The Winslow mail., 1921-11-04
OUR OIL FIELDS AND THEIR
PROBABILITIES
Continued from Front Page

biologists of reputation, have been in
the field and have made lengthy re-
searches of the natural conditions
1t is demonstrated that the great
northeastern portion of the state of
Arizona is sedimentary. A few in
stances are noted of igneous intru-
sion and a great portion, if not all,
was at one time capped by a basal
tic flow. the evidences of which still
remain in the great black mesas
whose escarpments are particularly
noticeable to the north of -Holbrook
a short distance.
To the south of Holbrook a few
isolated instances are found where
the basalt is still in place, but gen
orally it has disappeared with the
erosions of the centuries of bygone
ages. The sedimentaries are laid
down in beds as the different geologl-
cal ages succeeded each other. These
beds dip slightly to the north and
easterly and are consequently lost be-
meath the later flows which are still
Gaping the sedimentaries to the
north. To the south the sediment
aries continue to raise for distance
of approximately twenty miles from
the Little Colorado river where a
prominenet anticlinal fold is eviden-
ced. To the south and extending
both east and west of Holbrook, Mr..
Charles Edward Major, a consulting
engineer and geologist of reputation
states the upper Pennsylvania
series of the Carboniferous age ex-
tends over the entire area Mr.. Ma
&c I,0 CT of
cerning the possibilities of oil fur
ther states: that the greatest Oil
areas in the country have been found
in beds in the CarbOniferous age and
older formations, of which Pennsyl-
vania, Ohio, Indiana, Oklahoma and
Kansas are examples. AS to the
possibilities of petroleum in the Hol-
brook area we have as an indicator
the San Juan fields of southwestern
Utah where oil is found in strata
of the Pennsylvania age. 1t is evil
dent therefore, that any expected
development of oil in the HolbrOOk
area must be made in this formation
and it is found exposed over a wide
area in all that section of Holbrook
and is known to underlie all the
younger sedimentarieS to the north
it is reasonable to expect that syS
tematic and intelligent prospecting
drilling should result in locating COM
in this formation"
Thin films of oil are to be found
upon the water from deep wells in
this area Oily shale has been cut at
depth and within the past few days
affidavits have been made by work
men engaged at one of the wells re-
Gently drilling in the area that upon
the pulling of the casing it was found
necessary to use "gunny" sacks in
the handling of the casing because of
oil with which the casing was cover
ed. Mr.. Major in his report further
states the HOlbrook field offers as
favorable possibilities, geologically,
for the production of petroleum as
have been proven in the San Juan
field and that there is as reasonable
a prospect for developing oil in guam
tity as was had by any of the pion
eers in the now widely known fields
of Kansas and Oklahoma, both of
which are in the same geological
formation.
Mr.. A. B. Baird geologist and
mining engineer, who made an ex-
animation of the field also confirms
the reports of Gregory and Major,
having expressed the opinion that oil
sands should be found in the lower
strata, which should be the making
of a great producing field and that
the structure of the area is perfect
and we'll located and should provide
the necessary gas pressure to pro-
duce gushers.
Mr. Milton A. Allen, mineral tech
nologist of the Arizona Bureau of
Mines, confirms the findings of other
geolOgists who have visited the field
He found the rock and structure eX-
lists which are favorable to oil.
Numerous other reports of mining
engineers and geologists have been
made upon the field and there has
been no variance in their determina
tions The great oil fields of the
country have been made through the
intelligent work of the geologists.
Texas, which is now the greatest oil
state of the union, has been made SO
through the work of the engineer and
the geolOgist, and to his intelligent
owes her present position in the oil
world. The Holbrook field stands to-
day where the Texas fields stood a
few years ago. Will duplicate of
the oil history of Texas and of Ok
lahoma be written for Arizona? The
answer will be given when some well
in the Holbrook field has reached a
sufficient depth to tap the oil sands
or stratas.
1t was the writer's privilege to
visit the well now drilling on the
property of the Holbrook Oil Com
pany some twenty-five miles south
westerly from Holbrook. The loca-
ton of the company's well was made
by Mr.. Major, as was also the selec-
tiOn of the site of thedrilling of the
Hopi Oil Company a few miles from
the Holbrook, company's we'll The
Holbrook Oil Company have a COM