The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-04-22
THE COFFEYvILLE FIELD.
Standard Company Is Taking All the
Oil Daily.


Coffeyville, Kan, April 22-Unlike
her sister cities of the Kansas oil belt,
Coffeyville, the youngest district in the
field, in disposing of her oil every day.
with no refusal on the part of the
Standard Oil company to accept it ut
the Neodesha refinery. There is no
plant in Coffeyville of congestion, in
sufficient tankage, etc. The whole Sc
cret is in the fact that Coffeyville has
not yet been made a pipe line station.
Consequently, she is compelled to ship
her production of about $500 barrels d
day, in tank cars, over the railroads.
But, instead of the oil going to the
tanks, as it does from the pipeline
stations, it is taken by the railroads
directly to the refinery and used at
once. The oil from Peru, Independence
and other points on the pipeline is
pumped to the tanks on the Standards
farm, north of Neodesha, and when
they are full, reception Of oil ceases.
Coffeyville is the infant district of
the state, in point of age, but she is
fast outgrOWing her SWaddling clothes.
Six months ago the number of produC-
ing oil wells in what is geographically
considered the Coneyville field could he
counted on ones fingers. Today, there
are not fewer than 100 producing wells
in the field, yielding all the way from
five barrels to 500 each. The developers
of the district have been sigularly for
tunate in connecting up with the pay
streaks, there being only about five
,
hole to 20 producers. OF course, out
side of the proven and bounded dis
trict, several wiIdcatters have failed 10
wet their drills, but these have also
been few and far between.
Coffeyvilles proven trend is from a
point seven miles northwest of the city
to a mile southwest OF the city. This
trend is about half mile wide. Gradu-
ally the belt is extending and lengthen-
ing.
Coffeyville gets the shallowest wells
in the state. A splendid pay sand is
found at depths varying from $50 to
thirty barrels of oil daily. A large
number of the wells in the district are
shallow wells. but the deeper wells
are fast becoming the majority.
The best pay sand is struck at a
uniform depth of from SIS to $40
feet. This is an extremely productive
sand and it is from this stratum that
the big producers are fed. 1t costs
less to drill a we'll in the CoffeyvilIe
field than it does anywhere else, be-
cause the wells are shallower and the
other conditions are more favorable.
Wells are put down in the COffeYVille
field at a cost of from $500 to $1,000
a well. well can be brought in in
the Coffeyville field in a weeks time
or less. One well was drilled in and
shot in the incredible short space of
fifty-four hours.
The Coffeyville district is not on
boom. The boom generally follows
the pipeline, which Coffeyville has not
got. Before the pipeline gets in, the
developers who come into the field
are men who have the means to drill
wells and ship their product to the re-
finery without depending on a pipe
line, save the short one from their
wells to the railroad station. It takes
money to build these short private
pipe lines. It costs $500 a mile Con-
'sequently, the small fry don't do it.
But when the Standards pipeline
comes in. the boom sets in and there
is an influx of operators. These men
do not have to go to such a great ex-
pense. They drill their wells, a pump
ing concern puts the product into the
pipeline for so much month and the
operators troubles are over.