The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1908-08-07
KEROSENE WELLS
in NORTH DAKOTA

l. Il f.
Eyes / think there is oil or gas and
possibly both In some sections Of
North Dakota" said Geo. ". Cava-
naugh. prominent oil and gas expert
4 from the fields OF the southwest, who
stopped in Fargo for few moments
this morning en- route east from the
northwestern part Of the state.
Mr. Cavanaugh is an old-tifner in
the oil and gas business, having been
one OF the pioneers III the Beaumont,
Tex, fields. He later went TO Kansas,
when those fields commenced to be OF
prorninence and then did considerable
prospecting and. drilling In the okla
homa fields. He was inspecting the
Canadian fields when he heard Of
small finds I'm this state and went
to Minot and investigated the propo-
sition when a gas fiow was struck at
Westhope.
i II said,p continued Mr.. Cavanaugh,
"tfat / thought there was oil or gas
in some sections OF this state, but /
believe that either or both OF these
products underlies nearly the entire
| territory comprising the Mississippi
valley and can be struck at some
depth. Some of these deposits ! be-
lieve lie too, deep to be OF practical
value That is why say that there u
oil and gas In some sections of North
Dakota. gSgsF
Il was looking over the. Canadian
fields when heard through the papers
of the strike near. Minot and after
completing my work in Canada, made
an extended visit through Ward coun-
ty, looking into the matter. / did not
let anyone know who I was or what
my business was. because find 1t
practicable to keep those matters quiet
and avoid much trouble from people
wishing to start stock companies. Now
that am leaving the state. do not
care IL my identity is made known, al
though / expect to return and inves-
tigate the matter more fully,
"As / said. went over the Ward
county territory thoroughly and ine
vestigated.- the most likely spots. I
found several oil seeps. which, when
tested, showed q very good quality OF
crude oil.5 which, refined would yield q
fair quality of illuminating oil. The
next thing to find out Is whether this
oil is in paying quantities. This can
positively be learned only by actual
drilling, but judging from the topo-
graphy of the land and Its geological.
formation, think that either oil or
gas can be struck near Minot, In a
paying quantity. ~ ,s
1T is generally known that both oil
and gas are found in connection---that
is, where there is gas there is usually
oil at greater depth. inspected
the flow of gas that was found near
Minot, and discovered remarkable
flow for the depth OF the well and
would wager good deal that should
wells be sunk from 500 to 1000 feet,
a flow would be struck that would
supply fasel and. light to the town of
Minot and maybe several other towns.
When asked what he thought of
Fargo being able to secure natural gas,
Mr.. Cavanaugn said, "Well ell I know
of the lay OF the land Is what have
seen from the car windows az pull
ed into the city, and can hardly answer
the question without having some data
on, which to base guess. Both gas
and oil~aTe struck in river valleys, us
uaIly some distance from the stream,
although there are cases in the south
western fields where wells have been.
sunk IN the river beds. As I before
remarked, believe the products un-
derlie all this country and 1T Is Just
matter OF whether they are near
enough to the surface to be OF value.
Drilling is limited In depth which Is
the only limitation in the business. OH
and gas are produced from decayed
animal and vegetable matter and the
Ignite beds of this state give evidence
that both fora and fauna were flour
ishing in this land at some time in
the past ages and that their remains
in the form of oil and gas can still
be struck In large quantities.
"The Ignite beds lead me to be-
lieve that the products may be struck
at a less depth than in the southwest
ern fields. Lagnite is the remains OF
q large forests which covered this en-
tire country from away north into
Canada to the Gulf of Mexico In past
fages. The Ignite is the same deposits
that is found in the bituminous coal
south of here, the only difference is
that is was not subjected to as great
a pressure during formation as was
given 1t furthers south That as. the
earth deposits over 1t were not SO
thick. OIL and gas are found below the
coal deposits and as the lignit ID stiIl
near tho surface. I am lead 10 con-
Glide that they may be struck al a
lesser depth than in the southwestern
fields"
MT. Cavanaugh will return to the
fields of the southwest. but said that
he intended to viSis this country s.ra Ii,
| and make a. more thorough ana more
extensive investigation and he may
visit Fargo. s