The Natchitoches enterprise., 1915-11-11
MORE THAN A MILE DEEP.

Southeast of Natchitoches the sand
that supply oil and gas in DE Soto ar
Red River parishes sink rapidly, untsi
near Boyce they are believed to lie at :,
depth of about 5, 300 feet, more than a
nile below the surface. Northwest or
(atchitoches Cley rise toward the
.urIa <; a. an average rate of about u
70 z .eee TO the mile for about tel,
miles from the town, and from tha4
point northwestWard they rise NOR
raridiy for several miles at an average
of about AZ feet to the mile. The rls5
is probably not at uniform rate but Z
more abrupt in some places than l.
others, though detailed information g
this point is not yet available.
Unfortunately, no comprehensive Pc,
scription Of the structure of the are.
near Natchitcches can be given. -
for as determined the Dip of the stra :
appears to be normal to the southeas
as observed in the hills on the sout
side of Sibley lake, Southwest of Nst@
chitoches, in the area between Nat
chitochss end Grand Ecore, and for
three or four miles west of Grand EcoIe
in the Camp Salubrity Hills. In the
valley occupied by the old lake beds q
Lake Terre NOR and Sibley Lake.
| which lie between the area examine
ne;.s Natchitoches and the area examiu-
ed west of Crane Ecore, the total at-
sence Of exposures makes it impossible
to determine whether the dip continue
uniform over this valley. An attem !.
was made to fill this gap by studyir.s
| the logs of wells that are conveniently
located for the purpose, but the loks
afforded no definite information, al
| though the tentative correlations seell
to suggest sousherly dip.
WELLS Nor DEEP ENOUGH.
Geologist Matson concludes that nor,
| of the wells drilled near Natchitochef.
have been sunk deep enough to tes.
the horizons that supply oil and gef
| farther northwest, in lie Soto end Res
| River parishes and Zone except the
Freeman and possibly the Dranguot
and the Hoosier well mo. p at Allel.
reach the upper gas sands of NORTH
west Louisiana. Several shallow wells
reached gas in thin sand beds, but tae
pressure of large volume of sal
water makes it improbable that SUI
cessful cry gassers can be obtaineG
The beds that supply this gas have
been penetrated by more than SOC
| wells in Northwest Louisiana, and
| though many showings of gas haye
been reported it is doubtful whether its
volume is large, and the sands are toe
thin and contain too much salt water to
encourage attempts to develop the gas
Efforts to determine the geologic struc-
ture from the logs of the shallow wells
| have also been unsuccessful.
The fact outlined above indicate tia {
shallow wells are unprcmising and tia
none of the wells drilled in the vicinity
of Natchitoches have reached the horl
zon of the deep oil sands. 1t seems
advisable, if further tests are made
to drill deep enough to reach the hori
IONS that are productive elsewhere In
Northwest Louisiana Drilling shout
be watched carefully and adequat
samples Of cuttings should be saved q
enable the geologist to cooperate wit
the oil men in determining the geologif,
relations and structure of the forms
tons. This need is emphasized by
condition existing near Allen, where :
shallow well drilled several years az
yielded strong flow of gas and sal
water. This well 10 believed to haw
been drilled near bresk FAULT in tn
strata which resulted in a downward.
slip of the beds to the southwest, III
fault extends northeastward, and well
drilled northwest of q line passine
northeastward rear Allen will reacl
the sands at shalIowest depths than
were drilled southeast Of that line. Il
in sddition well il drilled near the
fault the chance for success is probably
greater on its northwest than on it,
southwest side.