The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-07-13
OIL RIVER HERE?
n. B. Burge Says Stream Flows
Under Shawnee.
Has Theory Which May ReyO-
1utiOnize Oil Industry.
NOT CONFINED TO LOCAL AREAS
Buying Up Big Leases Along
Course of ''Stream."
Burge Says Wakarusa Project
Utter ImpOssibiiity.
NOT CONFINED TO LOCAL AREAS


The worlds supply of oil is so far
practically untouched and Shawnee
county has its full share hidden be-
meath the surface, y. B. Burge, pres1-
dent of the Elmhurst Investment
company, declared today in explaining
new development theory which he
claims will revoIutionize the oil pro-
ducing industry.
The Elmhurst company is now
making tests to prove that Burgess
theory is the correct one. If it proves
out, the element of chance in drilling
Tor oil practically will be eliminated;
millions of dollars in expenses will be
saved annually. and new and IN
suspected supply of oil will be reveal
ed to the world, Burge declares The
company is about to drill near Car
bOndale, and is sinking a well in the
Peabody field. If oil is struck in these
two holes, Burge says, his idea VIII
be proved practically beyond a doubt.
Lies in Streams Mile Wide.
Burge spurns the popular theory Of
biologists that oil is contained IL
''domes" or huge wells encased Ia
limestone. He rejects the idea that 1t
is confined to local areas. 1t lies, he
declares, in mighty trends, or streams,
hundreds of miles long, and mile or
less wide. running from northeast 10
southwest thruout the United States
sink the wells over the great oil rivers
is the secret, he says OF future OIL
developments.
The basic principle upon which
the biologists have been working is
wrong" Burge declared. ION is not
found in what is supposed to be
'domes, or localized areas, but IN
trends or streaks Of limestone forma-
lions. These trends extend across the
country and are not confined to any
local spot There must. of course, be
a structure there to overlay the sand,
but it doesn't consist of dome
When a well is sunk and no dome
found it is customary to pass it up
with the conclusion that there is moth
ing there Biologists don't stop TO
analyze why there is nothing there
Thousands OF acres OF rich oil lands
are being passed up in this very man
ner."
Near Big Wells Not Safe Bet.
Burge declares that when a new
hole is drilled blindly. the same ele-
ment of chance is encountered, |
whether it be within ZOE miles or 500 |
feet OF a heavy producing well. the
trends, he says, while maintaining
their general northeasterly and south |
westerly direction, curve back and |
forth. This makes the leasing OF land |
near producing areas usually an ex-
travagance and a disappointment, he |
declared.
a combination OF trends. So is Pea
body, Elbing, Ponca City, Homer, Bill |
ling and every other field in the |
United States. Where there is a per- |
feet limestone formation there Is oil |
The same trend that has made Butler |
county famous comes thru the coun- |
ties of Usage, Chase. Greenwood and |
Lyons, across Shawnee and thence |
northerly."
Drill Between Dry Holes.
The EImhurst company, along the |
line OF this trend, has leased $4,000 |
acres OF land lying in the counties
named The we'll now being drilled |
in the Peabody field is between two
dry holes. The one near Carbonate |
is on the Badger lands on the north |
west quarter of section four, township |
fifteen. range sixteen. Eight carloads
of equipment have been unloaded on
the field and the derrick is now going |
into position. Burge predicts that this |
will be a 1000 barrel well.
The company has been buying leases
near Pauline. A well will be drilled |
there. Burge said. as soon as certain |
farmers and farm owners now hold |
ing back will turn in their leases. |
The we'll will not be drilled until this |
is done, the Elmhurst president said. |
No OIL at Wakarhsa, He Says.
Burge declared that striking oil |
Wakarusa the last few years is an |
utter impossibiIity. There is no oil |
there. he asserted
There were 500 wild cat wells |
drilled in Kansas last year at a cost of |
100000" said Burge. One field |
brought in. at that rate, would owe
the business $4,000. 900 to start with. I
Every well drilled on an oil lease is a |
wild cat we'll"
He denied he was giving away any
trade secret in explaining his theory |
OF the trends.
IF this becomes known, why
couldn't anyone use this method of |
development" he was asked
They could he replied. 'If they
knew how to follow the trends. And
that is the little secret we are not go
ing to give away for awhile"
Burge said none of the trends are
more than a mile wide Oil mi
CRATES. he said and this too, disproves
the dome theory. The migration
theory, he said, is proved by wells
which have been pumped dry Yield
ing thousands of barrels more after
they are returned to years later |
Burge would not commit himself on
the question of whether oil is contin-
ually forming in the earth but quot
ed experts as asserting that this is a
fact.
Thirty OF forty geological SURVEYS
made of the Peabody field went in the
scrap heap. Burge declared, when the
wells began to come in. The blue
prints and figures were continually re-
vised. he said, showing, in his opinion. |
4 marked inefficiency
Burge and W. H Hamil are doing
all the geological work for the Elm
hurst Investment company.
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