Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1938-01-08

Ition'' for the oil industry. Though
this code Is not enforceable as q
law OF itself, It represents, never
theless, what the industry as a whole
feels to be just, ethical, and equit-
able. Restraining laws are written
and enforced when conditions with
out them become intOlerable The
| innumerable restraints under which
| life is lived and business conducted
today and which are accepted by
all citizens as right and proper
were made law as a result of exis-
tent harmful conditions. We believe
this to be especially true Of the
oil industry, and permitting econo-
mic and physical waste by the un-
restrained action OF individuals or
! corporations has been outlawed in
nearly all the oil producing states.
Equitable pr0ration with protec-
ton of stripper wells has been the
solution of the most serious Of the
oil producers problems, and can be
of inestimable service in our state.
The present condition in our state
oil industry can but prove to be
adverse to most operators and a
detriment to the community, even
though it may enable some com
panies and individuals to prosper.
Stripper Wells
Flush production of an oil we'll
rapidly declines. 1t sinks and
levels out on a production curve
until in a few years it is a stripper
we'll The Montana State Bureau
of Mines says of the Kelvin field
that the larger wells decline at the
end of two years to one fifth of
their initial production. The small
Ter wells level off more slowly, but
with some exceptions this may be
stated asa rule Numbers of wells
drilled over a period of years and
gradually reducing to stripper pro-
duction, build up a backlog of
stability and wealth for the COM
munity. Operators may drill out |
pools rapidly under favorable con-
ditions, get back their investment |
and a profit and move to other |
fields and places, but the oil re-
serves which they have created and |
which take the slow process of years |
to remove from the ground, assure
permanence and prosperity to the
community
A barrel of stripper oil is more
to the community from the |
of expenditures made |
therein than many barrels of flush
The 500 stripper wells /
in Kevin-Sunburst have millions of
dollars in them which will be spent
at home if conditions let them live.
In 1884 it was stated by the former
state umpire for oil in oklahoma,
that in the next twenty years in
that state the $4,000 stripper wells 4
there would produce $40 million
barrels of oil, while the $3.50 flush
wells OF the state would produce
425 millions of barrels of oil in
the same period. A member of Il
the Kansas Stripper Well Associa-
ton recently stated to a Congress
sional investigation committee, that
it was claimed the labor employed
in raising ten barrels of stripper
oil per day supported a family of
five.
Long Time Basis
1t is this longtime remainder of
development, a remainder
Of bumpers, well pullers, acid men,
production men, guagers, supply
men, repair men, machine shops.
supply houses, and monthly checks
small though they may he, but
many, that should interest the per
nanent community, and which we
wish to see protected Thousands
Of royalty holders, hundreds of land
owners, and a multitude of small
business men are directly and vi
ally interested in the stability and
1ermance of the stripper wells in
Montana, and in an increase of
If sound development of our oil
on a long time basis.
The present condition of the oil
industry generally, which has been :
lutte satisfactory for the past sew :
,ral years and especially so during
1887, can be attributed largely to
he fact that most oil states have
ealized that their business should
rot be subjected to violent changes