West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1886-01-22
PETROLEUM WELLS.
The Selection aud First Tapping Of Prom
ising >uots.


ising Spots.
Prospectors in selecting a promising
spot to test new territory are often In.
huenccd by "belt theory. first adj
vanced 10y man named Angcll. I'm
general way his idea has been verified
by experience Itproceeded upon the
hypothesis that oil lies in belts or pools
having northeast and southwest
trend. sometimes called thu "forty-fivc
degree line. I'm districts known TO bc
oil-bearing the wells are frequently To-
Gated near the boundary OF the owners
property. The object is to drain as
much of his ncighbor's oil as possible.
Tor there are no partitions i'm the sub
terrancm chambers corresponding
To the lines OF surface ownership. The
drlllcr's sotto is first come. first
served hence there is ,Encralk
race TO see who shall first tap natures
till.
Whom the exact spot for the well has
been determined upon, w,ll-holc is
dug about fifteen feet i'm depth. and il
solid rock Is not reached, a wrought
iron pipe eight to twelve inches i'm
diameter is driven down To it, Above
this l. erected the derrick q pyramid
al structure OF heavy timbrrS. generally
Scvcnty-two feet i'm height At each
side Is located "a fifteen 90 twenty horse
power engine, which operates walk
mg-bvam To- which is attached "a heavy
cable and the drilling apparatus
This consist, of four p2rts The up
per one i- called the ",mkut-bar".
about eighteen feet in length. next
come the 'iars ., seven feet i'm length;
then the "au9ti-stcm' about thirty
feet long, of three and ol.c-Vuartcr inch
cold rolled steel; and finally, at the end
of this is n "bit' three feet i'm length.
Thus equipped, steam /. turned ON. and
the pOnderouS weight OF two thousand
TO three thousand pounds, alternately
raised and dropped, rs in u pile-drivcr,
drives the bit into the rock at the av-
cragc rate OF sixty TO one hundred feet
daily After drilling for some time the
tools are hoistcd and a fresh bit Is in
serted Meanwhile "saud pump" or
"bailcr' a cylindrical tube with valves
opening inward, is dropped down the
/ hole to remove dctrituS or water. A
easing is fitted snugly to the walls
of the well TO keep out the water; and
| when IT Is necessary 10 pump Che oil
the well Is tubed. The tube is about
two inches in diameter. around which
n rubber packer is inserted Just above
the oil and gas bearing rock This
cuts oil the escape OF the gas, forcing
II up through the tube, and causing the
well to How The bore of the well va
rics from eight TO six inches. and its
depth varies with the geological for
nation, averaging perhaps twelve hun
1rpI Ia liIfuiiga. Iva. 4 u
times reaching twenty-five hundred.
The cost of well naturally depends
upon lis location, depth and character
of rock. The owner generally erects
the derrick, engine and tank, al an
average expense OF fifteen hundred dol
lars, and then contracts with driller
to furnish the tools and sink a well.
This charge viii probably average sixty
cents per foot. 1t is perhaps safe to
say that wells in the larger fields aver
age in cost from twenty-five hundred
TO three thou and dollars
Torpedocs, which were first intro
duced about 1865, were received with
distrust, but are now i'm general use,
and have become q necessary part of
the equipment of well They are
cylindrical tubes. varying i'm size, but
generally eight inches i'm length and
four IN diameter, containing iluid nitro
glycerinc These torpcdoc- are care
fully lowered into the wells and cx-
plodcd by dropping "a twenty pound
cast-iron weight upon them from above.
The explosion skaters the walls. giving
n greater exposure of surface 10 draw
oil from, thus stimulating the wells and
increasing their production Though
this treatment hastcns the exhaustion
of well it is believed by many that
the amount of oil obtained exceeds
what otherwise would be procured At
first only five or six quarts Of nitro
glycerine were introduced, but now IL
Is no unusual thing TO employ one hun
drcd and twenty 20 two hundred quart,
o! glycerinc, equal 70 3.2IO to 5.iOD
pound. Of gmpOwdDr-O OCOrgc H. GiJ-
son. U1 Hprpcr's NuYosiHc