The Kevin review. [volume] (Kevin, Mont.) 1922-1929, 1924-10-23
PLATT PREDICTS
1925 BIG YEAR
Says $50 to 400 Wells VIII be
Drilled in Kevin Field in
Coming New Year.

The year 1925 will see tremendous
drilling activity in Kelvin field in the
opinion of Fred C. Platt, E. NJ, of
the Northern Oil Information bureau.
Discussing the situation in his current
bulletin he says:
''In looking over the amount of
work being done in the field during
the past week, the fact that there are
36 rigs working, either just complet-
ing, rigging up, or drilling, stands out
very strongly when it is considered
that it is the middle of October now,
that this has been very poor year
for the oil business, ard that the lar
ger companies, such as the Ohio, Cali
fornia, Carter, etc, have done just as
little toward drilling up thier acreage
as possible and still hold their leases.
That they will have to put on very
active drilling campaign next year in
order to hold or validate their leases
is matter of record in the the court
house.
Exactly what amount of work will
be done next year in the field is hard
to estimate, but if the present activity
is any criterion at all, it will be one Of
the most active years this field has
ever seen. With the exception of some
20 to 25 wells, all the wells drilled so
far this year have been drilled by in
dependent companies, so that allowing
the same number to them for next
year, as they have drilled this year,
there will be in the neighborhood of
$50 to 400 wells drilled during 1925,
with the larger companies working.
This is rough estimate, but at the
same time conservative, and if the
price of oil goes up, as it is almost
bound to do, this estimate may be
very low At the present time there
are several different prices for oil in
the field, due to the fact that the in
dependent refineries are having hard
time getting enough oil to supply
their plants. The field is producing
over 5000 barrels a day, but this does
not begin to take care of the demand,
and the brightest part of that is that
should the production be increased to
10000 barrels daily it would be very
short time and little expense before
the different refneries could increase
their capacities to handle considerable
more than this.
Bonus Increases Price
The posted price (by the Ohio Oil
company for the field is 90 cents a
barrel at the present time, while the
International Refinery at Sunburst is
paying $1.00. One operator selling to
another refinery gets a 25 cent pre-
MUM, plus the two per cent shrink
age charge; another gets $1.30
straight, while another has been of |
fered $3.50 per barrel at the well.
This last is for Sunburst sand oil |
that runs some AZ degrees Beaume.
1t seems to be only a question of time |
when the Sunburst sand oil will be |
segregated and when that happens
there will be two posted prices, the |
Sunburst sand oil commanding price
much nearer what it is really worth.
This naturally will not occur until
such time as the production for this
sand reaches point where they can
afford to run it separately. Some COM
panies such as the Homestake, Pot
latch and Beardslee are already start
ing after this production, and next
year will probably see a lot Of activity
IN Sunburst sand areas.
Sunburst Sand Wells Increase
The fact that the Sunburst sand oil
contains no water, is considerably
higher in gravity, and that offset wells
are fairly sure Of production, makes
It very attractive to the operator. That
he production from this sand will
hold up better than the Ellis is seen
from the fact that Sunburst sand
wells have increased rather than de
creased when pumped. The Homestake
Reibe No. is now making 130 barrels
and it came in for rs barrels, while
,he Securities Stannard No / is MAX
ng 25 barrels against an initial of 15
The Jones-White well is making
around so barrels and only made 25
barrels the first few days. This is not
lust natural increased but is due to
he wells being cleaned out when nee
sssary and swabbed each time they
ire cleaned out. 1t seems that swab-
oing the wells opens up the drainage +
,hannels in the sand and allows the
Ill to flow more freely into the hole,
therefore increasing production.