Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1912-05-26
GAS WILL LAST
FOR MANY YEARS
FORMER STATE GEOLOGIsT SEES
\ BuGABOO IN ANY TALK on
BIG DECREASE,
AN UNDEVELOPED COUNTRY
Where OH and Gas Are LIKELY to BE
FOund-I1ccua Field freal,
One Way to FIND out.

The following Is part Of the ad-
dress delivered by Charles y. Gould,
former oklahoma state geologist, be-
fore the Natural Gas Association in
Kansas City on last Wednesday
Speaking OF whore oil ana gas may
be found he said:
AS the result of careful study,
made by numerous investigators IN
many lands. il has been demonstrated
that IN many perhaps a majority Of
cases, the deposits of oil and gas oc-
cur along unticline folds. That Is TO
say If oil. gas and salt water occur
IN a subterranean formation, for in
stance a ledge Of porus sandstone,
and this sandstone has been folded
up, forming "A series Of antielinCs, ana
synclincs, these three substances, fol
lowing the universal law of physics
win arrange themselves In the order
Of their specific graVities. In other
words, under conditions such as /
have stated, the gas being llghtest VIII
occur at the highest point. That point
is along the axis or apex Of the anu
clin, che top Of the arch), The SAT-
water being the heaviest of the three
substances, Will sink to the lowest
level along the trough or syncline'
The oil will be found In the interven-
ing space along the slope OF the anti
cline.
This very briefly and baldy stated,
is the anticlinal theory Of oil and gas
This is the way the oil and gas should
act. These are the conditions under
which they should occur, The query
naturally arises, DO oil and gas In
actual experience, behave in this man
ner? May we reasonably expect TO
hnd gas along the axis of an anti
cline? The answer Is, Yes, We may
expect To find gas under these condi-
tions. Then some one asks VIII the
geologist guarantee to find gas where
ever there Is an anticline| The an
swer is, Certainly not. No reputable
geologlst would be so foolish.
Many things may prevent the
finding of gas in quantity at any par
tlcular place. There may be no sand
or other reservoir rock beneath the
anticlne. If the sand Is present 1t
may be too fine grained to hold gas.
There may be no cap rock to keep II
down, or there may be creNlce or
fracture in the rocks which has per
mitted II to escape. or If other con-
ditions are present, there may be no
source OF supply under the anucline.
In fact. any one of a great number
of things may have occurred or nave
failed to occur, to prevent the accu-
mutation Of gas under any particular
antcline. There is one way to ina
out and only one; start the drill.
MANY Of the worlds most famous
oil and gas fields are on antlclines AS
examples may be cited the Baku field
in Russia, the fields Of Sumatra, the
Beaumont field, and the Volcano held
Of West Virginia; coming nearer TO
home the Bartlesyille field, the Glenn
Pool field, the Muskogee field, the Po-
toau field and the Wheeler field IN
Oklahoma, and Massard Prairie, Ar
kansas are on an anticlne, and
number of them were located by geo
logists before any drilling was done.
con the other hand, both oil and
gas have been produced In quantities
in many places where there are no
well defined anticllnes exposed on the
surface. In very many cases there IS
absolutely nothing in surface cOndi-
tions to give the geologist a clew one
way or the other. One of the more
important factors, which always en-
ters into the problem, but which can
never be determined from surface OBJ
seryation, is the shape of the beds
which contain the gas. Most sand
stones and conglomerates arc not con-
stant in thickness for any great dis
tance. The greater part of them are
lense shaped or lenticuIar, that is they
thin rapidly in certain directions. This
is particularly true of carboniferous
sandstones, in which the oil and gas
nra fDupd in Illinois and in the Mid