Sharp County record., 1885-08-20

ducing Is, 900 pools of oil an hour, or
more than 10000 barrels per day A
dsv or two later saw a stream OF oil
twentv-two inches wide and three
inches deep. 1t came from the Nobel
No, Is. which was flowing out crude at
the rate of q, 900 barrels per day. Dur
inc 1884 this same well threw out TO-
OO0 900 pools of oil, an average OF
3. POO barrels a day, Mr.. Nobel tells
me that his No. 9 produced during It's
first twentv-four hours 100000 pools,
or nearly 10000 barrels of oil. Its pro-
duction during thirty-two days was
$500, 600 poodS, or an average OF 2S'-
600 barrels per day. So terce was
the flow that sand was piled up thirty
feet around the derrick. After thirty
two davs they were enabled to shut 1t
in: but even then it flowed around the
pipes. One day in May last one OF the
Nobel wells poured out l4,4OO barrels
in eight hours.
"The Nobels own forty-twO of Baku's
biggest wells, On May their produc-
ton from nine wells was l57, 26O pools
or 1S.SOO barrels. The other wells
were either shut in or not producing
One of the most wonderful wells in TINS
field is their No. %, which is seldom
fully opened. Oil is thrown several
hundred feet above the derrick, and SO
much is lost that it is difficult to eSti-
mate its production. 1t is without
doubt the largest well in the field.
From 1879 to the opening of the present
wear the Nobel wells produced 10000
600 poods, or 1900, 600 barrels.
"When | left the Bacu field, in May,
about fifty wells were drilling. 1t takes
about six months to drill a well, and
the cost is between $4,000 and Sl2,-
O0O With the present system OF under
roaming. only recently introduced,
wells in the future will not costso much
money. Practically speaking, the Rus
sian oil field is barren of oil rock. The
formations, which lay at an angie OF
about thirty degrees, and are very r.
regular. are three quarters sand, the
remaining quarter being composed OF
blue clay, qnicksand, asphalt, rocks etc
The hvdraulc system of drilling has
been introduced with considerable sue
cess and is fast superseding the other
system. Generally wells are commenced
with eighteen-inch riveted pipe, and
enough put in to shut off surface water
and ouicksand. After that as much
sixteen-inch riyeted pipe is used as is
possible to oct in by drilling, under
roaming, Jacks, etc. This is followed
by graduated courses of pipe, until the
bottom is reached. Eight-inch screw
pipe is as small as it is desirable to use
on account of the large quantity OF sand
that is thrown out. When siX-lnch pipe
has been used the wells have been
choked up by the sand
at has been demonstrated that deep
er drilling will restore the production
of fading wells The deeper you drill the
better the quality of the oil Formerly
wells were only sunk to the depth OF 45O
feet Now the average depth is 600
feet. 1t is probable that when wells
are drilled from 900 to 1000 feet a light
er and better quality of oil will be OBJ
tanned. Wells are pumped with large,
long sand pump, and not with tubing,
sucker rods and working barrels, as IN
America. The sand, which continually
runs into the wells, prevents any other
method.
The Russian field is now, and will
be for some time to come, held back
through want of refining and transpor-
tation facilities, and especially the lat
ter. Only ninety-five Of the two hun
dred refneries at Black Town, Baku
refining center, are in operation, These
have capacity of $4,000 barrels day.
There are ten small pipe lines, which
carry the oil from the field to the re-
fneries. Many of the relinerles are
owned by Persians and Tartars, and
are as crude as the oil they use. At
the best establishments from five to
six per cent. of benzine is taken OIL,
thirty per cent is refined oil or kero'
sene, twentv-four or twenty-SiX per cent
is lubricating oil, while the balance IS
refuse oil or list. The last-named OIL
is altogether used as a fuel, and, as II
is only p cents a barrel, is used IN a
wasteful manner. No other fuel is
known. Near the wells crude is burned
and at other places refuse oil. People
who live near by the wells can have all
the oil they can take away for nothing.
Oil is used as a fuel on railroads.
steamers, in factories of every descrIp,,
ton, and in houses for heating and
cooking On May crude was worth
1S cents barrel at the wells Best
brands of refined sold at Baku at )
cents per gallon, while the best brands
of lubricating brought 16 cents. At
Moscow and st. Petersburg refined Oil
at the same date was worth 8 cents per
calon. and at Batoum, the shipping
port for Europe on the Black Sea, 30
10 cents per gallon in cases, and S(@9
cents per gallon in barrels The freight
on a barrel of oil from Baku to Batoum,
562 miles, is 92! cents.