ASPHALT AND PETROLEUM
The presence of bituminous products in Cuba has been a matter of record
since the days of the early Spanish conquerors. Sebastian Ocampo, that
adventurous follower of Columbus, in the year 1508 dropped into one of
the sheltered harbors of the north coast, not previously reported, in
order to make repairs on some of his battered caravels. Much to his
surprise and delight, while careening a boat to scrape the bottom some
of his men ran across a stream of soft asphalt or mineral pitch, oozing
from the shore near by. Nothing could have been more convenient for
Ocampo, and according to the early historians he made a very favorable
report on the advantages of Cuba for ship building. First she had well
protected harbors in plenty, with an abundance of cedar and sabicu from
which to cut planking; there were majagua, oak and other woods from
which to hew the timbers. Tall straight pines grew near the harbor of
Nipe that would do for masts. From the majagua bark and textile plants,
tough fibre could be obtained with which to make the rigging. Both iron
and copper were at hand for nails and bolts. All that was lacking seemed
to be the material for the sails, and even this could have been found
had he known where to look.
So convenient did this harbor prove to the needs of Ocampo that he
called it Puerto Carenas, by which name it was known until 1519, when
the 50 odd citizens left by Velasco a few years before on the south
coast, where they had tried to found a city, moved up from the
Almandares to Puerto Carenas and straightway changed its name to the Bay
of Havana, by which it has since been known.
The same little stream of semi-liquid asphalt can today be seen, issuing
from the rocky shore along the east side of the bay. This deposit was
mentioned by Oviedo in 1535, who referred also to other asphalt deposits
found along the north coast of what was then known as Puerto Principe.
These asphalt deposits, so close to the shore, were undoubtedly utilized
by the navigators of the 16th and following centuries in making repairs
to the numerous fleets that were kept busy plying between Spain and the
New World.
Alexander Von Humboldt, who in the year 1800 came across from Venezuela
to Cuba to study the flora, fauna and natural resources of the Island,
mentioned what he called the petroleum wells of the Guanabacoa Ridge,
located not far from Havana, at a point once known as the mineral
springs of Santa Rita. Richard Cowling Taylor and Thomas C. Clemson, in
a book published in 1837, mentioned “the petroleum wells of Guanabacoa”
which had been known for three centuries and that were undoubtedly the
wells to which Baron Von Humboldt had previously referred. La Sagra,
too, in 1828, described petroleum fields located near Havana, and in
1829, Joaquin Navarro described several deposits of bituminous material
in a report which he made to the “Real Sociedad Patriotica.”
The bituminous deposits referred to by Taylor and Clemson proved to be a
solid form of asphalt. It was afterward used in large quantities as a
substitute for coal. They speak of finding crude petroleum also, filling
the cavities in masses of chalcedony, only a few yards distant from the
asphalt. The place referred to was afterwards ceded to the mining
companies of Huatey and San Carlos, located twelve miles from Havana,
where may still be seen the original wells.
In a report on bituminous products of the Island by G. C. Moisant,
reference is made to a liquid asphalt or petroleum found in Madruga, a
small town southeast of Havana. This petroleum product, according to
recent investigations, flows from cavities in the serpentine rocks
found near Madruga and surrounding towns.
An oil claim was registered in 1867 near Las Minas, 18 kilometers east
of Havana, as the result of oil indications in the cavities of rocks
that cropped out on the surface. A well was opened that yielded some oil
at a depth of 61 meters. This was sunk later to 129 meters but
afterwards abandoned. Within the last few years several wells have been
drilled in the vicinity of the old Santiago claim and have produced a
considerable amount of oil.
The General Inspector of Mines, Pedro Salterain, in 1880 reported the
presence of liquid asphalt, or a low grade of crude petroleum, that
flowed from a serpentine dyke, cropping out on the old Tomasita
Plantation near Banes, on the north coast some twenty miles west of
Havana. The product was used for lighting the estate. All of the wells
of this province are located on lands designated by geologists as
belonging to the cretaceous period. This is true of those properties
where indications of petroleum are found near Sabanilla de la Palma and
La Guanillas, in the Province of Matanzas.
During a century or more, hydrocarbon gases have issued from the soil in
a district east of Itabo, in the Province of Matanzas. In 1880, Manuel
Cueto had a well drilled on the Montembo Farm in this district. He
finally discovered at a depth of 95 meters a deposit of remarkably pure
naphtha which yielded about 25 gallons a day. It was a colorless,
transparent, liquid, very inflammable, and leaving no perceptible
residue after combustion. Cueto afterwards opened another well to a
depth of 248 meters and there discovered a deposit of naphtha that
produced 250 gallons per day. According to T. Wayland Vaughn of the
United States Geological Service such gases are plentiful in the
surrounding hills.
