The Kevin review. [volume] (Kevin, Mont.) 1922-1929, 1926-09-30
O'NeiI Gusher Stimulates
Deeper Drilling in Field


Although the surface elevations are
virtually the same, the latest O'Neil
gusher is approximately 200 feet
deeper than the Ferdig No. -, To-
Gated one-quarter of mile directly
south of the. ONeil-Lashbaugh No. S.
Presence of large amounts of oil in
the limestone, as revealed by two of
the O'Neil wells, has caused oper-
ators to agree that drilling should
not halt when the Ellis Madison con-
tact is reached and one large oper-
lJcr has stated that in the future he
will drill at least 200 feet into the
lime regardless of what is found in
the Ellis formation or at the contact.
Stray Sand Produces
The original lFerdig gusher was off
set on the east and west by wells
which had only small showings of
oil, while the north offset, the OANeil-
Lashbaugh No. l came in as a 1000
barrel gusher. The Ferdig well pro
duced from stray sand at 1892 feet
while the O'Neil hole was sunk to a
depth of 1,491 feet before the big pro
duction was found The O'Neil well
had comparatively small wells on the
east and west, yet the newest COM
pet on two locations north OF the
first drilled by this firm, has the
largest production yet Lound on the
farm and it is coming firm depth
If 1880 feet.
The reason for the presence OF "il
in the limestone is not known, bn
he matter has been given consider
ablc study by geologists and field
operators and a number of plausible
heories have been advanced.
Fred Platt of the Northern Oil In
formation bureau points out that it
is well known that the Ellis sand
varies in porocity, being so tight in
some places that oil cannot migrate
through it. He suggests that the top
If the Madison limestone, for depth
If 200 or more feet, may be so chan
nelled that when the oil strikes a
tight sand it is forced into these
channels and comes to the contact
lgain at another point. None of the
large wells so far completed in the
ime.
Platt is of the apinion that if this
the true condition, all of the wells
IN a lease cannot be expected to pro
duce in the lime as this would re
luire the lime to be porous at I'll
points. Limestone does nol weather
" erode so that it would be possible
for the oil to run through it, he as
serts, but it is possible that channels |
may have been created by circu- |
lation of underground waters.
New Producers
-Four of the eight wells completed |
in the last week are commercial pro-
ducers, two are dry holes and the
others are gassers. The only other
flowing we'll drilled in was the Home
stake Exploration corporations No
IL well on it's state lease. This had
an initial production of 1880 barrels
from a stray sand. Although it is
admitted that the company undoubt-
edlv would get one of the largest
wells yet completed in the field if
drilling were continued to the Madi-
son contract the well is SO good as it
now stands that it will not be drilled
deeper until the present production
falls off considerably.
The Zenith-Orcutt No. l found sui
phur water in the Ellis formation,
but it is planned to drill deeper in
search of oil if it is possible to re-
cover a lost bit. The Sunburst sand
was dry. This well is considerably
south of the main producing field
and while no oil was found there
we're two gas sands in the Colorado
,hale which are producing approx
nately 100000 feet of gas daily.
The Kal-Mont Oil company has
.igged up in Sc NV sw 82-96-2 e and
IS expected to spud in imediately
The Loy Oil company is building
zig for test in sw sw sw 20-36-2e.
Both of these wells will be drilled
IN the same structure, a dome near
he sweetgrass hills. The Red Top
Carroll well in section 1868 is
1rlling at around 300 feet but the
Rell.Fev No. 1, which has reached a
1epth of 1000 feet, is still shut down
No work has been done on the
Sand PointlBerger well in Glacier
county since it was shut down after
good showing of oil was found in a
stray sand at 2,4S5. y