bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Water Surfaces in the Oil Fields
Authors: Daly Marcel  R.
Published: June 2014

(A contribution to the study of the conditions of equilibrium of the"free surface" of a water body inclosed in a porous medium.)

In a recent paper on Geologic Structure in the Cushing Oil and Gas Field, Oklahoma, Carl H. Beal has pointed out some interesting peculiarities in thedistribution of the hydrocarbons and the disposition of the "planes ofseparation" between the oil and the water (water surfaces). Mr. Beal'sprincipal statements on this matter may be summarized as follows:In every important dome in the Cushing field, which has not beencomplicated by folding along its sides, the oil area in each of the three oiland gas sands studied (Layton, Wheeler and Bartlesville) apparently extendsfarther down on the long axis of the dome than it does on the steeper sides.The result is that water is encountered at a lesser depth below datum plane(sea level) on the steep sides of the dome than along the ends where the bedsare more gently tilted.In the Layton and Wheeler sands (to which the detailed study of watersurfaces has been almost entirely confined), the water surface is not level, but dips at a gentle angle (maximum dip 100 ft. to the mile) away from thecenter of the structure. This inclination existed prior to development, and ithas been rendered greater by the rapid extraction of oil and gas.

To these statements, the following observations are added: The dominantstructural feature in the Cushing field is a broad north and south anticlinalfold, along whose axis the domes are distributed (Fig. 1, p. 897), and the moreimportant oil areas in each sand lie on the west side of the field. In manycases, gas has been forced to the east side of the structure, sometimes as faras the water line.

From the distribution of the oil and gas bodies, Mr. Beal concludes that thehydrocarbons in this region probably migrated from the west or thenorthwest.

AIME 059–50
Petroleum Hydrology Applied to Mid-Continent Field
Authors: Neal Roy O.
Published: June 2014

There are two main sources of the water that floods productive oil or gassands. The water may rise from the lower depths of the producing stratum, or itmay come from beds above or below the oil-bearing formation. Usually therecovery of oil is decreased by water entering the oil sands, and mostoil-field waters, especially those of deep wells, tend to foster the formationof an emulsion, which is expensive to treat. This paper deals with a method ofdistinguishing between waters that encroach upon oil-bearing beds from sourcesin the same stratum and waters that reach the oil sands from horizonsabove.

In order to remedy effectually water difficulties in oil and gas wells, it isabsolutely necessary to determine the source of the invading water. Sometimesevidence such as the structural relations between the strata penetrated byneighboring wells and those found in the well under investigation is notadequate; also, data from drill logs and well records, from mechanical testsmade on the wells by plugs, testers, drilling tools, etc., and from tests bychemical indicators such as eosin and Venetian red, may be unsatisfactory, forsuch data may fail to locate the source of the infiltrating waters. As a resortin such cases, the application of chemical analyses, that is, the comparison ofan analysis of the water in question with that of typical waters from thevarious water horizons in that particular district has in certain instancesproved of value. This method has been used to advantage in the WestsideCoalinga field of California, where the source of water may be fairlydefinitely determined, from its composition.

The chief conclusions concerning the chemistry of the oil-field waters inCalifornia by G. S. Rogers are: Oil-field water is not necessarily salty, as isgenerally believed, and may not be even slightly salty to the taste. The degreeof concentration of chloride in such water is governed primarily by localconditions and is not affected by the position of the water in relation to oil.Sulfate diminishes in amount as the oil zone is approached and finallydisappears.

AIME 061–50
Natural-Gas Storage
Authors: Panyity L.S.
Published: June 2014

The question of natural-gas supply is receiving careful consideration inmany parts of the country, as in the winter months it is quite a problem tohave on hand sufficient gas to satisfy the demand. Increasing the output ofwells by the application of vacuum has been tried with various results andlarge companies have attempted to keep up the supply with gas compressors. Thepossibility of storing natural gas in the sands of exhausted gas pools has beentried in a few instances with satisfactory results. This method may prove ofpractical value in solving the problem, especially in the case of towns thatformerly obtained gas from their immediate vicinity but now must search for newpools.

In all cases, only part of the available supply is utilized during the warmweather, so that many wells are shut-in, yet during the winter months, thesupply is not sufficient even with all the wells on the line; in such cases itwould be of great value if a large volume of stored gas were on hand, obtainedthrough wells that would have been standing idle during the summer.

Idle producing wells having considerable ?rock pressure? will force gas intothe exhausted, or storage wells, and this gas will be used only when theregular supply falls short (Fig. 1). If two gas wells of different pressuresare connected, the one having the greater pressure will feed the other, untilthe pressures are at an equilibrium. The same results will be obtained if anexhausted gas well is connected to a high-pressure gas line. High-pressurelines equipped with regulators near the town plant have considerable pressure, so that storage wells connected to such a line will receive gas from the lineas long as the line pressure is greater than the well pressure. During a periodof heavy consumption of gas, the pressure on the main line is greatly reduced, so that gas from the storage wells will flow into the lines. An arrangement ofthis kind will work automatically, the flow of gas into or from the storagewells depending on the pressure carried in the line.