In June, 1893, commercial agents of the United States Government
reported that petroleum had been found near Cardenas of a grade much
better than the crude oils imported from the United States. In
November, 1894, another commercial agent from Washington reported that
asphalt deposits near the city of Cardenas could produce from a thousand
to five thousand tons of this material a year.
In 1901 Herbert R. Peckham, describing asphalt fields east and south of
Cardenas, mentions the drilling of a well by Lucas Alvarez, in search of
petroleum, which he found at a depth of 500 feet, and from which he
pumped 1000 gallons of petroleum, but this exhausted the supply of the
well. As a result of investigations made by Mr. Peckham, seepages of
crude oil and liquid asphalt of varying density may be found here over a
district measuring about 4,500 square miles.
Near the city of Santa Clara there is a petroleum field known as the
Sandalina, samples of which were analyzed by H. M. Stokes in 1890, which
he reported to be quite similar to the crude petroleum of Russia. In the
neighborhood of Sagua and Caibarien, in the northern part of Santa Clara
Province, petroleum fields have recently been discovered, and others in
the southern part of the Province of Matanzas.
Large deposits of asphalt, of varying grades and densities, have been
found at intervals along the north coast of the Province of Pinar del
Rio. From the harbor of Mariel a narrow gauge road has been built back
to mines some six miles distant, over which, up to the beginning of the
European War, asphalt was brought to the waterside and loaded directly
into sailing vessels, bound for the United States and Europe. Other
deposits have been found at La Esperanza and Cayo Jabos, a little
further west along the same coast, and in the estimation of some well
informed engineers this Pinar del Rio coast furnishes the most promising
field for petroleum prospecting of all in Cuba.
As a result of the petroleum excitement, brought about by reports of
surface indications and of the success of the Union Oil Company’s
drillings, many claims have been registered for both asphalt and
petroleum within recent years. Up to the last day of December, 1917, 215
claims were filed in the Bureau of Mines, covering an area of about
25,000 acres. In the same time 88 claims, scattered throughout the
various Provinces, were registered for oil, comprising a total area of
about 40,000 acres.
This scramble for oil lands has resulted in the formation of some fifty
different companies, most of which have issued large amounts of stock,
and many of which will properly come under the head of “wildcat”
adventures. This, however, has happened in other countries under similar
circumstances; notably in the United States.
In the fall of 1918 some 15 companies were drilling for oil, most of
which yielded very little results. This was due in some instances to
inadequate machinery, and in others to inefficient workmen, together
with absolute lack of any definite knowledge of the district in which
they were working. In addition to this, nearly all of the wells drilled
have either found oil or stopped at a depth of 1000 feet. In only a few
instances have wells been sunk to a depth of 3000 feet, and most of
these were in a section where almost nothing was known of the geology of
the country.
In Sabanilla de la Palma, the Cuban Oil and Mining Corporation drilled
to a depth of 1036 feet. On reaching the 120-foot level, they penetrated
a layer of asphalt four feet in thickness, and found petroleum in small
quantities at two other levels. At 1037 feet they met petroleum of a
higher grade, and are planning to sink the well to a depth of 4000 feet
with the idea of finding still richer deposits.
About two kilometers west of Caimito de Guayabal, near the western
boundary of Havana Province, Shaler Williams has drilled several wells,
one to a depth of 1800 feet, which produced oil and gas, but in small
quantities. The gas has furnished him light and power on his farm for
several years.
Since 1914 the Union Oil Company has been successfully exploiting the
Santiago claim near Bacuranao, some 12 miles east of Havana. During 1917
and 1918, this company drilled ten wells with varying results. One of
these reached a depth of 700 feet, producing three or four barrels of
excellent petroleum per day, but was afterwards abandoned. Wells 2 and 3
were abandoned at a depth of only a few hundred feet on account of
striking rock too difficult to penetrate. Well No. 4, at a depth of 560
feet, produced oil at the rate of 10 to 15 barrels per day. No. 5
yielded 400 barrels per day. No. 6 was abandoned at 1912 feet without
showing any oil. No. 7 yielded petroleum at 1000 feet, but only in small
quantities. No. 8, at 1009 feet, produces a good supply of oil. No. 9,
at the same depth, also produces oil, while No. 10, sunk to a depth of
1012 feet, produced a little oil at 272 and 1000 feet. These ten wells
have all been drilled in a restricted area measuring about 300 meters
each way.
The crude petroleum of the Union Oil Company’s wells is of a superior
quality, analysis showing 13% gasoline and 30% of illuminating oil.
Between December, 1916, and June, 1918, these wells produced 1,740,051
gallons of crude. This oil is at present sold to the West Indian
Refining Company at the rate of 12¢ per gallon.
Just north of the Union Oil Company’s wells are what are known as the
Jorge Wells, where the Cuban Petroleum Company have been drilling for
oil since 1917. They sank one well to 840 feet, which at first produced
25 barrels a day, but afterwards dropped to two barrels a day, although
producing a great quantity of gas. Well No. 2 of this company, sunk to
111 feet, was abandoned. Well No. 3 produced 210 barrels the first day,
but afterwards dwindled to an average of 100 barrels a day. In the month
of June, 1918, 3,385 barrels of oil were produced, together with a large
amount of gas, that is consumed for fuel in the two furnaces of the
company. All of this petroleum is sold to the West Indian Refining
Company, of Havana.
In another section of the Jorge Claim, the Republic Petroleum Company
drilled a well to a depth of 2,200 feet, finding petroleum at 995 feet.
East of the Santiago or Union Oil Company’s wells, the Bacuranao Company
sank a well to a depth of 1009 feet, that produced 12 barrels per hour
during several days. This company delivers its oil to market over the
Union Oil Company’s pipe lines.
The wells drilled on the Union Oil Company’s property, together with
those of the Jorge claim, are all grouped in an area that does not
exceed 20,000 square meters. Nearly all have produced petroleum at a
depth of approximately 1000 feet, most of them in small quantities; but
they may nevertheless be considered as producing on a commercial basis,
since their product sells at a good price.
The oil wells of Cuba so far have not produced anything like the
enormous quantities that issue from the wells in the United States and
Mexico, but the results are encouraging, especially since the
explorations so far have been confined to a very moderate depth, seldom
exceeding 1500 feet. It is quite probable that wells in this section
will be ultimately drilled to a depth of at least 4,000 feet.
Petroleum, as we know, is found in many different kinds of geological
formations. In Pennsylvania we meet crude oil in the Devonic and
carboniferous strata; in Canada in the Silurian; in the State of
Colorado in the cretaceous; in Virginia in the bituminous coal lands; in
South Carolina in the Triassic; in Venezuela it occurs in mica
formations; while in the Caucasus again it is in the cretaceous. No
fixed rule therefore can be said to designate or control the geological
formation that may yield oil.
All of the petroleum found in Cuba, so far, seems to have its origin in
cretaceous formations, corresponding probably to the Secondary. A
somewhat significant fact is that petroleum in this Island seems to be
invariably associated with igneous rocks. So far all of it, or at least
all in wells worthy of consideration, seems to come from deposits that
lie along the lines of contact between the serpentines and various
strata of sedimentary rocks. Up to the present, wells that have been
drilled in sedimentary strata, at any considerable distance from the
intrusion of serpentine rocks, have produced no results.
E. de Goyler has reached the conclusion that the oils found below the
serpentine, or at points of contact between serpentine and sedimentary
rocks, had their origin in Jurassic limestone. Rocks of this period form
a large part of the Organ Mountains of Pinar del Rio, and the above
quoted authority is confident that the asphalt and petroleum fields
found in the immediate vicinity of serpentine thrusts during volcanic
action are all filtrations from deposits far below the surface. This
view seems to agree with results of observation made in the neighborhood
of the Bacuranao oil fields, where the drills have usually penetrated a
considerable depth of serpentine rock before meeting the
petroleum-bearing strata of sand and limestone.
Frederick C. Clapp, in his study of the structural classification of
fields of petroleum and natural gas, read before the Geological Society
of America, stated that in Cuba there are undoubtedly deposits which he
designates as coming from a subdivision of sedimentary strata, with
masses of lacolites, an unusual form of deposit, met in the Furbero
Petroleum fields of Mexico, where oil bearing strata lie both above and
below the lacolite.
The consensus of opinion among experts who have examined the recent
explorations in the neighborhood of Bacuranao seems to be that in spite
of the fact that no oil well in Cuba, up to the present, has produced
large quantities of petroleum, there is excellent reason for believing
that wells drilled to a depth of three or four thousand feet, in zones
that have been carefully studied by competent geologists, may yet rival
in amount of production those of the best petroleum fields in other
parts of the world.
The deposits of asphalt in Cuba, in view of the extensive road building
planned for this Republic, have an undoubted present and future value
well worthy of consideration. Asphalt of excellent quality, and of
grades varying all the way from a remarkably pure, clean liquid form, up
through all degrees of consistency to the hard, dry, vitreous deposits
that resemble bituminous coal sufficiently to furnish an excellent fuel,
is found in Cuba in large quantities. Most of it is easily accessible,
and of grades that command very good prices for commercial purposes in
the world’s markets.