LOCATING THE OIL WELL
When Edwin Laurencine Drake went to Titusville, in 1859 the first
question he asked of the natives was the location of “the oil spring”
known to the Indians and the farmers who succeeded them. The modern oil
seeker no longer concerns himself with surface indications.
In truth there is little or nothing in the contour of the latter-day
oil-fields to suggest oil to the eyes of the uninitiated. But
geologists first located probable oil bearing formations and have made
calculations of the formations two or three thousand feet below and
the drilling sites are located in accordance with them. Roughly, the
theory upon which such operations are based is that the sub-surface
rocks undulate, and that the presence of oil is most assured at the
highest points of the undulations. By measuring dips at given points
they calculate the distance in a certain direction to what they deem
the most favourable site and surveyors proceed to fix and designate
it. In cases, not infrequent when the lease which conveys the right of
drilling is limited in area, it is the business of the surveyor to see
that the site chosen is well within the boundaries of the plot acquired
for drilling purposes.
On the subject of present-day methods of location a recent contributor
to “The Lamp,” an American oil journal, provides much interesting data.
Oil geology, he points out, is not an exact science but it enables one
to focus exact information upon the creation of a theory regarding the
probable structure of an untested area. In Oklahoma, for instance,
geological investigations made within the past five years resulted in
the discovery of many of the new pools. All drilling is in some sense
speculative, or to use the oil man’s phrase, a “wild cat,” at the
outset; but in Oklahoma it was found that the proportion of dry holes
on territory recommended by the geologists was less than one-third
of the failures that resulted before that science was invoked. The
speculative nature of the oil business in its initial stages is
indicated by the fact that less than one per cent. of the area of the
oil region of Pennsylvania is producing territory, although it has
probably been more thoroughly drilled than any field in the world. The
limited extent of even the permanently productive fields is one of the
phenomena of petroleum. More than one-half of the production of the
State of Wyoming is found within an area of not more than six square
miles. The famous Tepetate-Casiano pool of Mexico, which produced more
than seventy-five million barrels of oil from 1910 to 1918, is about
one-half mile wide and three miles long. When we compare the acreage of
oil areas with that of the continent, the analogy of the needle in the
haystack at once suggests itself.
The geologist draws the certain deduction that oil migrates through
some porous formation from its original source and concentrates itself
in detached “pools” of comparatively small dimensions. It is the oil
pioneer’s business to find these pools. Again, there may be several
successive deposits of what are known as “oil sands,” separated from
each other by hundreds of feet of barren formation. The depth of a
well in itself means nothing. The operator must know in what strata he
expects to find the oil. If these beds prove dry, then he abandons the
test, regardless of whether the drilling has reached 1,000 or 4,000
feet.
Past experience has taught the geologist that oil-bearing formations
manifest themselves by certain surface indications, such as gas
springs, and surface seepages of oil or asphalt. In an untested field
the expert studies the character of the successive formations along
such outcroppings. In any mountainous region earthcrust upheavals
during past ages have exposed a series of formations, similar to those
which lie deep below the surface of the plains. Thus it is possible to
predict with a fair degree of accuracy just what the formations will
be for a considerable depth from geological indications. Geologists
have also learned to recognize certain types of structures favourable
to the accumulation of oil pools, known as anticlines, synclines, salt
domes, monoclines and so forth. Thus it is sometimes possible to make
in advance of drilling a surprisingly accurate forecast of what these
operations will reveal.
Because for the most part oil fields exist in rather sparsely populated
districts, remote from centres of commercial and industrial activity,
the general reader has probably very little knowledge of the unceasing
efforts that are being made in many parts of this country to maintain
the supply of crude oil at an adequate level through new discoveries.
The spirit of enterprise and initiative is even more alive to-day
than it was in the time of Drake and the pioneers who followed him
in the Pennsylvania field. The hopeful speculative spirit is as ever
necessary; the capital fulfils an ever-growing function in this source
of prosperity and employment for the community at large.
In the oil industry any well drilled outside the narrow limits of a
producing “pool” is regarded as a “wild cat” test. The element of
a gamble is inevitably present, but has been materially reduced by
science. An old established company in an important field is constantly
adding to its land holdings in advance of the trend of development, and
out of the profits from its developed productions sets aside a certain
amount to expend for speculative ventures, to protect its investment
in pipe lines, refineries, etc. The company also continues to drill in
the vicinity of a producing pool until it is entirely surrounded by dry
holes, and its limits demonstrated. Consequently, in an established oil
field development work and prospecting are one and the same thing.
The matter of opening up new fields in regions where there have been
no previous wells to serve as a guide presents a very different phase
of speculative enterprise. The pioneer producer must make a very
substantial financial investment for roads and equipment. He must
have the courage and grit to continue his efforts, even though he at
the outset obtains negative and unsatisfactory results; sometimes
for a period of years. Nor do his troubles end when he has made an
important discovery, for then land hitherto almost valueless becomes
much sought after by competitors, and legal complications involving
titles and taxes are not slow to develop. If he has been fortunate
enough to open up a real oil-field his exploration work must be of
sufficiently broad scope to determine the location of the principal
belt of favourable territory, the approximate depth and character of
the oil bearing formations, and the possibilities of permanence in the
wells themselves. The quality of the crude petroleum “mined” may be
less important than the quantity.
Though it is obvious that the obstacles that confront the pioneer
operator are not insurmountable, the conditions described show why
the history of oil discovery is bestrewn with failures. This has been
particularly true of the Latin American fields of Venezuela, Colombia,
Argentina and Costa Rica, and of many Asiatic attempts. Even in the
great gusher field of Mexico the first tests were drilled in 1869, yet
it was not until 1902 that any important production indicative of the
great future of that region resulted. More than 50 wells drilled in a
space of 33 years were failures.
It is, therefore, apparent that detailed, scientific information
on which to proceed is almost as important in the initial steps as
strong financial backing, and efficient organization. The methods
used in the early days of the Appalachian fields of Pennsylvania
depended absolutely on “fool’s luck” and steadfast optimism. As this
field extended down into West Virginia and Kentucky, and over into
Ohio, the ever-increasing number of failures caused the operators to
cast about for some sort of a working formula in choosing locations.
From the crude efforts of these early investigators the fundamentals
of modern oil-geology were developed. The old-fashioned operators’
creed contained this axiom: “If you wild-cat enough in an oil field,
you will make money in the long run.” But this no longer is a safe
working motto. The steadily increased cost of drilling has made it of
paramount importance to make careful selection beforehand. The modern
oil operator realizes that Mother Earth provides many clues and hints
which he cannot afford to disregard. The oil geologist interprets the
surface indications and such other information relating to a given area
as is available; and is ever on guard against the over-optimism of the
promoter.