A Survey of Palestinian Industry: Consumption of Refined Petroleum Products in Palestine before 1948 (Nakba), British Mandate: A Survey of Palestine: Volume I - Page 514. Chapter XIII: Section 4

CHAPTER XIII.

Further details of the electricity supply are given in paragraphs 167 et seq.

127. The increase in consumption of petroleum products was facilitated by their easy availability resulting from the construction of the Consolidated Refineries at Haifa in the early stages of the war. The conversion of crude oil into petroleum derivatives by the Consolidated Refineries was as follows :-

Tons

1941 1,190,000

1942 2,000,000

1943 2,850,000

1944 3,360,000

CONSUMPTION OF REFINED PETROLEUM PRODUCTS (BENZINE, KEROSENE, GAS OIL, DIESEL OIL, FURNACE OIL). (METRIC TONS).

Benzine Kerosene Diesel oil Gas Oil Furnace oil
1939 31,884* 48,366* 85,297
1940 58,425 49,280 28,292 11,536 57,927
1941 104,296 56,869 33,065 12,023 78,549
1942 138,057 65,219 44,356 12,762 121,808
1943 121,4'5 77,069 72,007 14,489 174,658
1944 106,402 81,117 75,041 15,737 219,783
F. Transportation.

128. The improvement in road and rail transport facilities is evinced by the expansion of the net ton-kilometrage of freight carried by the Palestine Railways and operated lines, from 55 million ton-kilometres in 1929 to 474 million ton-kilometres in 1934/44. In the whole period of British administration the length of all weather roads increased from 450 kms (1922) to 2,660 kms (1944), the latter figure being exclusive of seasonally usable roads amounting to approximately 1,600 kms. The present capacity of road and rail transport is indicated in the following tables which show the volume of railway operations and the volume of traffic carried by the principal road transport undertakings during recent years.

* Apparent consumption has ed on statistics of imports and exports.

Represents imports of solar, diesel, mazut, gas oil and fuel oil. There were no exports nor re-exports of these items.

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