Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1940-02-03

has IS 'H years Of lfq history. d it is pos
sibe to begin to draw some con-
illusions as 10 its true importance. 1t is
also possible to begin drawing some in
telligent conclusions as to the future. With
a production record covering it's first
100000 of production, Montana
has arrived at that point.
Last week we Figured from the pro-
duction totals of the several fields the
yield per we'll in each field, to give some
idea as to the average return per we'll
Misunderstanding dry holes gases and
Dry holes are part of the cost of the
drilling business and they can be paid
for only by oil production, therefore it
is necessary to use them in arriving at
the average yield per well drilled.
1t was apparent that the average well
in each field, possibly excepting Dry
Greek. has paid a comfortable profit on
every well drilled. The average we'll in
Kevin-Sunburst field proper has produc-
ed $25,51S worth of oil 1t is an in
teresting fact that we figured the LIFE
of wells in this field as Is years and a
large majority of the wells are still
producing: some of them producing more
oil than they did when they were first
drilled in, thanks to acidization
That points out to the investor that the
oil industry is one in which rapid strides
are being made by science. We hear
much about the exhaustion of oil fields
but frankly we have yet to hear of an oil
field being abandoned. Back in Pennsyl
vana the oldest oil fields are being re-
vived by modern methods Of repressur-
ing and flooding and acidizing and many
wells are making more oil today, as re-
suit, than original wells drilled so years
ago.
Have all the methods of increasing pro-
duction been found? 1t is a ridiculous
suggestion for scarcely a day passes when
we do not hear of some new innovation
in production methods. 1t is a fact that
science did not turn its attention to the
oil industry until after Montana started
to produce OIL which is fairly recent
history. 1t was during the world war
that the world awakened to the i'm
portance of petroleum. and the highest
priced talent in the world is now de-
voted to studying methods of more
efficient and more economical petroleum
production. This work has scarcely be-
gun. All the other sciences are being
turned to profitable application in the
oil industry Not only has chemistry
provided revolutionary methods in both
plOuuNllOn anu IGAlulu6 uuL nOW even
electrical science is applying its latest
to the discovery and devel-
Opment of oil pools, as in the use of
gamma rays in electrical logging Of oil
wells
Governor Payne E. Rather Of Kansas,
speaking befort the Interstate Oil Com
pact Commission. said:
Scientific exploration methods now
assure production of oil in two out of
every three wells drilled In some in
stances, production is from depths as
great as 1900 feet Refinery processes
nave been constantly improved. Under
he improved cracking system now used
~ refineries, the amount of gasoline OBJ
ainable from a given quantity of crude
las been doubled. This increase in re-
fnery efficiency has resulted in the saw
ng of eleven billion barrels of oil since
1920, which represents an oil reserve
equivalent to a ten year supply.
THE great industry has Been devel-
ped under a system of private enter