The Winslow mail., 1919-07-25
Oil Millions a Mirage.

hundred of striking oil in the al
legged Holbrook field, is now max
ing survey of New Mexico
fields, and his report for that
state is about the same as he
made of the Holbrook field. He
particularly emphasizes the fact
that people who buy stock in the
promotion companies that rely
entirely on their stock selling to
finance operations are sure to be
disappointed in the final outcome.
1t is because Mr.. Hager made
just such statement about the
Holbrook operations that he is no
longer popular favorite with
the Gil boomers who are looking
for suckers to put up money not
only to finance the boring of the
we'll, but finance the promoters,
who use the location of a we'll
rig to boost the sale of leases on
all the acreage within a hundred
miles around. Mr.. Hager's re-
port is as follows:
New Mexico is at present at
tracing the interest of oil men
of all classes, and from all parts
of the United States, The state
has the possibility of becoming
an oil producer, but at present
there is no reason to class it other
than a possibility.
From a geological viewpoint
there are some favorable features,
notably the presence of folding,
such as domes and anticlines, fa-
vorable to oil accumulation. There
are some positive indications of
petroleum as shown by the small
production obtained in the Brown
and the Belt wells near Dayton,
Eddy county, and the Redfield
we'll in Chaves county, and the
presence of oil satuated sand on
Seven rivers southwest of Arte-
sia, and the presence of asphalt
rock northeast of Santa Rosa,
Guadalupe county.
There is a series of sedimen-
tary rocks of Permian and Penn.
sylvanian age which are 5000
feet thick. Some of these beds
are favorable, some are question
able as favorable producers.
Sands are plentiful throughout
them and in places carbonaceous
snales and bituminous limestones
abound. However. none of these
indications must be given too
much weight, although they are
encouraging.
conservative geologists differ
in their ideas of the country and
do not consider many features
of certain sediments favorable.
On the other hand commercial
oil pools have been found un-
der conditions less favorable
than those in New Mexico.
New Mexico must be pros
pected. This is the view taken
by oil men acquainted with local
conditions, but these men are
spending their money not upon
certainties, but upon the possi-
bility that oil might be found in
some one of the folds that are
known to exist. Such drilling
should be carried to depths of
from 1,500 to 1000 feet, depend
ent upon the conditions existing
in the various parts of the state,
and under competent advice.
Drilling oil wells is expensive
work and encouragement must
be given the man or men who
undertake the risks. The public
must discriminate, however, be-
tween properly financed compa-
MES who enter the state we'll pre-
pared to carry on their work and
asking nothing. from promoters
who do not understand the oil
business. The latter concerns
start drilling dependent upon
selling stock to the public to OBJ
tain finances sufficient to put
down their holes, a slow and usu-
ally costly system of financing
and one usually attendant with
loss. The record of small stock
company operations show that
not one company in one hundred
is successful despite the lurid ad.
vertisements promising big re-
turns for small amounts invested.
"Oklahoma, our wealthiest
state ShnMed in 1919 that out Of