The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-15
Mai. Wm. r. Tebbetts Writes
 or Great Oil Industry In Texas!

gagged in forming syndicates for the drilling of wildcat oil wells all over | the United States, he has averaged
 success in excess of two oil wells in twenty five wells drilled. and in con sequence has made for himself and his l syndicate members very large for- tunes
 He has been engaged in such opera tions for some fifteen years and is now
 organizing his sixteenth or seyen- teenth syndicate for drilling twenty
 five wildcat oil wells. His results
 have shown that his profits from two
 successful wells in twenty drilled
 make up for all his losses incident to
 the drilling of twenty three dry holes or clusters and very handsome
 amount besides. both from the proGuc-
 ton of oil and gas and the enhance
 ment in the value of his contiguous lease holdings.
 ATTITUDE OF LEADERS Contrary to the general impression and public opinion, the large oil com
 panies are very friendly to the de- velopment of new oil fields and en- courage and assist them in many ways and they provide ready market for the production of the independent pro- ducer, through their pipe lines and re- fineries which take the oil from the
  paying for the same at posted prices now ranging in Texas from $S to $3.25 per barrel, twice each month, regular 1y and promptly.
 A real oil operator or developer will invariably always receive thir interest and assistance by supplying tools and casing when needed and in the pur- chase Of leases on contiguous prop erty to the well being drilled some times in amount sufficient to pay for the drilling os the we'll
 The industry has not always been conductej on these lines as evidenced by the well known operations in the early days of Che industry Dy the Standard Oil company; but all that is changed today, for the worlds de. mand for oil production is too great and profitable for the stifling or elim- ination of competition Of former years While it is the policy of the large ct mpanies 10 assist real efforts of pioneer developers in oil production, the insineere oil schemef or shark who depends upon the sales of his promotion stock for his profits and who makes misleading statemants re-
 garding his operations and develop
 ments and conducts his operations without due regard to the established business ethics or not operating in good faith, like the same person in any other business, will be frowned upon and driven out of the business, when possible by those permanently and iegitinately engaged in the oil industry.
 DRILLING CONTRACTS Drilling operations are conducted under two methods, one is by the use of standard cable tool rigs operated on the principal of the churn and the other is the rotary rig operated on the principal of the auger.
 i The standard cable-tool rigs are in- lvariably used to drill in improved ter ritory, to better secure records of geological fofHa tions, oil sands, etc, and to depths of 2,50O feet and more, operations, also for drilling into the oil sand after the well has been put down with a rotary rig.
 The rotary rigs are invariably used 1 to drill to the top of the oil sand when the depth of the sand is known l A well drilled by rotary rig may be 1 put down to a depth of 2,000 feet in 1 from three to five weeks. and some l very often in a shorter time, while operations with standard rig will l require several months and seldom less l than two months.
 | When the roatry rigs are used to ' drill to the top of the sand the best l practices of the experienced opera tors require standardizing the rig and drill into the sand with cable tools, although in California rotary rigs are used to a considerable extent in drilling operations to a depth of $500 feet and more and also used for drill ing into the oil sands and when under the operation of expert rotary drillers have proven very successful. The hazards in drilling operations with the rotary rigs include the twist off of drill pipe, loss of bits, crooked holes salt water; while with standard
 cable-tool rigs the hazards are cave ins, loss of tools beyond recovery crooked holes and water beyond the power of shut-off.
 Such accidents, however, except wa ter trouble, are usually the loss of the drilling company under the terms of their contracts,
 There are several kinds of drilling
 contracts, but the most in use in the
 oil fields of Texas are confined to
 three.
 First-The straight contract under
 which the owners furnish the derrick,
 fuel, water, casing, slush-pit and To-
 cation for drilling and the drilling