Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1901-01-18
TIE 1sxAs ALARNER.
Producers Should Hang on to Their Small
Wells.


Tie following letter was received by
the Oil City Derrick:
The sensation of the hour in oil cir
Giles Is the Guffey well near Beaumont,
Tex. which Is reported as doing 1,vvO
barrels per !lour Of 2S gravity oil. To
mcst of the men in the oil business to-
day, this wonderful well will have a
most discouragirg effect, and many op-
orators CT the small wells in Pennsyl-
vania and Chic may feel like sacrific-
ing their production at almost any
price, as many did when the Cherry
Grove field was developed. In the opin-
ion of the writer, This wonderful well
in Texas will, in the end, be a benefit to
the oil business generally. and if we
are to learn by Che history of the past.
it ought not TO lower the price of
Pennsylvania production below present
ruling ratea fer any length of time.
The first great benefit of this develop
mcnt to the oil business will be the
IutJ UtllbHSll dltl W Jilt IdllTOdu anu
steamboat corporations, who might ut
ihze oil as fuel, that oil exists in suffi-
cient abundance to guarantee its use as
fuel, and that it can compete with coal
at $1.OO to S1.25 per barrel Again, the
striking of this well at this time will
head off a great deal of useless drilling
i,, ln al fcpritnr,, 20 Ill
fields and the owners of the small
wells, by economical management, will
atill make money from their wells for
a long time, although very small.
Older operators will remember 40
years ago that ait Inneskillen, in Cana
da, a similar well was struck THAT
flowed from ten to twenty thousand
barrels per day for a time and with
cut being accompanied by any gas.
The oil flowed to the surface through
a holc drilled through the clay eight
inches in dfamcter. to the depth of so
fest Between this bed of clay and the
bed rock was a vein of gravel about
lNO lttI lIllNh w lllIu lOlIllGu u TGSGI-
weir for this accumulation of oil. and
when the auger (S-inch) used in boring
penetrated this gravel bed, the pres
sure Of the clay everything forced the
oil to the surface in a solid stream and
it spread out over the level surface un-
til it covered 10 or Is acres, just az the
Texas we'll is now doing. Great ex-
element was the result, but further
drilling or boring failed to produce any
more such wells. Deeper drilling de-
ve'Cped an oil field in the lower strata.
which is still being operated, but for
very small wells The Texas gushet
seems to be producing its wonderful
output aided by the same power, and
unless the deposit that furnishes the
reservoir shall cover very large ter
ritCry, it will force its way to the
surface, end from that time on viii
only produce limited wells. BY Deeper
drilling rich deposits may be found,
which is very likely. YET we sAcuid
take into consideration the fac. that
today we are not needing these new
fields end should mot become alarmed
at their phenomenal showing at the
start, for with a daily demand for over
100000 barrels, we must not fear
but what all the Pennsylvania oil
can be used for all time at a fair
price, and the producer of oil
from small wells. who keeps his head
level and attends to his little steppers.
will have bank credit when many of
the men who are after the larger wells
are broke. | hope before the week is
out to see the Texas wonder, but write
the above facts to encourage the many
small producers who have been strug.
CLING against big odds and who may
look upon the last development as
blow on the solar plexus of their busi-
ness. Hang on to your small wells and
run them as cheaDly as you can and
the Texas field will do you no harm
in the end.
Yours to the end,
r. EMRAF.
Eagle Rock, Jan. Is, 1901.