The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1921-12-22
DES Laos OIL
OPERATIONS

Oh the Des Laos Western Oil company
to reach the goal of their ambition
securing oil production at the Blum
Well-Were increased yesterday when
n. ). Johnson, general manager of
the company, receiving a wire that
the carload Of castings ordered several
weeks ago has been shipped from
Pittsburgh and should reach Lone
Tree before Jan. l, 1922. This car
contains some 4,2O0 feet of castings
which when put into the
we'll will make total of
more than $4,000 feet of pipe neces
sary to complete the first oil we'll in
North Dakota. Operations have been
necessarily suspended pending the ar
rival of the castings, and their arrival
means resumption Of operations. To
the officers of the company this means
much for the we'll is now down 1924
feet, and the Dakota sand rock has
been reached.
Seven oil bearing sands have been
encountered as the big drill penetrat-
ed the earth. The first was a 4-foot
sand at PIG feet; the second at 48O
feet, the third 2C-foot sand, was en-
countered at 920 feet; the fourth at
l34O feet; the fifth at 231O feet, where
the driller in charge advised shooting
the we'll for small production claim.
ing however, that the sand would be
deeper farther down the f1anks of the
dome; the sixth sand was at 334O feet
and was go feet thick; while the Da-
kota sand has now been encountered
and is estimated by geologists to be
from $50 to 300 feet thick.
The Dakota sand is also known as
the gusher sand. The Capital Syndi-
cate, an oil paper published in Denver,
COL, in commenting on production at
the Humphrey-Mexia gusher at Mexia,
Tex, states: ''The Woodbine sand
supplying the Mexia gushers is from
1876 feet to 1913 feet thick, whereas
1O-foot sand makes a good oil field.
The Woodbine sand is the principal
oil bearing sand from the Equator to
the Arctic, though known in the
north as the Dakota sand"
Seven test wells were drilled by the
Des Lacs Western Oil Co., to the first
sand before selecting the site for the
Blum we'll. This was for the purpose
of corroborating the advice of Will
liam R. Jewell, A. G. Leonard and
Howard E. Simpson, the three geo.
logists who checked the field. It was
found by drilling these wells that the
first sand showed seepage of oil and
also showed dip Of three degrees and
33 seconds, proving the geological
structure, and the Blume we'll has
been placed on the crest of the dome.
DR.. Van Austrander Of the United
States department of the interiors
geological survey visited the we'll at
5000 feet and took temperature tests
which revealed that the formation
registers 1913 degrees Fahrenheit. He
stated that this feature was very
much favored by oil seekers. He ad-
vised drilling deeper. He predicted
that the formation would soon change
and it did. The cap rock which was rs
feet thick was penetrated and the Da-
kota sand encountered at 1913 feet.
coil and gas has been encountered
in every sand drilled into to date" Mr.
Johnson stated today. "The sand at
92O feet will undoubtedly be the
source for future shallow drilling in
this new oil field. Oil shows up on
the slush: tools and cables, after COM
ing through $500 feet of water right
now, so we are confident that the we'll
will be producer. The castings are
now en- route to Lone Tree and with
these and some extra tools and cables
we will put the we'll in shape and drill
in when the water is shut off. When
we lost the tools and cable last De-
ccmber it required seven months to ro-
move them and put the we'll in good
shape again, but these hardships are
now overcome and l find the stock
holders determined to back the man.
agemcnt and complete the we'll"
H. B. Snyder, in charge at the well,
has had 20 years continuous exper-
ience in the Ohio, Indiana, Illinois
Kentucky and Texas oil fields and
says that it will be necessary to pipe
peam into the derrick in order to con-
tinue operations during the cold
weather as it would never do to fire
the derrick stoves on account Of the
gas pressure which has already been
encountered.-Min Daily News.
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