It is advisable in most instances that the flow into and from the storage wellsbe regulated by means of gates, instead of automatically. In addition, thevolume of gas should be metered as it is forced into or passes from the wells;the pressure also should be noted. By properly charting the meter and pressurerecords, the characteristics of the individual wells may be determined.

AIME 061–55
Gaging and Storage of Oil in the Mid-Continent Field
Authors: Bradley O.U.
Published: June 2014

The methods of handling the oil output of the Mid-Continent fields are notunlike those practised in other oil fields of the United States, and it is notexpected that this paper will present any entirely novel ideas. Some features of the practice of handling this oil may be of interest, however.

Wooden Gaging Tanks

Practically all of the oil sold to pipe lines and other purchasing agenciesthroughout the Mid-Continent field is gaged from wooden tanks. Steel gagingtanks are slowly coming into use, and are preferable in many ways - leakage andevaporation are reduced, and the strapping and recalculation of capacities areunnecessary. The wooden tanks are slightly coned to facilitate tightening thehoops. The sizes in common use are 250, 500, 800 and 1600 bbl. The number andthe capacity of the gaging tanks upon any producing oil property depend uponits production, and the facilities for disposing of the output. The 1600-bbl.size was the most common in the Cushing field, particularly during the periodof flush production.

The tanks are distributed over the leased premises in groups of two, three, andfour tanks each, and these are filled from flow tanks, or through direct pipeconnections with the heads of the wells. Flow tanks are merely temporaryreservoirs to facilitate the transfer of oil from the wells to the gagingtanks. They diminish fire risk, and are considered indispensable on smallproducing properties where water is pumped with the oil, as they permit therefuse and water to ‘settle out’ before the production is run to the gagingtanks.

Strapping and Calculations

After a gaging tank has been strapped (measured) and its contents computed, adeduction of 3 per cent. is made from its computed volume.

AIME 061–57
Oil Fields of Russia
Authors: Thompson A. Beeby , Madgwick T.G.
Published: June 2014

For more than 2500 years, natural gas issues in the Surakhany district ofthe Apsheron peninsula were the object of pilgrimages by fire worshippers andHindoos from Burma and India. Even as late as 1890, Hindoo priests conductedceremonies in a temple at Surakhany, which probably replaced a more ancientone; but later, the visits of the pilgrims were prohibited in order to checkthe spread of Asiatic diseases in that region.

For centuries, limited supplies of oil have been abstracted from shallowexcavations in the Caspian oil belt and dispatched into the interior of Asiaand elsewhere for medicinal and industrial purposes. Statistics show a yield of37,400 bbl. in 1863, but only since 1869 has there been serious development; inthat year the yield was 203,000 bbl. At that time, hand digging was supplantedby drilling, and the enormous wells that resulted from tapping sources hithertobeyond the reach of operators completely demoralized the industry for a time, owing to inadequate outlets for the products.

The early activities in this area were greatly hindered by annoying taxation, monopolies, imperial land grants, etc., but when these were revoked oradjusted, in 1877, the industry sprang into prominence and, between 1898 and1901, the Baku fields produced practically one-half of the world's supply ofoil.

Within a few miles of Baku lie the two richest oil fields in the world; viz., the Balakhany-Saboontchy-Romany and the Bibi-Eibat, the latter constitutingalmost a suburb of the city. For many years the gasoline obtained in therefineries of the Baku area was burned in pits, being considered an undesirableproduct, and until 1870 the residue also was destroyed, its value as a fuel notbeing recognized. Kerosene was the main product sought by the refiners. It wasshipped across the Caspian Sea and up the Volga to the industrial centers ofRussia. Only on the completion of the Baku-Batoum railway did the Baku oilfields secure important commercial communication with the outside world throughthe medium of the Black Sea. The first tank steamer was successfully launchedon the Caspian in 1879, by Messrs. Nobels, for transporting oil in bulk insteadof in barrels. In 1905, an 8-in. pipe line to Batoum was completed; this wascapable of transporting to seaboard 8,000,000 bbl. of kerosene per annum.

AIME 065–07
Petroleum in the Philippines
Authors: Smith Warren DuPre
Published: June 2014

It has been 5 years since the writer left the Philippine Islands and whilein that country his chief work did not lie in this field, though he has visitedall but one of the localities mentioned in this article. The principal fieldstudies relating to oil were made by his colleague, Mr. Wallace E. Pratt. Thewriter's investigations dealt with the general stratigraphy and paleontology ofthe Philippines. With the exception of the investigations made by Mr. Pratt andthe writer very little information on this subject is available.

A number of geologists in the employ of large oil companies have visited theIslands from time to time but, following the general rule, the public hasscarcely ever been permitted to learn anything of the results. The writer isindebted to the Bureau of Insular Affairs, Washington, for late informationregarding recent legislation in the Islands relating to petroleum.

