The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-03-10
REVIEW OF
SOUTHWEST
OIL FIELDS.
railroads Making ExpstIf nts With
Crude as Fuel For Locomotives
with suece8aA
BELMONT COUNTY'S AlE3E FIELD
Will Re a Scene OF AdlStty This
spring-Ewo Dollar otiS mong
the Probabilities


The experimental drill this.week has
,,Ired TO bring to light aAElhing espe-
r,allv new or important. tghe deplor-
able condition Of the road the south
west district has greatly Pearded new
york The cold snap, too has had its
oTect upon operating producing proper
ties and as a result production in some
localities has fallen of. N West Vir-'
rIDIa and southeastern Ohio large
S,orks Of territory are being leased.
and so soon as spring opens up and
The weather becomes settled and the
roads get into good condition. there viii
unauestlonably be the largest amount
Of experimental work started that has
ever been known since petroleum was
FIRST drilled for. The territory Is princi-
pully being leased up in the deep sand
and Berea grit regions and the higher
the market for crude goes the larger
will be the volume of work.
With hut few exceptions the wells
completed for the past seven days were
unimportanE and no change Of conse-
1uence Is shown in the field situation.
4 week or so ago It looked as II there
had at least been an outlet found to the
old Garner pool east of Proctor in Wet
eel, but the finding OF a full-hedged
duster since has put veto on further
operations on southwest line. From
the opening up OF the pool until the
present time the territory has proven
treacherous, and when good wells look
cd a. sure thing busters were almost
universally recorded.
The connecting link between the deep
sand territory In West Virginia and tho
developments IN Greene county, Penn
sylVania, so long hunted for. has not
yet been established, although a week
or so ago 1t was confidently thought
that the missing link had been found.
The owners Of large blocks Of territory
in the region have by no means given
up all hope OF making the practical
conform with theory and are going
ahead just as Of old. e!
The new discovery made in the
stringtown field, or rather to the west
Of StringtOwn, In the Big InJun forma-
ton, has led to considerable new work.
The well Is owned by Snyder & Com
pany, and is practically located In new
territory. It started on asS9ver three
hundred barrels q day, but has since
fallen of almost one-half from these
figures. From the way the situation IS
sized mp here, the chances for develop.
ing a good pool Of Big 1n1un oil look
very favorable. Snyder & Company
found in this well what the South Penn
oil Company have been alter for the
past fifteen months, and Tor which
they have spent considerable hard
cash.
Belmont's New Field.
Reports, from Belmont county, Ohio.
this week indicate that operators re-
gard the territory In and around the
gainesville development with favor, as
considerable new work has been start
ed since the last review Of this section
Of OIldom. 4l5i
The old Benwood development in
Monroe county, Ohio, is looking up a
little and the recent good wells found
there have caused some more new
work to start. The Fisher OIL Com
pany's one hundred barrel well com
pleted almost a week ago, In the Big
InjuD, is holding up well, ind is the
best or one Of the best producers in the.
pool.
Your representative had an interest,"
ing talk with two old time producers
who have just returned from tour OF
the California oil fields. 10 sum up
their conclusions they were not greatly
impressed with the satiuatlon. and came
back home without making investments
in any Of the developments they visit
ed. They said all the reports from Cali
Ifornla were highly colored and that the
big wells reported never, in fact, exist
ed. Hit
This week Wolf Summit contributed
its usual quota Of completed wells,
most of which were good producers. In
the north end Of the Plney Fork pool
In WetZel county. West Virginia, sew
eral good wells were found, ranging In.
production from twenty-five to seventy
barrels o day. So is the Big lnjun for
nation in Wetzel county in the vicinity
az SnIthfieId responsible for two or
three pool bumpers, much larger than
were looked for by their owners.
The Mt. Norris district. In Greene
county, as usual, furnished another
duster, which Is regarded quite import
ant. Il Is located on the Garrison farm
and owned by Gassard & Long, and
condemned considerable prospective
The south Penn OIL Company COM
pleted q fifty-barrel we'll this week IN
the northeast extension OF the Flat
Run development. but scored duster
In the Big Flint district where they
thought failure impossible.
No New Discoveries.
The week has gone by without any
new discoveries In either the eastern or
western fields. The same bullish as
pect also prevails in every other de-
partment OF the trade. and a more
buoyant or hopeful outlook for the fu-
ture was never presented. AS time
progresses the scarcity Of available
territory becomes more noted, and the
question Is asked on every hand, where
viii the next pool Of consequence be
found7 This week the writer made a
trip through the middle division, and
was surprised at the low average pro-
ductlon Of the new wells being COM
plsied and the little good territory yet
to drill. Were It not for the gas en-
Eine many producers In old territory
would be unable to operate their wells
at profit and as II Is, they are not get
ting rich in a hurry.
In the middle field the experimental
dflll II quite active and wherever there