Word: petroleum
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...flying red horse (Mobilgas), fireman's hat (Texaco), sea shell (Shell Petroleum) and other symbols of pre-war preferences in gasolines may still swing in the wind, but the pumps under the signs are soon likely to squirt only one kind and color. Last week WPB empowered the Petroleum Coordinator to pool gasoline distribution, which will probably mean mixed brands and minimum standards, with only the "regular" grade available. Even this will not be so regular as before: octane ratings were cut to around 74 last February; henceforth, according to one industry guess, they will run about...
...first time, and laying out a campaign against rubber bumbling. His powers: i) to give orders for carrying out the rubber program to any appropriate government agencies; 2) to issue a nationwide order for gas rationing and tire-conserving speed limits; 3) to call on the Office of the Petroleum Coordinator and the Rubber Reserve Company for research and supervision of synthetic-rubber plant construction. He must work out a 100,000-ton increase in butadiene output within six months, build facilities for making 100 million gallons of alcohol, boost the annual output of buna-S all-purpose rubber from...
...which waterproof electrical equipment, the oils which cool and lubricate the cutting edges of machine tools. Cutting oils are probably most bothersome. A Federal survey of 2,000 machinists in 1922 found that 27% of these workers suffered from oil acne. Vegetable and animal oils have often replaced the petroleum oils, but machinist's dermatitis is still common...
...Geologist Pratt is specific and scientific. Petroleum was formed (perhaps a billion years ago) from animal and plant remains in the shallow-water marine oozes when their sands and mud solidified into rock. Rocks of this kind comprise 40% of the earth's land surface. Almost all of them should contain oil. With only 15% of the world's potential oil-yielding rock, the U.S. has 54% of the world's proved reserves. The only reason for this, says Geologist Pratt, is U.S. know-how. If & when Asia, Africa, South America acquire the same nose...
This does not mean that the U.S. will continue to dominate the petroleum industry. The rate of discovery of new oil in the U.S. has been falling steadily for five years (TIME. Nov. 17). Frederic H. Lahee, chief Sun Oil geologist, points out that in 1937 almost 1,700,000 barrels of oil were discovered for every wildcat hole drilled. By 1941 the figure was only 622,000 barrels. If this downward trend continues for another five years, new oil discoveries will fall below the amount used and oil reserves may begin a disastrous decline...