All the known oil seeps, petroleum residues, such as ozocerite, and natural-gasemanations are associated with Tertiary sediments. The chief seeps and mostpromising prospects are located as follows:Bondoc Peninsula (lower end), Tayabas Province, Southeast Luzon.The west coast of the island of Cebu from Alegria north to, and perhapsbeyond, Toledo.Central Mindanao not far from Lake Lanao.The ozocerite veins on the Island of Leyte in the northwestern part in thevicinity of the town of Villaba.Natural gas from some deep wells in Tertiary shale formations on the easternflank of the Cordillera and extending out under the plain on the island ofPanay.

The first mention in geological literature, to the writer's knowledge, of gasor petroleum in the Philippines is found in the description of the Island ofPanay by the Spanish geologist, Abella, in the year 1890.

AIME 065–09
Oil-shales and Petroleum Prospects in Brazil
Authors: Willliams Horace E.
Published: June 2014

In view of the frequent occurrence of petroleum in other parts of the world, it seems odd that so large an area as is contained within the borders of Brazilshould be without this product. This apparent deficiency may be due, however, to our ignorance of the regions in which it may exist. In some places, indications point to the probable existence of petroleum in ages gone by; andwhile the presence of petroleum pools may be problematic, in several regionsconditions not unfavorable to their occurrence exist.

Yet, Brazil has enormous oil resources in the rich oil-shales in differentparts of the country. Many of these shales are very rich and only suitableprocesses for the extraction of the oil are lacking. At the present time, onlya few small experimental plants are producing oil by distillation from theseshales. These plants have been the subject of recent investigations by theGeological and Mineralogical Survey, a preliminary report of which is in thehands of the printer. The only regions where studies have not been made are theupper Amazon, the Acre, the Rio Negro, and the Peruvian frontier, which reallyseems to be the most promising field for explorations of any in thecountry.

In the vast plateau region of the interior north of the 20th parallel oflatitude, granites, gneiss, mica schists, and very old metamorphosedsedimentaries predominate. Later, sedimentaries occupy a minor position and, where found in the interior, represent a thin veneering resting on the olderrocks. At several places near the coast they have a greater development andcontain considerable beds of oil-shale and may, in some cases, offer conditionsfavorable for the occurrence of oil. Such deposits are found in the Permianrocks of central and southern Maranhao; in the Tertiary and Cretaceous bedsalong the coast of Alagoas Sergipe, Bahia, and perhaps farther south inEspirito Santo; and in the Parahyba embayment north of Cape Frio and in theinterior Tertiary basin of eastern Sao Paulo.

AIME 065–11
International Aspects of the Petroleum Industry
Authors: Manning Van H.
Published: June 2014

In substance, the international aspects of the petroleum industry, as theserelate to the United States, are as follows: The domestic production is notkeeping pace with the domestic demands; our best engineering talent warns us ofthe imminence of a decreased production by our oil wells, although more oil isneeded; and the only practical source whence this increasing demand can besupplied for some time to come will be the foreign fields. Other nations havegiven thought to the future and, in recent years, have shown a tendency toadopt strong nationalistic policies regarding their petroleum resources, policies that hinder or prevent the exploitation of these resources by othernationals. In consequence, we find that, facing a probable shortage of thedomestic supply, our nationals are excluded from foreign fields; and this inspite of the fact that foreign nationals have been permitted to enter into andexploit our own oil resources on an equality with American citizens and withouthindrance or restrictions. This country has supplied the larger part of thepetroleum consumed by the world and yet, with a failing supply imminent, itfinds that those countries that have been drawing upon our resources to supplytheir needs are showing a tendency to exclude us from their resources. In thisway we shall be transferred from a position of dominence to one of dependence;and only by sufferance of those countries that are now seeking financial orpolitical control of petroleum supplies, shall we be able to obtain the oil wewill need.

Importance of Petroleum

Petroleum has become, during recent years, one of the essentials of oursocial and industrial life. All civilized countries recognize that the world isdependent on petroleum as on nothing else except textiles, foodstuffs, coal, and iron. Today, the tendency is toward an ever-increasing consumption ofpetroleum and its products as new and more efficient uses are found for them.The utilization of petroleum is extending more and more into the structure ofour civilization.

AIME 065–12
Petroleum Resources of Kansas
Authors: Moore Raymond C.
Published: June 2014

The oil-producing districts of Kansas comprise the northern portion of theso-called Mid-Continent field. As shown in the accompanying map, thesedistricts are located chiefly in the southeastern and south central parts ofthe state. A considerable area in southeastern Kansas, extending northwardnearly to Kansas City, has long been known as oil territory, the productivewells being distributed in patches or spots of irregular size and shape, thelocation of which is controlled by conditions of rock structure, and by thetexture and porosity of the ‘sands’ beneath the surface. In south centralKansas, there are a number of producing fields, the location of which appearsto be controlled chiefly by well-defined structure. The most importantdistricts are those in Butler County, especially that in the vicinity of ElDorado, which was for a time the most productive district in the entireMid-Continent field. Recently new production of importance has been brought inthe vicinity of Peabody and present development is active to the north acrossMarion County. Tests in the western parts of Kansas have not been successful infinding new petroleum fields.

