The Petroleum Industry

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1921 edition. Excerpt: ...of the products that the skimming plant and the lubricating and wax plant make and in addition makes bright stock and petrolatum, from which many more products are made. The simplest proposition, and the one requiring the least investment of capital, is naturally the skimming plant which yields four products. The lubricating and wax plant requires a much larger investment and yields a larger line of products, while the complete run down refinery could probably Figure 42--General diagram showing the broad classification of refineries into three groups: skimming plants, lubricating and wax plants and complete run-down refineries, with principal products made by each. not be built to operate economically for less than a half-million dollars, the average investments running from one to five million dollars, or more. These three types of refineries are the results of different purposes of different refiners as to the products they want to get from crude oil for the class of people they intend to serve. Thus the same general principle prevails in the refining business that prevails, for example, in the iron business where different manufacturers make different metal products from the same iron ore. It is a well known fact in the iron industry that after ore is brought to the surface its later treatment is almost entirely a question of chemistry and engineering--and it should be as universally known that after crude oil is brought to the surface its usefulness to mankind as well as its profitableness to investors in refinery securities is largely a question of chemistry plus sound business policies and principles. If the market for crude oil is "low" the com panies with plenty of storage fill their tanks with "cheap oil,."..