l question of government cooperation or participation in mineral
industries, which is further discussed in Chapter XVIII.

The following table summarizes the distribution of the oil production in
the United States, together with the salient features of its geologic
distribution and character.

This table, in conjunction with Fig. 8 below, shows clearly that the
bulk of the United States production of oil comes from two great
sources--the Pennsylvanian sandstones of the Mid-Continent field in
Kansas and Oklahoma, and the Cretaceous and Tertiary sediments of the
southern half of California. Phenomenal development of the Central and
North Texas field in 1919 increased its yield to about one-sixth of the
country's total. The older Appalachian oil field, extending from New
York to West Virginia and Tennessee, was the earliest area discovered;
it is still one of the more productive fields, though it has long since
passed its maximum production. The other principal sources of oil are
the Gulf Coast field in Louisiana and Texas, the North Louisiana field,
the southern Illinois field, and the Rocky Mountain region. This last
region, containing large amounts of government land recently opened to
exploration, bids fair to produce increasing quantities of oil for some
time.

PAST PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM IN THE UNITED STATES. (FIGURES FROM U. S.
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY)

-------------+-----------------+----------+-----------+---------------
| | | | _Total
| _Age of | |_Production| production
| containing | | for 1918 |including 1918
_State_ | rocks_ | _Base_ |(barrels)_ |(barrels)_
-------------+-----------------+----------+-----------+---------------
Alaska |East-Low. |Paraffin | (a) | (a)
| Tertiary | | |
| West-Jurassic | | |
California |Cretaceous: | | |
| Tertiary |Asphalt | 97,531,997| 1,110,226,576
Colorado |Pierre-Cretaceous|Paraffin | 143,286| 11,319,370
Illinois |Mississippian- |Paraffin | 13,365,974| 298,225,380
| Pennsylvanian | | |
Indiana |East-Ordovician |Paraffin | 877,558| 106,105,584
| (Trenton) West-| | |
|