View Online (Part 2)

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COif I OEITI Al , , , 9
must be 11 continuing ouesUon mark while slum Oi vision can never be t oo sure about
inventories a re high and the plMe pro- how fa r 1 t can go in closing potllnes
grM ~ubject to change. And under such or in expanding the use o f aluminum for
ci rcumstances, the Aluminum And Magne- nonwar products.
More Oi I for Invasion Forces
With pipelines completed, production will hit peok
this yeor But increased war demands, lock
of storage ore expected to keep civilian consumption
at present level.
PI':TROLEUM- li! eblood of the invasion
forces--is raPidly neAring the all- out
production stage. The peek, at Rbout
5 .000,000 barrels dally !including imports
l, is scheduled for the third ouarter
of this year. This is lUi higher
t han t he 1943 peak, 1~ above 1941 .
But H doesn' t me'ln er.y more for
civilians: all t he increase is scheduled
t o be absorbed by rising mllHI\ry reoulrements.
The armed forces will take
about 32$ o f the t otal supol y this year ,
as a gain st 27~ in 1943.
'l'ot e.l produc t ion of gasoline--the
mAjor Petrol eum Product--is schedu l ed
to r each a new high of 1.955 .000 bar rels
daily in the third qu•rter. But or t his
t he mill tary wl.ll t ake "bout 37~, M
s g,.inst 3 3~ last year. The civilian
allocation for t he second oullrter of
t his year was upped 101 ove r t he first
ouarter t o 1, 257,000 bar rels a day, to
meet seasonal reouirements of farmers,
t ruckers, const ruction comp~nies , e t c .
But t his is s till 500,000 ba r rels "' day
bel ow peacet ime u ee ; Pll.Ssenger -car dri v­
e r s are getting only 4~ as much llB
they consumed i n 1941.
The oolnt is that a larger portion
of pe t r oleum i s now going i nt o a viat ion
gasoline, but adiene for synthetic rubber
, and toluene for ex ol o~l ves, " t the
e xpense of aut omot i ve g" sol i ne . Be for e
Pearl Harbor, a 42- gallon barrel of c rude
y i elded 18 gallons o r automotive gasoll.ne
: t oday it yields only 114 gallons.
However, t he petroleum ertuation i n
most respects is bet ter now than at any
time since the outset of t he war. Chief
re•son is t he completion of t he huge
network o f pipelines--Big Inch, Little
Big Inch, Plantation (from Baton Rouge
to Rlchmond, Va . ), etc. l)uring 1942 and
D~trt of 1943, production had to be h~ld
below the prew•r levPl, orimarily because
crude oil 11nd refiMry or oducts
couldn • t be moved ; tankers, which h~d
been haull ng 9~ of the oil to the &ss t
Co•st , wen t over seM or t o the bottom
or these~, and railroad c"rs couldn ' t
make up the deficit.
TodAy, About 40l o f t he oil !petroleum
and Petrol eum oroduct s) delivered
to t he &!!st em Seaboard comes by pipeline.
TotAl deliver ies, i nc l uding t Mk
C'lr, b'lrge, Md t anker, have jumped 25~
over S year ltgO t O 'In a l l - time high Of
1, 750,000 Mrrels dallY, are schedul ed
to r ise t o mor e t han 1 .8 20.000 b~ rrels
by the third o~rt e r . Aa a result , ex­
PAnded refinery facil ities are ope r~ t ­
lng at near ca~ clty , and total U.S.
product ion of t he four major petrol eum
products-gasoline, kerosene, dist illate,
~nd residual fuel oll--ie a t a new high:
Qftso- Kero- Distil- Resld-
~ ..!!!!!l!L late ual
!000 barre l s daily a ve ra ge )
1941 .... 1 .922 199 518 938
1942 .... 1,1;!'>3 185 539 983
1943 . ... 1.672 198 580 1,044
lat. otr :
1944.. .. 1. 925 22A 637 1. 255
Now, howeve r , the pr obl em is lack
o f clvl ~ an s t ora ge . Reserve s t ocks,
COWfiDUTIAL