Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1900-11-27
UII Items,

NEW COPDEY WELL A DUSTER.
The South Penn Oil Co. has drilled
it's test we'll, on the John Copley farm,
on Sand Fork, Lewis county, into the
Gordon sand and found that formation
hard and dry. The we'll will be drill
ed into the fifth sand. In the sand
above the Gordon enough oil was
found to prvent the we'll from being
total failure-perhaps al 20 barrel
pumper. The we'll is located 1400
feet from the original Copley gusher,
which is stlll making so barrels an
hour, from the Gordon sand. The de
velopments at the second well indicate
that the rich producing Gordon sand
runs in narrow streak in this pool as
it generally does in others.
The tendency of the big Gordon sand
wells to exhaust the oil of the pool in
which they are drilled was held up as
a suspicion against the Copley well on
Sand Fork when it was drilled in, but
the Turner we'll rather encouraged
those who looked for something better
than a solitary good well. The fur
ther search of the drill is not reassur-
ing. Within a fourth of a mile north
unproductive sand is found, while to
the northeast the gas pressure shows
the margin of the pool. Shrewd OBJ
servers have insisted that the Copley
pool would be found to have SHARPLY
defined limits, the broken geology of
the vicinity showing sudden uplifting
of the rock, making "a circumscrfbed
basin of which the Copley farm was
supposed to be about the center. If
that be the case, the failure of the last
two wells is accounted for in a meas
ure. Still the pool is by no means de-
ward or to the west, as there is con-
siderable territory intervening be-
tween any development in those direc-
Itions. The continued large yield and
the ready response of the wells to a
little agitation of the holes show that
there is still good reservoir of fluid,
and good pressure of gas behind it.
At the same time the producer in
other fields will feel easier, for the in
diclations are THAT the Cooley pool is
merely an exceptionally big proiecer
among the multitude of small pools
that exist all over the western coun-
ties of West Virginia, and that Lewis
county will not become another Brad
ford or Mcdonald, but the home of lit
tie developments that will afford sufic-
lent oil without demoralizing the bus
mess. 1t is not profitable to consumers
or anyone else for the market to go to
pieces on a big strike. 1t breaks up
the facilities of the smaller producer
interrupts the larger ones and leaves
the trade in such shape that when a
restored price makes a requisition for
OIL men hesitate to invest their mon
ey, and the price Is unduly high in
proportion as it goes unduly low
There are II wells drilling in the
Sand Fork development. The South
Penn Co. will make thorough tes
and complete the wells now drilling
in the vicinity of the John Copley
During the present week ]. M. Guffey
& Co. will drill we'll on the McCrea
lot, located only 900 feet from the Cop.
lley gusher. This should be a good pro.
ducer. For the next two or three
weeks there will be no abatement ir
the interest centered in Sand Fork de-
velopments, and there may be othel
surprises. Producers and operators
in all parts of the country have beer
watching this newly discovered terri
tory with no little apprehension, ant
the possibility of it's creating an alIdi
tional depression has been fully under
stood.