Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1899-01-18
OIL PRODUCTION.
The Centre is Slowly Moving to the
Southwest,
AS THE REGISTER PREDICTED
SEVERAL YEARS AGO-THE RE-
CENT OBSERVATIONS OF f. w.
MINSHALL, OF MARIETTA, o.

MINSHALL, OF MARIETTA, o.
Ellensboro, w. Va. January IT,
For several months, F. w. Minshall, of
Marietta, Ohio, the we'll known civil
engineer and expert geologist, has been
employed by one of the great operating
oil firms making surveys, observations
n gathering data, in order to have
an authentic record of the different for
nations in the oil producing belt. Mr..
Minshall says the productive center of
petroleum production is slowly but
surely moving to the southwest along
the central axis of the Allegheny coal
basin. The extreme width of the pro-
ductiye belt is now about seventy-five
miles. A line drawn from the newly
opened field at Scio, Harrison county,
to Corning, Perry county, Ohio, would
mark the northwestern limit. A paral-
lei line from Mount Morris in Greene
county, Pennsylvania, through Jarvis
vile, Harrison county, West Virginia,
to the Sand Fork of Fink's Creek, in
Lewis county, would mark the south
western limit of production, Scio being
northwest from Jarvisville seventy
five miles, as measured by the maps.
A notable feature to those interested
in the geology of the subject, in this
change of the entire of production, is
an almost entire change in geologic age
of the rocks from which the oil is OBJ
tanned: in other words the vertical sec
ton of productive oil sands in Pennsyl-
vania begins below the Berea sandstone
while the section of southwestern Ohio
and that section of West Virginia lying
south of Doddridge county, ends with
the Berea formation no productive
sands having as yet been found below
it.
BY reference to Professor Carlls
Pennsylvania report published in 1890,
this fact is shown clearly. The follow
ing is an extract from this report:
The vertical section from the Upper
Barren Coal Measure rocks of Greene
county, to the coniferous limestone,
is divided into groups and numbers as
follows: The vertical range of No. IA,
called the Pittsburg Series, extends
from the base of the Pittsburg coal to
the base of the Mahoning sandstone.
This is an unimportant group, so far
as oil is concerned. Group No. Is,
called the Allegheny Series, extending
from the base of the Mahoning sand
stone to the top of No. II (Ohio salt
sand), has up to the present time
yielded no oil or gas Of commercial
value. Groups Nos. II and II, extend
ing from the top of our so-called salt
sand, to the top of the Big Injun for
nation, are non-productive in Pennsyl-
vania. Group No. 10, extending from
top of Big Injun (Pocons), to top
of VenangO LIST sand produces from
the Big Injun, Greene county, and
to a small extent from the Berea, in
Beaver county, Pennsylvania. The
entire production of tho keystone
State, northwest of the Beaver and
Greene counties, comes from sand
stone lying below group No. /.
In Southeastern Ohio and West Vir-
ginia, Group No. IA contains the first
Cow u sand and Mahoning sand
stone; the former has been yielding oil
continuously in the vicinity of Mari
eta since 1861, a fact which seems to
have escaped the notice of P~ennsylva-
MIA biologists. Recent measurements
seem to prove hat the Mahoning is
productive in some of the shallow
pools. These two sands are easily
identified by measurements from No.
Is coal. and also by the fact that the
1dAhhA AAEG tAAf anu mint ItNE htkOM ANR
first Cow run and above the Mahoning.
Group No. Is contains the second Cow
run sand and the Mendenshall sand Of
Eight Mile run. Group No. II contains
the salt sand of White Oak. Burning
Springs, Cairo and CORVALLIS, West
Virginia. Group No. 1 contains the
Keener, lnjun and Squaw sections of
the Big lnjun sand in West Virginia
and Monroe county, Ohio, also some
Berea. The two sections lay along the
border counties, one of the Venango
sands (Gordon) extending through
Wetzel, Tyler and Doddridge counties
in West Virginia, while the Big Injun
and Berea sands lap over into Beaver
and Greene counties in Pennsylvania.
Assuming that in southeastern Ohio
and West Virginia, south of Doddridge
county, all the Pennsylvania produc-
tive oil sands are wanting we still
have:
list Cow Run Sand.
2-Mahoning Sand.
3-2d Cow Run Sand.
4-Mendenhall Sand.
Salt Sand.
Big Injun Sand.
7-Berea Sand.
These SANDS all lie under cover along
the central axis of the Allegheny basin
from Greene county, Pennsylvania, TO
Mason county, West Virginia, except at
a few points where they have been lift
ed out by anticlinal folds. They are
nearly all of them persistent beds OF
considerable thickness, and are all lex
cept Nos. 4 and y, coarse grained with
bands of pebble.
Mr.. Minshall thinks II would puzzle
the most acute geologist to explain why
or how these different accumulations
came to be where they are. in anything
like a satisfactory manner. The fact,
however, that the accumulation is
found in these coal measure sandstones
at what Is practically the lowest point
in the coal basin, may be used as the
basis of a reasonable expectation that
like accumulations may be found in the
same sands at many other points. For
a long time the southwest has been sup
posed ~valueless on account Of the abb
sence of the Pennsylvania formations.
but it has a value of its own.
Special 10 the Register.
S~teubenville, o., January 1.-THE
Scio oil field is being defined. as the
Amos well, three miles north, came