some interesting information regarding the oil industry of the Arrakán Islands. In the Islands of Rámri and Cheduba, where the industry is of long standing, it is the practice of the villagers to occupy their spare time after the rice harvest, in digging shallow wells in which the oil accumulates. Captain Halstead states that petroleum is obtained in Cheduba by turning up the soil to a depth of 2 feet, and raising a bank of earth so as to form a shallow pond about 20 yards square. The oil rises to the surface of the water which collects during the rainy season, and is skimmed off at intervals, just as the Indians formerly collected it in Pennsylvania.

In the Eastern of the Baránga Islands, which lie just south of Akyab, there are many productive wells. In sinking one of these wells, when a depth of 66 feet had been attained, "the workmen were surprised and terrified by a sudden outburst of gas and oil, accompanied by loud subterraneous sounds as of distant thunder" (Mallet, loc. cit.) The oil and gas poured in considerable quantity into the well, the yield averaging 1,000 gallons daily for seven days, and then falling to 120 gallons. In another well, oil was struck, and a violent escape of gas occurred at 68 feet, the yield of oil amounting to 150 gallons daily. As long ago as 1825, Lieutenant Wilcox, in an expedition up the Dihing River, observed a seam of coal in the bed of the Buri Dihing at Supkong, in Upper Assam, near which petroleum rises to the surface.3

In 1828, Mr. C. A. Bruce observed petroleum springs in more than one locality; and in 1837 Major White discovered several springs of petroleum close to the camp on the Námrúp River, which had hitherto been unknown to Europeans, and apparently almost unused by the neighbouring Singphos.4

1 Report on the Oil Fields of Twingaung and Beme, Rangoon, 1889; and Report on the Petroleum Industry in Upper Burma, Rangoon, 1892.

2 Records of the Geological Survey of India, 1878, xl. part 2.

3"Asiatic Researches," xvii. Journ. of the Asiatic Soc. of Bengal, vi.

In 1837-38 Captain S. Hannay noticed petroleum rising from some of the coal outcrops, and in 1845 he described his search in the neighbourhood of Jaipur for petroleum. He also visited the Námchik

River, and of this locality he writes:

"At Namtchuk Pathár, near the mouth of the river, the petroleum exudes from the banks, and a bed of very fine caking coal runs across the bed of the Namtchuk. The hills here are also intersected by ravines, and in one spot an extensive basin or hollow is formed at some height, which contains muddy pools in a constant state of activity, throwing out, with more or less force, white mud mixed with petroleum. This is, indeed, a strange looking place, and I am told by the Singphos that at times there is an internal noise as of distant thunder, when it bursts forth suddenly with a loud report, and then for a time subsides."1

In 1865 a brief account of the petroleum springs in connection with the coal fields in Upper Assam was given by Mr. H. B. Medlicott.2 The most abundant springs visited were those near Makum, where Mr. Medlicott recommended that trial borings should be made, the copious discharge of gas and non-discharge of water being regarded as favourable indications.

In November of the following year, Mr. Goodenough, a member of the firm of M'Killop, Stewart & Co., having been granted certain rights over a large tract of land on both sides of the Buri Dihing, extending from Jaipur to the effluence of the Noa Dihing, commenced boring at Nahor Pung. In addition to several holes drilled by hand, one of which was 102 feet in depth, a well was carried down to a depth of 195 feet by the use of a Mather and Platt's steam boring machine; but, according to the account published by Mr. T. H. Hughes in 1874,3 dated Raniganj, 1st December, 1873, no good results were obtained in this locality, though a few signs of gas were noticed. While these borings were in progress others were begun at Makum, in lat. 27° 18' N. and long. 95° 40' E.

Oil was struck in one hole on the 26th March, 1867, at 118 feet, and it immediately rose 74 feet in the bore, being 44 feet below the surface. After about 300 gallons had been drawn, the flow became intermittent, a condition which it was hoped would be remedied by sinking deeper. Eight holes were put down in the Makum district, and they were nearly all successful in tapping oil, though the yield varied in each. In January, 1868, 100 to 125 gallons a day was collected from No. 4, while No. 5 yielded from 550 to 650 gallons. The action of No. 5 bore was intermittent. Pure water was spouted for three or four hours, then almost pure oil for fifteen to thirty minutes, after which all action ceased for an hour, or sometimes longer, and then activity set in again. The discharge from No. 5 bore was at times so copious that there was not storage accommodation for the oil, and the flow was accordingly diminished by fixing a valve on the well pipe. The pressure exerted by the oil during the flow was 30 lbs. to the inch.

Several oil springs or surface indications have been observed in 1 Journ. of the Asiatic Soc. of Bengal, xiv. 2 Mem. Geol. Survey of India, iv. 14. 3Petroleum in Assam," Geol. Survey of India Records, vii.

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