Evening star., 1924-05-24
NOTABLE ACTIVITY
IN OIL PRODUCTION
Operators Apparently Not Waiting
for Prices to Become More
Advantageous.
BY j. c. ROYLE.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, May 24-Time. tide
and the owners of leases of oil lands
wait for no man. The oil men are
not even waiting for prices to be-
come advantageous. Apparently each
is active today in bringing oil to th>
surface as fast as possible in spite of
the fact that price reductions still are
anticipated in some fields. This ac-
tivity with pump and drilling rig in
the field is being supplemented by
equally similar animation displayed
with fountain pen and check book
Thousands of acres of land rich in
oil have changed hands in the last
few weeks, for the deal involving the
Shell Union Oil Corporation and the
Union Oil of California has not been
the only big oil transaction recently.
Southwestern oil men see in the pur-
chase of numerous Panhandle gas
companies by the Prairie Oil and Gas
Company the prospect of tremen-
dous pipe line 400 miles long to carry
gas to Kansas City, Mo- The COM
panies taken over by the Prairie Oil
and Gas were the Producers and Re-
finers' Corporation. the Mountain
Company and the Panhandle Pipe
Line Company. BY the deal, the Prai-
rie company gains possession of the
entire Panhandle gas field.
Large Acreage in Deal.
The Cosden company has recently
purchased large acreage from the
Phillips Petroleum Company in the
middle west and is prepared to start
new drilling operations thereon Re-
ports from Pawhuska, Okla, indicate
that the new Atlantic oil fields. seven
miles southwest of that place, prom
ises to rival the Burbank pool after a
few more wells are drilled The new
field is now producing about 10000
barrels day and the first we'll was
brought in only about four months
ago.
Flush production is continuing in
Arkansas and Louisiana fields, de-
spite the cut in Smackover heavy
from 81 to 85 cents a barrel. The
week just past showed an increase in
daily average of 5,065 barrels to 208,-
922 barrels. The Ohio Oil Company's
5,OOO-barrel gusher in the new Cotton
Valley, La, field has added another
factor to the problem of possible over
production in that section.
Although the California fields are
not showing such increases in pro-
duction as they have been doing in
the past, the effort to find and open
new producers is continuing with the
utmost activity. The time and money
the big companies are willing to ex-
pend may be. judged by the fact that
Standard Oil of California in the
Santa Fe Springs has only just been
plugged and abandoned when it
reached a depth of 1912 feet, or more
than a mile and a third. At that
water flowing $500 barrels a day was
encountered, ending chances of oil
sands at greater depth.
Deepest Well Ever Drilled.
The well was the deepest ever drill
ed, being 532 feet lower than the Tor
renee well, which held the record for
two years. 1t took three crews of
actual drilling. days to discover the
well was a ''duster." In the entire
distance sunk, only two showings of
oil were encountered, one at 1904
feet and another at 1870 feet Neither
was productive of paying quantities.
Not only was the company willing
to spend more than 100000 on this
hole in the ground, but the crews
were so interested in the outcome
that they refused to take their vaca-
tions, deferring until 1T was finally
decided to abandon the bore. Several
records beside depth were establish
ed. A fishtail drilling bit was lost at
a depth of 7,196 feet and recovered
after fishing only three days. So
far as known, no lost equipment was
ever recovered from a we'll at a depth
below $500 feet before.
Gasoline Consumption Increasea.
Gasoline consumption undoubtedly
has been on the increase this year,
the amount used so far showing an
advance of around Is per cent, even
over the remarkable figures of 1928.
But stocks of crude oil and gasoline
show small signs of speedy reduction.
The Carter Oil Company, a midcon