The San Francisco call., 1903-01-10
EXPLOITING INTER-.

While the topic Of California's mineral
oil production is under consideration il
viii occur TO those who fntelligentIy watch
the course Of events that another large
prospect Of mineral wealth in a field
hitherto overlooked or neglected is about
to get attention. This refers to the niter
deposits of the Mojave desert in Cali
fornia. As was reported in The Call the
American Niter Company has sent an eX-
pedition OF some size to attack the desert
in six different places for the purpose Of
prospecting and developing the ascer-
tained inter deposits, which, collectively
are supposed TO rival the vast deposits
which have given wealth to Chile One
hundred men are at work in the desert
under the direction of Professor Gilbert
r. Bailey. equipped with the necessary
paraphernalia to enable them to exploit
the inter deposits satisfactorily. Maps
will be made by competent persons
Laboratory appliances will be taken into
the desert, which will result in determin-
ing the commercial values of the inter.
Ultimately works for handling the inter
may be constructed. The commercial side
Of this exploitation will not be lost sight
Of by observers of the progress of this
State along new lines.
In making up the showing for the petro-
leum miners Of California for the year
1902 the Pacific Oil Reporter supplies sta
tistIcs concerning the production of the
various fields in the State The total
number of wells that were pumping dur
ing the year were 2152, distributed as fol-
lows:
CoaIinga, 10 wells. 5O4, 545 barrels; Santa
Maria. wells, 100 G36 barrels; Midway. !.
barrels: McKittrick 81 Wells 5s7. $50 barrels:
Kern River, 322 wells, s,646 100 barrels; sum
merland, DDS wells, "a 800 barrels; Newhall,
Ventura and Santa Paula. $40 wells. COS. 600
barrels; Los Angeles 926 wells. 1,074 655 bar
reIs; whittier. 76 wells. 543 45o barrels: Fuller
ton and Brea Canyon. 9s wells, ,2O1 300 bar
rels; Puente - wells 126,900 barrels. The
wells mentioned are only those that are pro
ducing The daily average Of petroleum pro-
duction for the State, figured out by the
authority quoted, 37.513 barrels.
Owing to lack of market and transport
alton facilities, so says the Reporter
there are now shut in and not pumping
the following wells in the districts named:
Santa Paula, 13; Coalinga, So; Kern Riv-
er, 245: McKittrick. 40; Sunset, s.: Mid
way. 16. Wells now drilling in producing
fields amount to 13s, Of which 2S are cred
tied to the Kern River district, to Nc
Kittrick 10 to Sunset, II to Midway, to
Santa Maria, % to Newhall, Santa Paula
and Ventura, IL to Los Angeles, % to
Fullerton and Brea Canyon The follow
ing general statements are Of interest
concerning the present possibilities from
the deposits of mineral oil in California
LARGE POSSIBILITIES.
Last year there in the different oil dis
tricts Of California 2152 wells, which produced
l3, 692, 5l4 barrels OF crude petroleum. The
year before the 2O40 producing wells in Cali
fornia produced s742 500 barrels. The increase
in the number OF producing wells Of 1902 over
1901 IS ll2. while the increase IN the amount
Of production is 4.95O.O14 barrels. This in
crease Of production is more than the entire
State of California produced in 1900. In that
year the total output OF the State was only
4.329, $50 barrels. OF the different districts It
viii be seen that the Kern River was the
largest producer. nearly 9,O0O,O 600 barrels COM
ing from that district alone. To be more ex-
act, the Kern River district In 1902 produced
within 600 barrels of the entire production
Of the State in 1901.
The product OF the Kern River field was
obtained from 300 wells In this same field
however. 245 wells CAPABLE Of producing We're
not in use on account Of lack Of market and
transportation facilities. 1t is right to sup
pose that the average production of these
unused wells was equal 10 the average pro-
duction OF those in use. Estimating the aver
age production Of the wells in to be 20 s51