The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1921-03-19
SEARCH FOR OIL
Geological Survey Discusses
Summerv;lIe Wild Cat Well

~ miles mort invest Of Charleston is
declared b. thr United States GOO
lo&ira! surrey, department OF the in-
tcror, TO h1 of somewhat greater in
tcrrSt than most other reported dis
roTcri"s of oil east of tha Apna!a-
rhlah mountains, for this Wull pre-
SchtS %omc unusual features. The
well appears To have been sunk as an
admitted gamble, with poor chances
of winning, by the f.. I. l,urlon Lu!n-
Der company and its associates with
the object Of honestly trying out the
oil possibilities Of the vicinity of sum
mcrvillC, but without the stock pro
motion methods sometimes prevalent
where Wildcattimg is carried on i'm 9TH
"r regions far from producing fields
The region has recently been visited
~ r.. w. Shaw Of the geological sur
NcN, who reports that the well drill
rd by the local capitalists has Yielded
Il few ounces Of crude prtrolrum but
that the conditions appeared to him
SO unfaNorabic that. until the well
- more fully tested, furhc cXplor-
alton, and pa"tirularly the plvmcnt
Of any considerable amounts for oil
rights on small tracts of land, should
be strongly discouraged. He holds
that unless The well is brought fully to
INC producing stage, or at least until
II Is Thoroughly tested. leases ON lands
near it are worth little moro than
the cost of sinking Il well and
the usual un"-ciShth royalty. if, in
decd. they are worth that much.
TIL" principal considerations that
demand caution arc IL" relative thin
ness OF the scdimcutary series of
beds at SummcrVillc,. no commercial
iy valuable oil having yet been de-
vclOped where the entire sedimcntary
section for the region is so thin as
that throughout the Atlantic coastal
plain north Of Georgia. tn" apparent
rack Of anticlinal or other favor
able structure. the failure Of SAMPLES
OF tn" sands to yicid traces of oil on
heating or treatment with solvents.
ana the lack of strong flows of salt
| water. which usually accompany oil.
ON tn" other hand. Il genuine show
ms oi oil and Eas seems to have
hrrn "!I"lncd. and as the well is kept
iIil"d With the drilling mud there is
really no way of telling from the
showing whether or not there is much
OIL or Sas or whether the well would
produce if it were bailcd and put
into producing condition. Wells that
ar" drilled by the rotary method.
though they may be OF large ca
IacltN. may Giv" NJ great showing
ti oil until they arc bailcd. for the
mud used in DRILLING keeps the oil
damned back in the reservoirs, OK
.r"pt such traces rs become caught i'm
the mud and carried up TO the sur
iac". Indeed. the drill may pass
through sand that carried consider
able oil and yet not even showing
OF oil may reach the surface
Th" problem here is really simple
fh" Wei should now bc tested, and if
i; yields no oil or gas the region will
Look unpromising for the reason out
lined above and shohld still be re-
&HrG"d only as wildcat territory. #
tn" welt proves to bc good other wells
can h." Sruk nearby, and precise sur
N"NS can be made TO determine the
geologic structure of The beds in the
urea.
Logs Of artcSiau wells sunk in The
region Indicate That the deeper strata
DIP about - tcct to the Ini!c TO the
southeast and tn" shHlowcr strata
dip or 10 feet to the mile in Il
direction moro nearly south. In an
area north of this region, at Will
minStom, y. G., the aggregate thick
ness Of all the scdimcHtary forIna-
lions is only l., ,l09 feet At Fort Cas-
well. y. g.. not quite 50 far north as
Wilmington nor SO far inland, it is
l.'i" feet. The thickness increases
toward tn" .oHth, 80 that Summer
VII" stands ON tn" size Of "a larg,
~'diuCntarN BASIN and many oil |
pools are found in such II position.
1t seems pruhah," from aIl that !
'on y" learned OF The W.l and the
surrounding country, using both the !
practical facts concerning Kinds OF
places where oil has been found thc
world over anh th"or'iical considcra-
t"nS as 10 the Kind Of places wncrc
One may expect 10 End if. tlat any
oil ana Has found in the region
around Charleston Will probably come
.r"n! small pockets or lenses i'm sand
hat is iu",o%cd in dark clay. Soy
al formations in This region con-
: IN partly d"Composcd organic mat
."r. from which oil and gas might
'" generated and under proper SEQ
%Fa! conditions made To accumu-
AT" IN lenses OF sand that are shat
n Ivy relatively impcrvions clay.
-Ncn conSidcrabl" pools might form. :
'thpuGh tn" probabilities seem ,
IEdilNl lh"r formation because Of i
l." l""l ot favUrahlc structure and I
ia" %rarual trr" circulation of water ,
hlch Is Indicated by the fact that
icsh water is found at depths of
no'c th'U 1000 rect at Charleston. \
WImcrN!i!r is at present place ,
My for man who knows thorough J.
, th" oil game.
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