The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1935-04-12

Do you know what doodle
bug" Is?
It Is the oil and gas trades name
for the man who thinks ne has de-
vised an instrument which will To-
cate these two under surface sub
stances. To date there have been
many "doOdle-bugs" and all have
ended up the same way, carrying
away with them the money and
fantastic ideas of their hackers.
The geologist with his minute
studies still holds the respect Of the
big companies and it is he whose
reports bear weight.
failing somewhat with the
geologist are the sample -grabbers.'
They are the persons who, when a
well il drilled. collect the various
fossils lining the under surface and
send them 10 laboratories for ex-
animation.
Placed under the microscope,
these fossils are studied and COM
pared with fossils from other gas
and oil fields.
Fossils Of Various Sizes
These fossils. incidentally. are of
various sizes and dimensions The
largest one found thus far is what
is known as the Exoygera Texana
Roema. a circular piece about five
feet in diameter.
Gas wells and oil wells are quite
different You can make an oil
strike and transport the oil TO
market by tank cars or storage
tanks But with gas you just have
to wait until some pipeline COM
pany feels benevolent enough to
come in and buy the product from
you The little fellow wants action
for his money. but he doesn't get IL
so readily with gas
The first thing one does when ne
wants to drill for gas is to get title
to the land on which he intends 10
operate The most common method,
amounting almost TO a standard. is
for the potential driller to nego-
tiate lease with the property
owner.
He pays to the owner Of the land
a yearly rental for each acre at
the time the lease is signed. In
addition the contract provides that
-eighthS of the revenue re-
ceived from the we'll will 60 TO the
driiIer and the remaining one
eighth to the owner of the land. In
addition bonuses are paid in many
instances at the time the lease is
arranged.
Large Firms Take Blocks
1t does not necessarily follow that
drilling will commence Immediately
after the contamination of the
lease Large companies which seek
to build up their gas acreage take
up blocks Of land years before the
territory is tapped Thus. they gain
a certain measure of security. The
owner Of the land. however. is COM
pensated for this by the receipt of
about 81 an acre year so long as
the area is not tapped.
Let's assume that the latter does
not occur. but that lease has been
arranged and the company is about
to drill.
The actual work OF drilling is
either done by the company itself.
or by a drilling contractor. who is
paid a certain sum per foot drilled
A crew of workers clear the land.
A steel or wooden rig. which is the
framework OF the entire operation.
is constructed. Meanwhile. the work
ers are improviSing a little house
that will shield them from the wind
and the flying mud once actual
drilling begins.
This job completed, the rigging
up" begins. All of the drilling
equipment. comprising engines. tools
and various supplies are moved into
the rig itself assembled and pus to
work. Now they are ready to drill.
Three crews working in eight hour
$ Is will be in attendance until
tie well is brought in.
Work for so Days
Standing aside we notice that the
rig itself rises about ll2 feet in the
air. a height which permits the
various drilling instruments to gain
momentum and be driven into the
ground. A string of drilling tools
consists Of bit, stem. jars and rope
socket.
This inceSSant pulling driving and
Straining goes on for days; some
times for as long as 90 DAYS. Per-
hapS the instruments have driven
down 2400 feet before the porous
rock. or pay sand, which contains
the gas. is struck. Atop and below
the gas formation is a hard rock
substance which encaSeS the gas.
Sometimes a charge is sent down in
the we'll and this hard formation is
broken 10 permit the gas to flow
more freely. This is known as
shooting the we'll
After the we'll has been shot. II is
cleared. Then tubing is lowered I'M
I'll it reaches the bottom of the we'll
Gate valves are installed on the top
OF the tubing. The gates are then
closed and the we'll is Shut-in, after
which the rig is customarily re-
moved.
Now the we'll may be tapped by a
pipe line company and the gas
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