The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1927-03-24

oil out. How to shut off the water
and permit the oil to run out is prob
lem with which the engineers have
long worked. They have made great
progress and so increased recoveries.
In earlier times most oil producers
carefully guarded all information
about their wells and experiences, but
latterly there is cooperation in these
matters. Biologists and petroleum
engineers, once derided by the 'prac-
ticaP oil men, are more and more
accepted as guides and mentors. New
knowledge is constantly increasing re-
coveries.
As to Mining for Oil
In Lorraine they have dug shafts
down ito the oil sands and actually
brought the sands out, like coal from
mine. But it's costly.
Another mining process is to sink a
shaft to the oil sands and from its
bottom drive tunnels in all directions
through the sands. From these tun-
nels small perforated pipes are driven
into the sands, which drain the oil
out of the sands. 1t flows to larger
pipes back at the foot of the shaft and
thence is pumped out. This requires
installing an expensive plant, but in
some fields the high recovery that is
assured might justify the cost |
understand the process IS about to be
| installed in few fields in this coun-
| try, some companies being convinced
| it is practicable and profitable.
Oil can be distilled from coal, and
much work is now being done
! along this line. But more appeal has
been made by the plan Of extracting
oil from shale. The shales of Scotland
have been worked for three-quarters
of century, and they are almost un-
limited in this country, richer in oil
than those of Scotland. Kentucky,
Ohio, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Wyo-
ming and California are particularly
rich in shales. 1t is just question
of the cost of extracting the oil. Con-
gress has given S1S0,000, with which
the Bureau has installed a plant near
Rulison, Colorado, to distill oil from
the Colorado River Shales. 1t is
calculated that the shales mined at
Rulison will produce about a barrel
of oil to the ton.
The Use of Oil Shales
In Scotland they are working shales
that produce about twenty-five gallons
of oil per ton. The seams are from
three-and,a-half to eight or ten feet
thick. In Colorado are seams many
times as thick and containing much
more oil per ton. Reduction Of shales
involves an enormous mining opera
ton, and after the oil Is extracted the
vast tonnage of refuse must be dis
posed Of So 1t is expensive compared
with producing oil from wells.
Ben E. Lindsey of the Bureau Of
Mines Experiment Station at Bartles-
vile, OKLA, is confident that explora-
ton, better recoveries, better utiliza-
ton and deeper drilling would furnish
enough oil to meet all requirements
for at least twenty-five to fifty years,
! IL 1t could be extracted in that time.
But as a practical matter this will not
be possible. Within that period there
will be times of shortage, when oil
from shales will be needed to supple
ment the oil from wells, etc.
Meantime federal and state govern
ments and the industry are co-operat.
ing in an astonishing range Of inves-
legations and studies. These activities
cover such a wide field that even an
enumeration Of them would run into
| Liresome detail
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