The Holbrook news., 1918-07-05
Oil Possibilities In
 Northeastern Arizona


 Mineral Teehnologist. Arizona State Bureau of Mines in Bulletin of Oil and Mines.
 Active drilling operations in oil fields adjacent to Arizona lead one to ask What are the possibilities for the occurrence of oil in Arizona? Increased ac- tivities are taking place in the Verdie Valley, YaYapai County. and Tonto Basin in Gila County. Companies have also been form led and leases taken on land near Benson in Cochise County.
 It is reported recently that gas has been discovered east of Snowflake. Whether this gas is coming from a natural gas field or is marsh gas from the exist ing coal measures in southern Navajo County has yet to be proven. The fact that oil has been discovered in the San Juan field of Utah, which borders on the northern Arizona line, and the fact that test wells have been put down in Mckinley County, New Mexico, draws our attention more forcibly to the idea that this state may become the scene of great oil activities.
 Attention was called to the San Juan field as being possibly oil bearing by the occurrence of oil seepages on the San Juan river. Drilling has been carried on, but the yield of the produc- ing wells has not been great; also the economic situation of the field and the price of oil were not favorable at the time of the preliminary development, and drilling was not carried on to any great depth. The condi- tions under which the petroleum occurs in the San Juan field are peculiar to it because of the geo. graphical conditions caused by arid climate and intense erosion by rivers. This condition will no doubt exist in all of the pos sible oil areas of Arizona, since underground water plays an important part in oil distribu- tion.
 The fact that salt water was struck in the test we'll drilled in Mckinley County was not dis c ouraging, in view of the fact that the salt water wells of Pennsylvania were instrumental in the discovery of petroleum, and that salt water is usually found in all oil fields. Practical | ly the whole northeast half of the state of Arizona is covered by sedimentary rocks; this type of rock formation is known to be the seat ot all the oil pools in the world. The area of these rocks in Arizona far exceeds their area in California. Of course structural changes, which are favorable to the ac- cumulation of oil, must exist. That these structural conditions do exist is known from the pre- liminary work which has been done by the U. s. Geological Survey in that part of this state.
 The oil fields of the world are found in places where exists a geological structure called an anticline. This anticline may be a true" anticline, or the structural conditions may be such as to duplicate that strue- ture in part or wholly. An an- ticline resembles a broad arch of rock extending over many lines, the axis of which may undulate, causing domes to be formed. The oil and gas usually occupy the crests of the anticlineal structure, water being below the gas and the oil. The oil so far found in the San Juan field occurs in the syncline or trough of the structure. being due to the lack of water or to the low water level in the field.
 The geological data collected to date shows that there is an anticlinal axis extending across the northeast corner of Arizona from the San Juan field, in a southeasterly direction. There , are parallel and minor anticlinal axis on both sides of the main , anticline. The main anticline produces the Defiance plateau. . That the rocks and structure exists which are favorable to oil. there is no doubt; on the other , hand. the necessary conditions which go to form oil fields, such