Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1937-06-26

great Standard of Indiana who not only
guaranteed the world that there would
never be any oil produced in Montana,
but he also agreed to drink all the oil
ever produced in this state. He is a bit
behind on his drinking and at last re-
ports was in safe refuge in South America.
Then they told us that rotary drills
wouldn't work in Montana. They work
fine in the soft shales of every other
oil state but they won't work in Montana,
we were told. But as we lived to see
oil produced In Montana, we have seen
rOtaries successfully used in this state,
although that is a Development still
in its infancy.
They told us that whereas every other
developed oil state finds its greatest
oil pools BELOW the lime, that such
could not happen in Montana. Yet we
have lived long enough to see some oil
taken from the Devonian-BELOW the
Madison lime. And that is something
for the future.
For years they have been telling us
that geOphysical methods would not work
in Montana. Again, it is the cOnsOiida-
ted masses which barred rotary drilling,
that alIegedIy stand in the way of sue
cessfuI use OF geOphysics. A big COM
pany geoIOgfst told us less than 10 days
ago that geophysical methods won't work
in Montana They work in Colorado;
have been eminiently successful i'm WyOm-
in the DaIkotas, east of Montana, and are
being used extensively I'm Alberta, north
of Montana BUT THEY WON'T WORK
IN MONTANA, we were told.
AT the time of this conversation re-
ferred to, when we were advised by the
geOIOgist that geOphysicaI prospecting
isn't what it ought to be, we did not
know that a big geophysicaI crew was
en- route to Montana RETURNING FROM
AN EXTENSIVE SURVEY IN SOUTH
ERN ALBERTA, where formations are
precisely the same those in Montana
and similar to those in Wyoming and
Colorado.
So perhaps we will live long enough to
dispel another chilling bit of propaganda
regarding the 'sfmpOssibiIities'' In Mon
tana oil industry. At any rate, we who
indulge In the occasional purchase of
piece of land on a suspected oil structure
or a part of the landowners share of
the oil i'm such farm, need not worry.
We can enjoy the settlement of the ar
gument from the sidelines. If geOphysi-
cal methods succeed In Montana, we may
be able TO pick up a royalty here and
there, before a well is drilled. If geo
physical methods do not succeed, we will
continue to pin our faith in the "rOck
hounds'' who have done pretty well by
MS in the past.
For the present we need not venture
outside of proven ground for our roy
atty investments, If we do not want to.
The science Of acidizatiOn has given us
the greatest opportunities of this life
time. in Kevin-Sunburst. We were for
tunate in that we knew something about
acidization before it arrived. We had
been watching results obtained i'm Mfchi-
gan for a long time before the first gall
lon OF acid was applied to well I'm
Montana. We heraIded the use of acid
i'm Michigan and we believe that this
column contained the first comment on
,e possibilities Of acid application ever
printed in this state.
We are going to issue bulletins from
time to time reporting progress ON the
geOphysicaI prospecting for those Of our
members who are particularly interested.
AS is customary, these publications will
be sent only to those who request that
their names be placed ON a special list
to receive publications pertaining to geo.
physical prospecting. A lot of the ''hOrse
and buggy members viii be content to
stick to the Old-fashioned principles,
Others viii want to prepare for future
investments by keeping abreast of this
newest method of prospecting for oil.