Oil. The development of the oilfields progressed very satisfactorily during the year. Several old wells were abandoned, thus confining the work more to the drilling of new wells. Two good gushers were struck which gave prolific production to begin with, but unfortunately one of them (at Gemsa) was eventually flooded by water, this being the great difficulty to be contended with in this field. The other well is still producing, together with others giving smaller quantities.

The total production of oil from the fields during 1914 considerably exceeded the output for the previous year; and it is anticipated, now that oil is being obtained from the concessions south of Gemsa, that a far larger output will be obtained during 1915.

The crude oil is transferred from Gemsa or Hurghada to the refinery at Suez, where it is converted into benzine, kerosene and liquid fuel.

The following are the figures for 1914

Mining. The exports of phosphates were slightly larger than last year; Japan took the entire amount exported from Suez, as in 1913. These phosphates come from Safaga Bay, where three large areas are being exploited. An Italian company is working at Kosseir, on the Red Sea.

One mining company in the Sinai peninsula has been unfortunate. Just as the preliminary work had been done, the aërial ropeway between Abu Zemima and the manganese mines at Bogma finished, and all preparations made for exploitation, the European war broke out and operations had to be suspended, while a subsequent Bedouin raid was responsible for the destruction of a good deal of plant and property. Thanks to energetic measures by the Government, it is anticipated that work can be re-started at an early date, and a good output is expected.

Several other companies are prospecting for manganese in the same neighbourhood.

Other products of the Red Sea region are peridots and gold; very little of the latter, however, is produced.

The unsettled state of the Sinai Peninsula and, to a lesser degree,

of the Red Sea littoral since the beginning of the war has somewhat hampered operations on every side. Increased production of phosphates and of manganese may be confidently anticipated in the future.

Pilgrim traffic-The effect of the war on this traffic is more marked than on trade and commerce. There was a very small move

Shipping. The number of vessels entering and clearing was rather smaller than in 1913, but the gross tonnage shows an increase, owing to the fact that many of the large transports bringing troops from India and Australasia entered the port to discharge. The bulk of the shipping consists of the Khedivial Mail Line steamers and small coasters, though there is a constant movement of large oiltankers to and from Gemsa and the Persian Gulf.

During the early part of the war with Turkey the Khedivial Mail Line steamers had to lie up at Suez for want of freights, since a large portion of their trade had been carried on with Jedda, Hodeida, &c. The rise of freights in the United Kingdom has led the company to send several of their vessels into European waters.

The Port of Suez is not an ideal one for dealing with a rush of shipping such as that occasioned by the transporting of troops. There is insufficient room in the basins and insufficient depth of water.. Large vessels being unable to enter, operations have to be carried on outside, and coaling or cargo operations are often almost impossible in the winter, as the roads are only very slightly sheltered. It would appear that the future of Suez as a port is sufficiently bright to warrant an extension of the docks.

Table 1.-VALUE of the Principal Imports at Suez during the Years 1912-14.

Table 2.-VALUE of Imports at Suez, including Tobacco, during the

Table 3.-PRINCIPAL Articles of Import at Suez during the Years

NOTE.-The disappearance of sugar from the imports is to be explained by the fact that up to 1913 large quantities of unrefined sugar were imported from Java and re-exported after having been refined at the Hawamdiè refinery, Cairo.

...

Table 5.-VALUE of Exports from Suez, including Cigarettes, during the Years 1912-14.

Articles and Countries

of Destination.

United Kingdom

Gum, ostrich feathers, cigarettes

British Possessions in Far East

Kerosene, liquid fuel, cane sugar, &c.

British Possessons in the

terranean

Medi

Table 6.-PRINCIPAL Articles of Export from Suez during the Years

NOTE. The decrease in the exports of gum and ostrich feathers is due to the fact that these articles are now largely exported from Port Sudan. The sudden appearance of oil, benzine, &c., among the exports is explained by the installation of the refinery, which only commenced work late in 1913.