The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1901-04-09
THE TEXAS OIL FIELDS
SYNOPSIS OF A LECTURE BY Or. w.
8, PHILLIPS.
Very Wide Ares.--Much Of II Too
Heavy for Refining.

Austin; Texas, April S,-Thc following Is
a synopsis Of an address delivered by Or.
w. b. Philips Of the university on The sub.
ject Of "rcxas Petroleum" before the reg
ular monthly meeting OF the Texas Acad.
envy OF Science, April o.
The production OF petroleum In Texas In.
creased from 1850 barrels in 1896 10 near.
~ million barrels in 1900. and the com
ing In OF the new oil from the beaumont
district will largely augment this for the
present year Up to the first OF this year
practically all of the oil has come from
the crctaceous area In the vicinity OF Cor
sicana, Navarro county, as the Nacog!
doches beld In the marine cocenc did not
produce any oil to speak OF after the end
of March 1900. The Duln- wells, near
san Antonio. BeXar county, also In the
crctaceous. produced some high grade luhr-
eating oil, hut the output is limited oil Is
known to exist In the carbonifcrous and the
subcarboniferous formations, but has not
yet been produced in commercial quaint
ties The formations lying above the car.
honlferous must be regarded as the most
promising sources Of oil IN this State. The
cretaceous, which occupies u very large
area In Texas, probably In excess Of 100
Uuu square miles, Is known to bc oll.bedrlug
on considerable scale at Corsicana and 1t
is likely that further investigations viii
result In the discovery OF other oil sands
within It's boundaries. Already there Is
announced the discovery of oil In the Gre
taccous west of the l'ccos river in the
vicinity OF Fort Stockton, SO far as pres
ent evidence goes, the errtaceou> oils con.
taiu more Illuminating oil than the urnIutt
from fomna lions living above tnc r,,,taceo,tS
s.,,,,., -, a. ,..t,.,,.. IN -, -
I'm VI '''V '''' eVu'"'" SUI
hcient Illuminating oils TO render their
refining prontablc.
The formation known as the marine
eocvne occupies "A belt OF country lying
and comprises probably as much as 1uuuO
square miles. Tue urst operations were
Ing back 20 1851. \ thWencn pipc line
was lald from OF Spring TO Il point hcGr
the town OF NacogdochcS, distance OF
about fourteen miles, ana Oh was regularly
ducnes held also extends toward the east
aud oil mas been found In the town OF
san Augustine, san Augustine county, as
sociated with artesian water at a depth
OF lilo feet In all tnls large area OF 5000
squaI, miles the only Important operations
nay, been IN Naeogdocees county and OF
as is known az present tnr Nacogdocnrs
oil differs from the Corsicnnu oil IN being
ltSS adapted 10 rfUulnE purposes. III mas
an asphaltum base and IL more suited for
lubricating and incl purposes than Tor
the extraction Of Illuminating oils.
East and southeast OF this field is the
formation known as the coast neoceuc,
or tnc coastal plain. IL occupies mat
portion OF. the state which borders On the
Gull Of Mexico aud is in the shape OF 4
enormous crescent II varies in width
from sixty 10 100 miles anu probably com
began IN this ncld some years ago
"a "a
hardly he said to have reached the com
merclal stage. The now famous beau
mont bcld Is In me coastal plain ana IT
Is 20 this formation that most of the
public attention Is now directed, This
region is almost as hat as a floor with
small elevations here and there. Linz
county, at Diamonds Mound, and has been
used In the production of lime for local
purposes. rms area can be worked Tor nee
The opening Of the great Lucas well near
beaumont, Jefferson county, January 10
ana me coming IN OF SeiGr4i lArgs ThTns
weeks has drawn attention To this held
and many rigs are now up ana on the
way. one great advantage WHEN the Beau
mont held mas is in Its proximity TO tide
water.
In speaking of the value Of tnc Beau
mont OIL ana feneraiiy as 10 me Pfobhbie
Phillips said that Judging FROM present
evidence Il would not be refined. but would
be used Tor lu@i. iNTHHps lufft are no
more difficulties ia the way of refining
Ii than maintain In the Linn Held, ohio,
but the oil was better adapted for use
as fuel than for distillaiion, with recovery
Of such products as could be placed on
The market The Importance OF an ubund-
ami supply OF cheap fuel could not be
II was the one thing lack
ing for the development Of all manner II
Industries IN the State and In tho South.
west generally.
AS 10 It's comparative value as fuol
he was disposed 10 consider q ton Of coal,
such as Is ordinarily used In the State,
enuivaicnf 10 four barrels Of oil Expert
mcnts conducted on a large scale In Cali
fornia with an oil not radically different
showed that one ton Of Nanalmo cOnl from
british Columbia was equivalent to mum
her Of harrcl. ~ oil varying from 3. 80 to
a 81 and he was inclined % take the
fuci value Of this kind Of coal as about
the average Of the coal used In Texas
With this as a basis the value Of the oil
nj amy point IN the State, IN comparison
with coal could be easily calculated. The
COST Of the installation for using oil, based
on "a coal coueumptinn Of 100 tons day
should not exceed $1,000
Apaiyscs Of th. different oils were given
In sunnort Of the opinion that the Cor !
sicsna oil, outside Of the heavy oil belt, |
could he consiqtrcH IInm W - tuinup"llnht
being used as fuel While l yae NseoYioT mes
aiIg tn ,n @naiysis Of the trans Pecos eli
showed ii ia he nearer the Beaumont type |
than the Cofsicana. M M prns ot t nt sni.
linur ~ ~. ,erinms drawback TO lis value |
! '"el 81 aitha,tgh 81 course II wonid lie |
=, :. -, ~ n some Of the California |