History

The first well drilled for petroleum, in Kansas, was near the town of Paola, Miami Co., about 40 mi. southwest of Kansas City, in the summer of 1860, only afew months after the completion of the famous ?Colonel? Drake discovery well inPennsylvania. Kansas appears to be the second state to engage in a seriousattempt to find oil by drilling. The Civil War caused the temporary abandonmentof attempts at oil development in the state.

It was in the vicinity of Paola, where numerous oil seepages had been observed, that the first well producing oil in commercial quantities was drilled, wherealso gas was first piped to the city for commercial use.

AIME 065–14
Oil Fields of Kentucky and Tennessee
Authors: Glenn L.C.
Published: June 2014

In the preparation of this paper the writer has drawn freely upon the writings of Orton, Munn, Shaw, Mather, Miller, Hoeing, St. Clair, Jillson, andothers, as well as upon his own personal knowledge of the fields of bothstates. It is to be regretted that certain data gathered by him and hisassistants last fall are not available for publication.

Oil in Tennessee

A few wells drilled for brine for salt making in Tennessee between 1820 and1840 obtained oil, but no definite search was made for oil until just after theclose of the Civil War. Active drilling was then begun in Overton and countiessouthwest of it on the eastern half of the Highland Rim. A number of strikeswere made at shallow depths in the basal part of the Mississippian but thewells were soon exhausted and abandoned. Drilling was revived, about 1892, whenthe Spurrier district in Pickett County was developed and was followed by theRiverton district in the same county in 1896. A pipe line was laid from theWayne County, Ky., fields and about 60,000 bbl. of oil were run before a veryheavy slump in the production, a failure to find an extension of the field, andexcessive local taxation caused the removal of the pipe line in 1906. There wasthen no production in Tennessee until the discovery, in 1911, of oil nearOneida, Scott Co., at about 950 ft. (289 m.) in fissures in the Newman or St.Louis limestone. This field, however, soon failed and was abandoned.

In 1916, oil was found at Glen Mary, Scott Co., in the Newman limestone at adepth of 1232 ft. (375 m.) A number of wells have since been drilled there, some of which were dry while others, close by, were producers. The largest oneyielded, at first, about 340 bbl. per day and produced for several months, whenit suddenly went dry. Several of the first wells began at 6 or 8 bbl. per dayand are still maintaining that output.

AIME 065–16
Resume of Pennsylvania-New York Oil Field
Authors: Johnson Roswell H. , Huntley Stirling
Published: June 2014

Pennsylvania will be remembered, as long as oil is produced, as the cradleof the industry of petroleum in North America. It was on Oil Creek, nearTitusville, Venango Co., that Col. Edwin L. Drake, superintendent for theSeneca Oil Co., brought in the first commercial oil well on Aug. 28, 1859.Great difficulty was experienced in getting the well down to the producingdepth of 69 ft. (21 m.) with the spring-pole system then in vogue for punchingshallow water wells, so the novel expedient of driving an iron tube through thesurface clays and quicksand was finally resorted to. The well had an initialyield of 25 bbl. a day on the pump, but soon went off, though 2000 bbl. wereproduced by the end of the year.

With the Drake well a success, a young industry sprang into being, the rapidgrowth of which has been second to none in the country and the value of whoseproduct is only surpassed by that of coal. For years the only producingterritory, the Pennsylvania-New York field attained its greatest production in1891, when the bringing in of the McDonald pool, between Pittsburgh and theWest Virginia line, gave a total of over 33,000,000 bbl. At present the field, combined with West Virginia and southeast Ohio, gives 25,000,000 barrels.

Geology and Stratigraphy

In general, the Appalachian field is a huge geosyncline, the axis of which runsroughly northeast-southwest, from north of the New York state line souththrough Brookeville, Kittanning, Pittsburgh, Washington, through the southwestcorner of the state of Pennsylvania into West Virginia. Minor folding hasaccompanied or followed the dominant fold of the field, and it is from thesestructures near the Pennsylvania-West Virginia line and their influence on theaccumulation of oil and gas that I. C. White, state geologist of West Virginia, obtained his evidence for anticlinal guidance of prospecting.

Many horizons in the geologic column of the field serve as reservoirs, andthere are several pools that have wells producing side by side from differentand widely vertically separated strata.

AIME 065–18
Petroliferous Provinces
Authors: Woodruff E.G.
Published: June 2014

The earlier struggles in petroleum geology were directed to solving theorigin and method of accumulation of petroleum. We are now fairly well agreedon those subjects. Most of us think that the great mass of petroleumcommercially produced comes from plants or animals, or possibly from both. Weare confident that the oil was not produced where it is now found but hasaccumulated in reservoirs of various kinds. The types of reservoirs arecertainly variable but they just as certainly follow definite geologic laws.Some of these types of reservoirs can be determined from surface study; otherscannot. We know, too, that these types of reservoirs (largely structures suchas anticlines, domes, and terraces) are much more widespread than the oilpools. In other words, there are many places where good sands and goodstructures exist but where oil is not found. It is the purpose of this paper, therefore, to attempt to analyze, from a regional standpoint, some of theconditions that control the presence or absence of oil pools and to group themin a regional way, hence the term "Petroliferous Provinces." The paperlays no claim to presenting new facts but attempts to group and classify theinformation that so many have expressed again and again.

