The Washington times., 1920-03-13
y EXPERT SCOUTS
TALK Of MD. OIL.
George Otis Smith, Director OF
Geological Survey, Says Facts
Disprove Theory.

An Interesting statement on the
possibilities of presence of oil In com
mercial quantities near Washington ID
made by George Otis Smith, director
of the United States Geological Sur
vey. He says:
THE peak OF an industrial boom Is
Invariably accompanied by wild spec
uiation in mining securities. The pres
emit period OF initiation in oil produc-
ton is no exception to the rule.
"Is there oil in commercial quanti-
ties near Washington?
almost certainly not. II the KIND
of science that the big oil companies
employ Is to be believed by the gen
eral public.
Usual Requisites Lacking.
Hardly a single geologic condition
is favorable for the accumulation OF
oil near Washington. The usual
requisites for an oil pool are lacking
and no reputable geologist would ad'
wise the expenditure Of money under
these conditions.
much OF the unwarranted boosting
throughout the United States relates
to areas in which there may at best
be only a small chance OF finding oil.
and in which the local business men
and citizens are aroused to believe
that drilling will lead to the discov-
cry of great sources of wealth In oil
in the home vicinity or county. Propo-
sitions Of this class are scattered
widespread over the country and no
one but the Federal and State Geo
logical Surveys appears to feel any
responsibility in protecting the in
nocent. and for the most part, small
investor.
Remarkable as It may seem. one
of these attacks of local oil excite
ment seems to have struck Washing
ton. One prospective "oil field" Is To-
Gated less than ten miles from the
dome of the Capitol. Advertisements
that refer to the United States Su-
preme Court and the United States
Geological Survey in large type do
not necessarily thereby prove the oil
character of the lands near the Ma
tional Capital. Nor does the increas-
ing demand for oilsmake the chances
any better of finding it where Nature
did not put 1t.
Conditions Here.
The facts are: Near Washington
the sedimentary rocks Of Cretaceous
and Tertiary age dip gently eastward
and are underlain at relatively shall
low depth by hard crystalline schists
and GRANTEES. These latter nowhere
contain oil. The oil-bearing beds
found in West Virginia and Pennsyl-
vania are not present in this region.
The Cretaceous and Tertiary beds
comprise sands, clays, and marls, and
are we'll exposed around Washington
publications of petroleum have never
been observed even in these beds by
the Government biologists who have
critically mapped and studied the re-
gion. Moreover, streams have cut SO
deeply into these nearly fiat beds near
Washington that had any petroleum
ever existed 1t would have readily es-
capped and been lost. Furthermore,
the structure of the rocks east of
Washington is such that oil would not
accumulate. Folds in the rocks
domes or anticlines-nearly always
present in commercial oil pools are
b acking east of Washington, where
they would readily have been OBJ
served had they been present
On every count, therefore, the
search for oil near and east Of Wash
ington is to be discouraged. Specula-
ton in such projects is to be deplored.
Those unwary ones who invest in such
projects are usually the least able to
bear the practically certain loss of
their hard earned savings. No per-
son who can not view with perfect
complacency the entire loss of his
money should invest in the stock of
oil companies purporting to exploit
Oil fields near Washington. II indeed
anywhere else, and the Geological
Survey feels called upon to warn the
public of the extra hazardous char
ecter of exploration for oil in eastern
Maryland. 1t may be added that in
this statement the Federal Survey
concurs in general with the opinion
already expressed by the State Geo
logical Survey of Maryland"