Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1909-11-08
NEWS OF THE MINES
O'DONELL DISCUSSES BEARING
OF MARIAN WELL ON WEST SIDE
OF SECTION SIX IN COALlNGA
Expe Judge of Oil Formations Makes Comprehensive Statement
of Causes Which Led to Failure of Past Efforts in That
LOcaIity-BeieveS Trouble Was Due to Me-
Chanica Efforts Alone.

Tho bringing in of the Marian well In
section of the COalinga field six days ago
has been the cause of much comment
among oil men, and II has been freely pre-
dIcted that the Marian Will be followed by
other producers In that locality, which has
been unsuccessfully drilled and has been
considered rs next 10 worthless territory.
Skrho Marian Il on the west side of section
six, and a close nelghbOr to such famous
producers of recent date as the Lucille and
Silver Zip, which are on the east side.
Realizing the important bearing of the
Marian on that part of the field, The Her
aid has Investigated the probable cause Of
the failure OF the wells which had been
drilled In that locality, and is able to give
Its readers an interview on the subject with
Thomas A. oDonneIl,
Mr.. O'Donnei Is perhaps the best known
OF all the men who have made fortunes
from the development of the valuable oil
deposits of the California field. He was
early In the game, and has staid in through
thick and thin, facing and overcoming every
obstacle to success. He Is the general man
ager of the development work OF the Am
erican Petroleum company and is heavily
interested In the Nevada Petroleum com
pany, which undertook extensive develop
ment work well In advance Of the field on
his recommendation. The Nevada Petro-
Ieum has recently brought in good well
and has tive more which Will be producers
within thirty days, according to good auth
GRITTY.
MIR. ODonnelI is a hard man to get an
interview from-he seldom IL ever talks for
publication, and for that reason, coupled
with his record as "a successful operator and
a man with thorough knowledge of con-
ditIOns which 20 to the making of oil
wells. The Herald takes particular pleasure
in presenting his opinion Of the Marian well
and Its Importance to the Coalinga field.
In reply to the query rs 60 why the
Marian, which has not been a sensational
performer as such things go in Coalinga,
should have caused much comment
among oil men, Mr.. O'DonneIl said,
"In order to realize the important
bearing this we'll has on conditions
generally on this end Of the Coalinga
field IL would be necessary to go into
the history somewhat of section s,
"This section is little less than a
mile from the town of Coalinga and a
little over three years ago the Lucille
OIL company brought in a splendid well
on the east half of the section. This
WELL at that time, was little over two
miles ahead Of any development. The
company had been workir~ for rear'v
a year In the drilling Of the well. the
principal trouble being the lack Of
capital.
"rhe company had been organized by
local men of limited means and nearly
all of the money going into the drilling
of the we'll was furnished In and
around the towA of Coalinga, and at
that time the company had only forty
acres of territory In this section. The
ownership of the section was very
much scattered, being held in small
fractions. which gave a great oppor-
tunity for the promoting OF companies