The essential factors for an oil field are petroleum, a reservoir material, andconditions under which the petroleum can enter the reservoir but cannot escapeexcept through the drill holes. The paper will first discuss the source ofpetroleum as it occurs in definite regions, then the regional arrangement ofreservoir strata, and finally the areal arrangement of structures.

To have petroleum, there must be a source. Since living matter is consideredthe source of the petroleum, geological conditions must have been such thatliving organisms were abundant. Arid regions on the earth's surface have notgiven rise to living things in sufficient abundance to produce oil; similarly, too cold regions and saline inland lakes. The converse of this is that warmmoist conditions must prevail to produce an abundance of vegetable matter.

AIME 065–22
Essential Factors in Valuation of Oil Properties
Authors: Beal Carl H.
Published: June 2014

The most important factors that should be given consideration in thevaluation of oil lands are:the amount of oil the property will produce;the amount of money this oil will bring (based upon the future prices ofoil);development and production costs;the rate of interest on theinvestment;the retirement or amortization of invested capital; andthesalvage or ‘scrap’ value of the equipment when the property is exhausted.

Thesefactors are of varying importance and some of them may not enter all valuationproblems, but most of them should be given consideration in any valuation eventhough only a rough estimate of the value of the property is desired.

The value of a property may be changed over night by the completion ofimportant test wells, by the sudden water flooding, or by a change in the priceof oil. The best a petroleum engineer can give is the value of the propertyunder the conditions existing at the time the appraisal is made with a fairforecast of future action of the wells and of the price of oil.

Our experience in the scientific valuation of oil lands is not broad and thereis very little published information on the subject; it, therefore, becomesnecessary in studying such problems to form comparisons with the factorsinvolved in the valuation of mines-the closest parallel. One of the reasons forthe lack of substantial progress in oil-land valuation methods has been thenecessity of making an estimate of the future production of the oil property tobe valued. Oil men and accountants have not generally conceded that suchestimates could be made with any degree of accuracy. It has been shown, however, in several recent publications that with certain data availablereasonably close estimates can be made. The accuracy of an appraisal dependschiefly on the accuracy of the estimates of future production and of the futureprice of oil. The accuracy of the former is sometimes necessarily based ongeological inferences. Geology is not an exact science and geological data inconnection with oil production cannot always be mathematically evaluated.

AIME 065–31
Variation in Decline Curves of Various Oil Pools
Authors: Johnson Roswell H.
Published: June 2014

The Manual of the Oil and Gas Industry, under the Revenue Act of 1918, published by the Treasury Department for the guidance of oil companies inpreparing their estimates of future recoverable oil for the purpose ofcalculating depletion, gives the first large public collection of comparativedecline curves for the whole country. It is a matter of both scientific andpractical interest to so arrange these data that the pools can be readilycompared. There are certain difficulties in such a comparison, however:Theeconomic limit varies from 50 to 2000 bbl. a year in different pools taken.Because of this variation in economic limit, the range of data shown makescomparison possible only for wells of intermediate size.

In order to be as inclusive as possible, I have taken as an expression of therate of decline the amount of oil produced in the period during which a welldrops from 3000 to 2000 bbl. a year. No period of smaller production could beused because of the high economic limit in California; and no period of largerproduction and yet include the small well areas of the Appalachian. As it is, the Lima-Indiana wells are excluded. In a few instances, curves wereextrapolated to obtain the reading, where the curve seemed regular enough towarrant it.

In general, the amount of oil, in barrels, produced while a well declined from3000 bbl. to 2000 bbl. a year is shown in Table 1.

The Gulf Coast data are given with two different bases of reference, so thatall the districts are not mutually comparable. Those under each head may, however, be compared. Amount of oil produced while well declined from 3000 to2000 bbl. a year: Saratoga Rio Bravo normal spacing, 5700 bbl.; Saratoga townlot spacing, 2160 bbl.

For the sake of finding how the Lima-Indiana pool ranks with other small-wellpools, Table 2, based on the oil produced while the wells are declining from500 to 100 bbl. a year, was prepared.

AIME 065–33
Application of Taxation Regulations to Oil and Gas Properties
Authors: Cox Thomas
Published: June 2014

This paper makes no claim to any new idea; it simply reviews the TreasuryDepartment Regulations pertaining to the practical application of depreciationand depletion and other allowances governing taxation of oil and gasproperties. Other methods may be existent, but as they may not conform to thelegal status they must be discarded.

