The Republican., 1900-08-23
SUBMARINE OIL WELLS.
dustry-New and Prolific Ocean
Resources.

DrllllnS wells IN the sea is the latest
| and most remarkable, as well as the.
| most picturesque, feature of the great
crude oil industry. This new and rad
| ical departure, most difficult and ex-
pensive undertaking, to say the least,
has been successfully carried out at
Summerland, Cal, the only place
where it has ever been attempted, and
there the precious brown fluid is now
pumped from beneath the Pacific
ocean at the rate of about 100 car
loads per month, from scores of holes,
while many more wells are being
| bored, says the ST, Louis Globe-Demo-
| crat.
The development of this remarkab BILE
| field was brought about by peculiar
circumstances, and commenced but
few years ago. when the oil industry
had begun to boom in the east. The
| first wells were drilled on the bluff.
where oil had been discovered. 20 years
| previously in sinking for water and
where there are still many good pro-
ducers. But Summerland was a beau
tiful place, a quiet little colony of spir-
itualists, and they opposed the advent
of greasy and unsightly derricks on
| the hills. Besides, it was observed that
wells were better the nearer they
were sunk to the ocean, and conse-
| quently the operators began to crowd
each other toward the water line.
Finally, S. W. Knapp, of Santa Bar
bara, conceived the plan of getting
| ahead of oil bic comna4;t ore ,,. l,,,;IJ
| ing wharf.-the structure along the
beach and drilling out where the Pa
citic's breakers roll. The expense was
heavy, but the well proved to be a
"gusher." Others followed Knapps
example, going farther and farther
out until to-day there are dozens of
wharves extending a thousand feet
| into the sea. connected by structures
running parallel with the beach. And
on these wharves. often so near each
other as to be almost crowded. are the
| derricks-large ones for drilling and
smaller ones for pumping-and al in
use.
Operations are greatly facilitated
| by the fact that the oil strata, of
| to 250 feet below the surface. Drilling
is carried on in practically the same
manner as on land, the only obstacle
| encountered. after the extensive pre-
| liminary work of building wharves
and getting machinery out upon
| them is done, being the water. Until
the hole is well begun that obstacle is
great, but it is overcome by means of
casing, and operations are carried on
readily in 20 feet. The cost of drilling
at the present time is about 81 per
| foot, though some is done as low as SIS
cents. When the shallowness is con-
| sidersd, it will be seen that on the
whole the total cost of these wells will
compare very favorably with those
| elsewhere and on land. But in the inn
probable event of a violent storm,
such as sometimes travels along the
| Atlantic coast, all traces of this novel
oil fieid-wharves, derricks and ma
chinery-would be swept away in
minute, and the loss would be enor-
nous.
AS to the extent and productive
ness of this strange ocean oil field, an
| idea may be CLEANED from the follow
| ing figures: There are nearly 300
wells. and the average output per day
| is said to be about 25 barrels, or total
| of 1900 barrels. The product is of
| high grade and sells for an average
| price of go cents a barrel, which
| means total of over $4,000 per day, or
| about $1S0.000 a month. Much of the
oil goes under long contracts to the
immense Oxnard beet sugar factory,
while thousands of barrels are
| shipped to San Francisco at short in
| tervals.
The cost of pumping a well is only
about 30 cents per day. To illustrate
how closely the derricks stand. it may
be stated that the Sea Cliff Oil COM
pany, producing 5000 barrels a month,
has wharf 500 feet long and 10 wells.
The Treadwell company has the long
est wharf, extending 1,200 feet from
the shore, with pumping well at the
extreme end and 1S others at inter
walls. And there are dozen other con-
| Germs with numerous wharves. Much
oil is necessarily wasted under the pc
culiar conditions which prevail. and
this, dripping upon the water, has the
effect of making considerable patch
of old ocean as calm and smooth as
land-locked bay, adding much to the
striking oddity of the scene. Often
when new wells are opened the gas
pressure is SO strong that streams of
oil squirt out upon the water until the
surface is black, in strange contrast
with the distant blue.
EXnreSSed His SXmnnthN.