El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-03-02

in the reconstruction Of the Isthmiai
Of Tehuantepec railway. On one o
his visits to the scene Of the con
struction work, the head of the firm
o observed the evidence of oil near the
railway line. Drilling was begun and
oil was struck. Almost Immediately
there was erected a refinery witt
a capacity Of 400 tons Of crude OF
| daily. Thus began the real develop.
ment of the Mexical oil fields.
The Pearson interests EXTENDED
/ their field OF operation, other capital
lists soon obtained holdings in tn,
! territory, and the immense reservoir,
Of oil lying in the northern part o.
the state Neracruz were soon brought
to light It is in this district that the
largest well in the world is located.
Doheney Another Pioneer.
Another pioneer in the oil fields Of
Mexico is Edward L Doheney. who
/ made his first purchase Of leases In
Mexico in 1900. With his partner. Can
! field. this American petroleum ex-
pert prospected the 1ungles of Mexico
in search OF oil seepages. Finally they
/ hit upon the plan of offering the Mex
leans five pesos each for pointing out
to them the location Of tar spots. -"
the result being that they obtained
! leases on thousands OF acres of land
that today lie in the very center Of
oil producing territory.
Most important Of the oil fields of
Mexico are those in the southern part
of the state of Tamaulipas and the
ncgthern half OF the state OF Veracruz.
They extend for about so miles back
from the gulf coast toward the foot
hills in the states Of Hidalgo and San
Luis Potosi. Important among the
producing areas in this field are those
known as Ebano, Panuco, Topila, Juan
Sasiano, Cerro Azul, PotrerO del Llano,
Aqua Nacida and Alamo. This terri
tory extends roughly from the sea-
port of Tampico southwark to the sea-
port OF Tuxpan- The Panuco pool lies
only short distance southwest Of
Tamipoc- The present most active
area OF development, however. known
as the southern field lies down the
coast Of Tampico and nearer Tuxpan-
1t is in this territory that the great
est producing wells have been devel-
oped. such as the Juan Casiano and
the Cerro Azul.
The Tehuantepec field borders on
the Gulf Of Campeche. The territory
tereStS, who constructed a refinery at
Minatitlan- The oil structure in this
territory is similar to that Of the
gulf coast district OF the Texas fields.
the oil occurring principally around
salt domes. The DEVELOPMENT of the
great fields at Tampico and Tuxpan
has restricted operations in this To-
eality and production is relatively
small.
Most Of the oil found in Mexico has
an asphalt base, and is not high in
gasoline content. as compared TO the
high grade paraffin oils Of Penn
sylvania- The common practice is to
subject il at a refinery to a topping
process for the removal Of the gaso-
line and naptha content and then to
market the remainder as fuel oil.
Some Of the companies. however, car
~ out the refining operations still
further, and are large marketers Of
asphalt and other products In some
instances, however. high gravity oil
declared to have high gasoline content
been developed
Large Wells In 1917.
The highest grade oil among the
large producers comes from the south
ern fields. this oil being relatively
high in gasoline content as compared
to oil obtained at Panuco. Although
Icore wells were completed in the Pa
nuco pool in 1917 than in the southern
districts, the wells at Panuco have a
production from a few hundred bar
rels to 10000 barrels a day. while in
the southern or Tuxpan district the
wells range from 10000 to 100000 bar
rels a day. One well with an Initial
output estimated at $4,000 barrels a
day was completed in hwat is known
at the Tepetate-Chinampe sector. An
other well came in in the same sector
with a production of 10000 barrels a
day while a little further south along
the Tuxpan river in the Moline dis
trict, a well was brought in late in
the year with flow OF $4,000 barrels
day, and with the gravity OF the oil
testing 11.9 degrees Baume, surpris-
ingly high. Another well was brought
in during the early part Of January,
1877, in the Cerro Azul district with a
production Of 100000 barrels a day
with a very high test in gasoline con-
tent The activity OF 1917 resulted in
considerably extending the producing
areas Of known fields.
How the oil operations IN the Tam
pico locality have been permitted to
continue despite the unsettled condi-
tons politically. that has been Mexi- !
co.'s Characteristic in the last few
years. forms an interesting story. The
oil operators have received threat af- !
unperturbed and steadily they have
Increased the output While revolu- |
tionary activity and banditry have
ragged just outside the oil fields. the |
fields are in the baliwac Of one Man |
uel Pelaez, who in the summer Of 1914 |
gathered together following and re- /
vOlted against Candida Angular, gov |
ernor Of the state of VeracruZ.
Pelaez Self Constituted sPrOtectOr.S
Ever since this revolution Pelaez has /
controlled the entire Huasteca-Vera- /
cruz oil district. The Carranza faction. |
however, retains control of the two /
Of Tampico and Tuxpan, |
through which the oil must pass for /
transportation out OF the country and /
where II levies its taxes.
Pelaez and his followers have adopt |
ed the oil fields and are its self con-
stituted protectors-for a fee" As /
a matter Of fact the oil producers are /
forced to pay tribute to this bandit