In complying with the present laws governing the industry with regard totaxation and the allowable deductions therefrom, the following considerationsare essential: Depletion, depreciation, amortization, other allowances, anditems not deductible.

It is definitely understood that depletion is the loss or exhaustion sustainedin the continuous operating of an oil and gas property, and that each unit ofoil or gas taken out reduces the value of the property until its finalexhaustion. Depletion applies only to the natural deposits of oil and gas dueto their removal in the course of exploitation of any property.

Depreciation is defined to cover the waste of assets due to exhaustion, wearand tear, and obsolescence of the physical property, and is separate anddistinct from depletion; its allowance is that amount which should be set asidefor the taxable year in such sums as for the useful life of the property willsuffice to repay its original cost - or its value as of Mar. 1, 1913, ifacquired by the taxpayer before that date - less the salvage value at the endof such useful life.

Amortization is allowed for such facilities as were built or acquired on orafter Apr. 6, 1917, for the production of articles contributing to theprosecution of the war and, in the case of vessels, those built and acquiredafter that date. The amount to be extinguished, in general, is the excess ofthe unextinguished or unrecovered cost of the property over its maximum valueunder stable post-war conditions.

Claims for amortization must be unmistakably differentiated in the returns fromall other claims of depreciation. The taxpayer is also required to furnish fullinformation with the claims for amortization to the full satisfaction of theCommissioner. Further reference is directed to the specific rules andregulations for making these claims.

AIME 065–34
Valuation Factors of Casing-head Gas Industry
Authors: Bradley Oliver U.
Published: June 2014

The utilization of casing-head gas in the manufacture of casing-headgasoline by both the absorption and the compression method is a most importantfactor in the conservation of our natural resources. Any industry connectedwith the oil business, in general, possesses particular attraction for a largenumber of people not conversant with its basic principles, for the reason thatthe large fortunes made in the production and utilization of petroleum and itsproducts have been given undue prominence. The general impression of the publicthat enormous profits are to be realized in the casing-head gas industry withminimum expenditures of both capital and effort has, in a large measure, accounted for the phenomenal expansion of the industry in recent years and, likewise, has resulted in many mistakes and loss of investment funds. It istrue that many installations have been very profitable, but such instances arealways the result of careful planning, experienced judgment and conservativeestimates.

The inception and subsequent activity in the manufacture of casing-headgasoline, enabling the business to assume an important position in thepetroleum industry, are of comparatively recent origin, as its greatest growth, particularly in Oklahoma, occurred during the years 1917 and 1918. Muchinformation must yet be secured and systematized concerning the methods ofmanufacture of gasoline from high-yield casing-head gas, and a large field isstill open for the application of accumulated experience and good engineeringpractice in devising better methods of extracting gasoline from casing-head gasof the poorer grades.

The absorption process is coming into general use as a most efficient system oftreating casing-head gas, and even so-called dry gas. In fact, there is adecided tendency toward the universal adoption of the absorption process asagainst compression methods. However, a general discussion of the relativemerits of these two systems is not within the scope of this article.

AIME 065–35
Rock Classification from the Oil-driller's Standpoint
Authors: Knapp Arthur
Published: June 2014

The ordinary well log is subjected to a great deal of criticism, much ofwhich is well founded. Sometimes, though, the difficulty in interpreting thelog is due to the fact that the geologist or engineer using the logs does notknow the limitations of the drilling method used. The rotary drill, especially, has inherent limitations that make it difficult to secure definite informationat all times. The identification of well-defined key beds is about all that canbe expected from the rotary log. The formation in a drilled hole, as reportedby the driller, has a direct relation to the speed with which the drill makesthe hole or to the reaction of the various strata on the bit, called the ?feelof the bit.? When this is not thoroughly understood by the geologist orengineer endeavoring to interpret the log, the result is an erroneouscorrelation with other wells or a discarding of the log as worthless.

General Terms

Hard and Soft - Hard and soft are relative terms. In the case of well logs, they are very misleading as they are used in connection with both resistance toabrasion and resistance to percussion. In technical rock classification, hardness is relative resistance to abrasion. The term brittleness is used inconnection with resistance to blows. These terms are misleading to thegeologist or engineer who is not familiar with both the cable-tool, or standardtool, method of drilling and the rotary method. In the case of the standardtools, the driller's report of the hardness of the formation is in terms of itsresistance to blows. For instance, a cable-tool driller might be able to makefrom 30 to 50 ft. a tour in a brittle limestone, which he would call soft andat the same time he might call a relatively soft (from a purely mineralogicalstandpoint) gypsum hard, because it is somewhat elastic and is not readilybroken by blows. The rotary driller would reverse the terms. The limestone ishard in that it resists the abrasive action of the bit, while the gypsum mightbe soft in that it is readily cut by the rotary bit. It is rare that wellsdrilled by the standard tools are correlated with those drilled by the rotary, but the technologist who has worked with well logs from one system might bemisled when working with the other.

