Crawford County, Pennsylvania


History & Biography
1869-70 DIRECTORY OF THE OIL REGIONS

TITUSVILLE
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· NUMBER OF PRODUCING WELLS—AVERAGE CAPACITY—NUMBER OF WELLS

COMPLETED IN 1868.

    As the producing capacities of the wells have grown smaller the number of wells has been enlarged in order to meet the requirements of an increasing demand, and on January 1st, 1869, the total number in the region was 1;186—an increase of probably 200 from the same date last year.  The wells are located over an extent of territory about sixty miles in length, and from one to sixteen miles in width.  Most of them, however, are in the Oil Creek, Pleasantville, Tidioute and Upper Cherry Run districts.

    The total daily capacity for producing of all the wells at the date above named was 13,819 barrels.  This is what the wells would produce when worked continuously under favorable circumstances.  But, as it is only in rare instances that wells can be or are worked without stopping for any length of time, it necessarily follows that the capacity of wells is not a criterion of the production ; nor can any entirely reliable rule for ascertaining the product from the capacity of the wells be made, because the length of time which wells are worked steadily depends much on the weather, but more on the skill with which they are managed.  Assuming, however, that the capacity of the wells during January remained the same as on the 1st of that month, and as the average daily product for January was 10,192 barrels, it is seen that the capacity was 3,669 barrels, or about one-third greater each day than the production.  

    The following is a recapitulation of the production since 1859 :
In 1859,      82,000 bbls.    In 1860,   500,000 bbls.     In 1861, 2,113,600 bbls,
In 1862, 3,056,606 bbls.    In 1863, 2,611,359 obIs.    In 1864, 2,116,182 bbls.
In 1865, 2,497,712 bbls.    In 1866, 3,697,527 bbls.    In 1867, 3,347,306 bbls.
In 1868, 3,715,741 bbls.    Total production since 1859, 23,638,033 bbls.

STOCKS ON HAND IN THE UNITED STATES AND EUROPE JAN. 1, 1868 AND 1869.

    The stock of Petroleum in the United States on January 1st, 1869, according to the closest estimates we have been able to obtain, was 780,000 barrels of Crude or its equivalent, against about 1,000,000 barrels at the next page