The White Pine news. [volume] (Ely, Nev.) 1906-1910, 1908-01-21
How TO PROSPECT
FOR OIL and GAS
Opinions Of An Expert With Regard to
Matter Which Has Lately Become Of
Much Local Importance.

stones will be passed, each one of
which is filled with water that must
be cased of in drilling, and lower
sandstone found SO full of oil that
more than 1000 barrels per day may
be obtained from one we'll
Some of the sandstones arc filled
with gas instead of OIL Here ga
bearing sandstone overlies the oil !.
and there it underlies it. The shale
reds between may be thick or thin,
I10 or 20 or 80 feet, or 100 feet or
more. 1t is not proper to say that the
gas is shallower than the oil or that
the oil is shallower than the gas.
Often We have strong flows of gas
above oil bearing stones, but quite as
frequently the gas lies below the oil.
In one very important respect the
MIDI Continental field differs strongly
from anw and all oil fields farther
east Here there seems to be almost
a total lack of important structural
relations. In the Appalachian region.
we have great broad anticlinal ridges
aud synclinal troughs which, in
measure, control the location of oil
and gas. An anticlinal ridge is SIM
lily fold where nature has bent the
rock strata upwards. 1t seems that
when gas body exists underground,
the gas is trying TO escape upwards
and may be caught in this arch, or
roof, provided our familiar fine grain
ed shale bed constitutes the roof. As
gas is lighter than OIL it will lie on
top of the oil should the two exist in
the same sandstone, and as oil is
I i.rh fnr ho 1an ri will 10 on,
top of the water, should they exist
in the same sandstone. In regions
where anti-clinal ridges exist, there
fore, one should follow them in
search for gas, and after the gas has
escaped, oil may be obtained from the
same wells, which, in turn, may be
followed by water after the oil is ex
hausted. One eloquent writer, in de-
|scribing the Appalachian region, said
that the anticlinal ridges might be
traced by the torchlights of the gas
wells and the synclinal troughs ly-
ing between were accurately outlined
by the dark valleys where no gas light
could be found.
Many have searched in vain for
we'll defined anticlinal ridges, and
synclinal troughs in the MidConti-
mental area. Here and there, locally,
small and lily defined anticlines have
teen discovered. Usually they are
productive of gas, but occasionally
they overlie mud banks along the
beaches of the ancient seas and,
therefore, the necessary porous sand
stone does not exist The absence of
| this important structural relation,
which may be determined by surface
loonditions, makes prospecting in the
MIDI Continental field CORRESPONDENCE
r,ore hazardous. An extended study
lof the records of hundreds of deep
wells reveals another important great
general fact The individual sand
stone beds in the Mid-Continental
field have a lesser horizontal extern
sion than those of a number of other
places. This is the immediate reason
fer the existence of so many pools.
A careful study of the geology of
this region shows that the trend of
the old beach lies in general way
NEARLY north and south. This Is GER
tainly the explanation for the long
drawn out, shoestring like shape of
the Mid-COntinental productive field.
Examine a map of Kansas and Okla
homa on which is marked the pro-
iuctive area and it will be found to
consist of long, narrow strip reach
ling from near Kansas City, a little
west of south by way of lola, Inde-'
perdence, Bartlesville and Tulsa, on
southwark to beyond the Glenn pool,
la distance of nearly 900 miles. In
transverse direction, it is seldom to
find an extent of more than 10 per
cent of this measurement, although
here and there it may be considerably
increased.
Prospecting for oil and gas in the
Midi Continental field. therefore, is ex-
|ceedingly uncertain in detail but COM
Iaratively certain and sure in a broad
general way.
This brings me to most important
laint: What is the origin of oil and
gas? I believe that if we knew the
|origin of oil and gas we would know
letter where to prospect for it.