AIME 065–40
Water Displacement in Oil and Gas Sands
Authors: Johnson Roswell H.
Published: June 2014

All strata not yielding oil or gas in commercial quantities or acorresponding amount of water may be called dry in a wide sense. In petroleumgeology, however, we may exclude all sands of too low or fine porosity to yieldgaseous or fluid contents to the hole drilled in the sand before any originalpressure that its contents may be under is disturbed. Most rocks are of thisclass and they are not reservoirs in our definition; their ?dryness? is whollya matter of course. What are the contents of the pores or what is the exactporosity of such rocks is of almost no concern to us, for economically they are?dry.?

What does interest us is the content of a rock having sufficient porosity andthe pores of sufficient size to yield oil or gas in commercial quantities, ifthey were present under original pressure. Dryness of these reservoirs is amatter of supreme practical importance. Three views current as to such drynessseem, to me, to apply in a few cases only. It is the purpose of this paper togive reasons for this position and for believing that, in ordinary sedimentaryrocks, there is only rarely a reservoir of competent porosity and undisturbedpressure that is dry in the sense of not yielding water, oil, or gas when firstpenetrated.Gardner writes of some Kentucky sands, ?There has never been present anysalt water or other water in the sand.? Absence of water cannot demonstratethis position. It is necessary to show that the rocks were not laid down inwater, but in air, and that they became so enclosed, while still above thewater-table of the ground water, that water has not been able to enter since.Most of these sands, and certainly the productive limestones, were deposited inwater; and such sands as have been commercially productive show no reason forbelieving that the overlying shale or limestone was not laid down progressivelyfrom one direction and in water that would have flooded it. No adequateexplanation has been offered for this hypothesis, which is so inherentlyimprobable.Reeves urges that ?sands originally water filled may have been drained oftheir water and not filled when later covered.?

AIME 065–44
Carbon Ratios of Coals in West Virginia Oil Fields
Authors: Reger David B.
Published: June 2014

The value of carbon ratios in determining the boundaries of possible oildeposits appears to have passed the hypothetical stage. The theory that theratio of fixed carbon in pure coals is an invariable index of incipientmetamorphism in both surface and underground rocks and that it may be appliedin defining the limits of petroleum, advanced by David White, has been receivedwith keen interest by many petroleum geologists. Detailed isocarb maps havebeen prepared of the Pennsylvanian area of North Texas and Eastern Oklahoma byM. L. Fuller. A similar map of the coal-bearing area of West Virginia is givenhere.

An isocarb is a line showing an equal fixed-carbon percentage, pure coal basis;the term has been proposed by David White to supersede a less expressivenomenclature.

The term carbon ratio is applied to the percentage of carbon in pure coal afterwater and ash have been eliminated. As a comparatively small number of analyseshave been made on this basis, it is usually necessary to compute the ratio bydividing the fixed carbon of the proximate analysis by the sum of the fixedcarbon and volatile matter of the same analysis.

Many thousands of proximate analyses have been made by the West VirginiaGeological Survey covering nearly every county in which coal is found. Numerousothers have been made by the U. S. Geological Survey and the U. S. Bureau ofMines, but as uniformity of results is best secured by adhering to one set ofanalyses, the tests of the West Virginia Survey have been exclusively used.

AIME 065–46
Oil Resources of Ecuador
Authors: Marsters V.F.
Published: June 2014

Seepages of oil in Ecuador have been known for many years. The localityfirst to receive attention, and still worked in a modest way, lies on the northshore of the Santa Elena peninsula, between La Puntilla and Salinas. Operationswere first conducted largely by local capital. Later, foreign companiesacquired large blocks of land, where they have done considerable drilling. Fordetails concerning present drilling activities in Ecuador, we are indebted toLeon Price, an American resident engineer of Ecuador. The information solicitedcame to the author through the office of the American Consulate, withpermission to use it.

The coastal plain bordering the Province of Tumbes, Peru, continues to thenortheast, but narrows on passing the Zarumilla River. From this pointnorthward it widens toward Santa Rosa. In fact, the pampas, as shown on theofficial Wolf map, correspond fairly well to the areal extent of the coastalplain as far as Guayaquil. This is shown in a general way on the accompanyingmap. The author understands that the Guayaquil embayment is bordered on allsides by the coastal plain, as recognized at Tumbes and farther southwest, andthat it can be followed without a break as far north as Palmar. This view issupported by the mapped area regarded by Mr. Price as favorable or possible oilterritory. Moreover the islands in the Gulf of Guayaquil are the samegeologically as the coastal edge, being composed of Tertiary sediments. Theauthor understands also that Tertiary formations occur north of Palmar.According to a report by Mr. Cardon, of Guayaquil, Tertiary sediments areexposed in the region of San Francisco and extend to and beyond Pta. Calera.There is also reason to believe that at least the lower part of the valley ofthe Santiago River is occupied by Tertiary sediments, which probably border thecoast line and extend into the River Mira basin, and into Colombia.

On the south coast there are many seepages, most of them near the inner edgeof the coastal plain, between Zarumilla and Santa Rosa and also between SantaRosa and Machala.

