Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1940-06-29
MONTANA OIL FUTURE
IN CURRENT ILLINOIS NEWS

with an initial of 767 bbl., completed
last December. DevOnian production is
now up to $4,000 barrels per day.
The Devonian will be found in Kelvin
Sunburst at from $500 to 3400 feet,
which again is quite similar to Illinois.
Now comes the discovery in the center
of the Centralia pool of Ordovician pro-
duction. The Trenton lime we'll is A.
600 feet deep and after it was acidized
with 1000 gallons of acid it swabbed
and flowed 113 barrels of oil in 16 hours.
The presence of oil in the Trenton
lime of Ordovician age has long been
known in Illinois. None would risk
the cost of drilling to that depth, until
now. That parallels the present situa-
ton in Montana Many a wildcat well
has been drilled deeper than the depth
required to test the Devonian AND Ordo-
vician in Montana, only to end up in the
Cat Creek horizon (Sunburst sand in
Kelvin and Cut Bank). Drilling in one
of Montana's proven fields, wildcat
to this depth would be almost certain to
get oil. and to achieve greatness for the
discovered of commercial Devontan pro-
duction, yet Montana has none who will
risk the attempt.
In Illinois the local operators were
afraid to make the DevoniOn test.
IL took a Montanan-LOu Lilly, for
merIy of Kevin-to brave the perils
Of drilling through the ''big linle".
Perhaps Montana needs an Illinois
producer to come to this state and
pioneer the lower horizons.
It is an interesting fact that oil has
been produced from the Trenton lime IN
Illinois for IL years but the production
was very small, in the Dupo field. The
production there comes from 50-foot
lime, little way in from the top of the
formation.
Here in Montana operators will not
even test the Turner Valley horizon,
which is near the bottom of the Madi-
son lime. Montana's principal produc-
ing horizon is at the TOP of the Madi-
son lime with it's largest wells completed
IN the Madison lime, all less than 800
feet below the lime contact.
We think 1t possible that some opera
tor is going to get "oil hungry enough
SO that he will not quit drilling when he
reaches the Madison lime He will start
out to get the Devonian but he will
acidize and test the soft spots in the lime
as he goes down and will probably end
up by stopping with a big well at the
Turner Valley horizon.
A geologist who was this week check
ing up on the log of the Kitchen we'll
drilled in Section 3-S4N-1W, was very
much interested in the records of the
Northern Oil Information Bureau which
recorded a showing of oil in a break
in the lime, corresponding with the
Turner Valley oil horizon, at depth of
1900 feet The well log shows 20 feet
of porous material That well was drill
led many years before the science of aci-
dization was known. The chances are
good that acid would burn that lime at
terrific rate and possibly bring in
greater wells than even Turner Valley
has known.
We never lose an opportunity,
when talking to geOIOgist, to pry
out some information which we may
capitalize in the purchase of roy
aIties. We discussed the production
of oil on the west flank of Kelvin,
commenting ON the sensational wells
in the Dahlquist pool, the Filing
SON pool, the Rimrock pool and
oilers, all of which are low on the
west flank of the field. Then we
asked: