New-York tribune., 1901-08-04
OIL WELLS AND DRY HOLES
EFFECT OF THE ROTARY DRILL. ON THE
PROBABLE PRODUCTION.

beaumont. Tex. Aug. (speciaD.-Not until the
"'d'e legislature prohibits by law the of the
''iS drlh Tor the work of sinking oil wells will
.ne magnitude Of the oil deposits of Texas be made
known There be no doubt that many of the
so-called dry holes that have been found in the
nc" beaumont oil field would have been good pro-
uuclhg wells had system of drilling other
'''"h the rotary been used. To experienced oil op
orators from Pennsylvania the wonder is not that
u'E hoies have been found. but that oil has been
round In Texas at all As a matter of fact the
oeieorated Lucas well. Spindle Top Heights
near beaumont. which astOnished the world last
January by showing producing capacity entirely
unprecedented in the United States, discovered
oy accident. 1t is believed that had been for
this accident the oil bearing stratum would have
neen shut off by the rotary drill and the we'll
l'SeH drilled to greater depth and finally aban-
doned dry
n orlef description of the method by which oil
wells are drilled in Texas will enable the reader
10 understand the situation more clearly. The drill
ing outnt is known as the rotary. 1t originally
uesShed to bore artesian water wells in clay sand
VI o'her soft formations. The vital principle of the
rotary machine, affecting oil wells Is as follows
~ piece of iron pipe. technically called casing. is
Htteu at one end with a cutting edge or knife
cdiied the drill In Pennsylvania 1t would be called
d" earth auger rather than a drill. The cutting
hhile Is detachable 1t may be removed and sharp
eiieu as necessity requires piece of casing with
'his drill at one end is hoisted derrick and
eased down through a hole in the floor until the
cutting edge rests in the earth. Then a machine
caAeo the rotary grips the casing and causes 1t to
leNolVe- AS the casing turns IL sinks of its own
weight into the hole made by the drill The hole
Is usually two inches larger in diameter than the
casing This leaves empty space about an inch
wide around the casing
INTO the inside Of the casing is injected stream
OF water by steam pump working constantly at a
pressure OF l50 pounds to the square inch The top
oi the casing Is closed by cap which is fitted
with oallbearing swivel allow the casing to
turn. The purpose of this stream of water is 10
carry on the debris ground up by the drill and
also 10 keep the walls of the well from cavfng in
Under pressure from the pump of $50 pounds 10
the square inch, and the added pressure of its own
or the casing where the drill is at work
WHERE THE WATER CAN GO
There are Just two places where the water after
leaving the casing. may find outlet. One is the
empty space around the outside of the casing and
the other Is any porous rock sand that may be
found beneath the surface as the drill sinks into
the earth II is intended that the water shall
NIL the empty space around the casing and rise to
the surface bringing with it the sand. clay and
mud ground out by the drill. In order that this
part OF the work may he facilitated the water. as
it Is pumped into the casing. IS saturated with
mud. saturated solution Of mud and water
win cause fine grains Of q1icksand 10 come 10 the
surface. the sand will adhere to the mud
When the drin reaches depth of 500 or 800 feet
the water pressure At the bottom of the well is
very For the purpose of illustration let it
be estimated 500 pounds 10 the square inch. This