AIME 068–72
Oil Resources of Peru
Authors: Marsters V.F.
Published: June 2014

Peru has produced petroleum since the early seventies, the first work beingin the Zorritos field, in the Province of Tumbes, adjoining Ecuador.

In the early nineties, the Negritos field, in the Department of Piura, cameinto prominence, and by 1905 had attained an annual production of 335,160 bbl.The early development of the field was under the general direction of theLondon &Pacific Petroleum Co., but it is now handled by the InternationalPetroleum Co.

In 1900 and 1901, the Lobitos field became the scene of marked activity. In1905, its total production amounted to 75,000 bbl.; it has continued toincrease, as has Negritos.

From 1897 to 1902, there was prospecting in the region of La Brieta (orFernandez), on the Mancora River, about 25 to 30 km. from the coast. Smallproduction of a heavy oil was obtained from three different sands. So far asthe author knows, no work has been done in that locality since 1902. There arethus four distinct fields in the north end of the Peruvian coastal plain.

The remaining productive locality of Peru is the Pirin or Pusi field, at thenorthwest end of Lake Titicaca, Department of Puno, in southern Peru. The firstprospecting near Pusi was done by Brown Brothers, of Los Angeles, Calif., whoobtained modest production about 1906; according to reports, activities ceasedabout 1914 or 1915. The maximum annual production was obtained about 1908, estimated at 76,000 barrels.

Peru possesses two distinct geographic provinces in which we may look forthe development of a larger on industry; namely, the coastal plain province, and the inter-Andean plains.

AIME 068–73
Petroleum Resources of Venezuela
Authors: Arnold Ralph , Bryan Barnabas , Macready Geo. A.
Published: June 2014

While much geological work and drilling have been done in Venezuela, theincompleteness of geological evidence obtainable and the restricted areas inwhich drilling has been done make any estimates of oil resources extremelyspeculative. Nevertheless, it is felt that the data given are justified, in thebelief that the ideas of a geologist familiar with the region are better thanthose of a promoter.

The oldest beds of interest to oil men are those of the Cretaceous, whichare well developed in eastern Venezuela and about parts of Lake Maracaibo. Inboth cases, a hard massive limestone is overlain by a great thickness, most ofwhich is shale. In the west, in places this shale is more than 2000 ft. (610m.) thick, while in the east it may attain 3500 ft. (1067 m.). The limestoneand parts of the shale are oil producing. In the east, the Tertiary wherepresent is almost entirely covered by the Quarternary, but in the west it iswell developed.

In probable unconformity over the Cretaceous shales is found a series ofsandstones and shales, which may be called the lower coal series. It is welldeveloped southwest of the lake, where it is the oil container, and is probablythe lowest series exposed east of the lake.

Above this is the Pauji shale, which is probably the point of origin of allthe oil east of Lake Maracaibo and in the State of Falcon. It has a thicknessof about 3000 ft. (914 m.) in the Mene Grande region.

The upper coal series is developed as a great thickness of sands, shales, and clays, with some partly consolidated limestone. Its thickness may be asgreat as 10,000 ft. It is the oil container of the Falcon-El Mene region and aprobable location for oil in some of the area about the lake. It may or may notinclude the so-called Maracaibo series in which the oil is found at MeneGrande.

Over much of Venezuela, the Quarternary is present in unknown thickness, which probably is not great. It obscures oil structure in all cases andpresents the greatest hazard of oil exploration for the fields which probablyexist below.

AIME 068–74
Oil Possibilities in Brazil
Authors: Branner John C.
Published: June 2014

Five of the geologic horizons that yield oil in other parts of the world arerepresented in Brazil; namely, the Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian, Cretaceous, and Tertiary. Thus far, the first two have shown no evidences ofbeing oil bearing within Brazilian territory. Not enough exploring has beendone to permit trustworthy comparisons of the relative importance of thePermian, Cretaceous, and Tertiary as oil-bearing horizons in this country. Themost important, indeed almost the only, information available relates to thelocations of the areas and to the structural features of the several horizons.The theories regarding the physical conditions under which these rocks werelaid down, however, I regard of the utmost importance.

Permian

Rocks of Permian age cover an enormous area in Brazil, extending from RioGrande do Sul to Maranhao on the north, and to Matto Grosso on the west. ThesePermian rocks in many places are known to include oil-bearing shales and insome locations contain small veins of gilsonite. The geologic map of Brazilshows that the Permian area is widely distributed, but there is considerabledoubt about the origin of some of the rocks. Some of the lower Permian beds insouthern Brazil contain marine fossils, but in Minas no fossils have as yetbeen found in them, and in Bahia, at only one locality have a few Permianplants been found.

Indications of oil have been found in the states of Sao Paulo, Parana, andelsewhere farther south, but wells drilled in the Permian of Sao Paulo near theMorro do Bofete did not find oil. One well has been started, by the BrazilianGovernment, in the Permian of Parana near Marechal Mallet, close to latitude26? south, but thus far oil has not been found.

AIME 068–75