Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1941-01-11

tions-then we begin to realize what a
difference some drilling will make.
The situation win never become as
discOUraging in Montana as it was in
Illinois. In the year 1908. Illinois had
"A peak production of $4,000 barrels
per day. Thereafter the flow ceased and
the Illinois wells dropDed off to shippers
and the production of the state was in
significant. An, investor might have
bought ND the oil royalties on the whole
countryside for a few dollars because
everyone was convinced that the Illinois
on industry was thing Of the past.
But early in 1887. after the old wells
had all but ceased to produce Illinois
was invaded by MidcOntinent operators
who had observed that DEEPER Drill
LING had brought in the most important
new reserves of the past decade. Deeper
driIIing-in some cases only 200 or
800 Peterborough in such great fields
rs Salem pool. Production rose from
an average of 1900 Dbl. daily in 1897
to SO 600 Dbl. daily in 1898 and to 25S,-
900 Dbl daily in 1880, reaching peak
of $4,000 Dbl. per day in the summer
of 1910.
The thing that brought about this
flood of of was DRILLING. There were
367 wildcats drilled in Illinois in the
first three years Of the revival" start
ing in 1885, bringing in 80 new fields
and extensions of old ones; seven found
gas; 422 were dry.
When we look back at the record Of
futile pointIess validating of the past.
here In Montana. we are surprised at
the remarkable results achieved. We
realize that there are few structures
that will not have to be RE-DRILLSD,
utilizing modern sciences.
Many were drilled off structure.
The science of geophysics COM
bfned with geology win in the future
avoid these costly errors. Most OF
these structures will be re-drilled.
Many found oil shOwings but these
shOwings were accepted as evidence that
commercial production was absent.
The science of acidization, of ell
ectrical logging and similar meth
DDS in general use today will make
oil fields out of these condemned"
areas.
Few wells were drilled deep enough.
Scores of wells were drilled mere
" to the Eagle sandstone. 100 to
1000 feet above the nearest CONNER
cial oil horizons; hundreds of wells
were drilled merely to the top of
the Kootenai and shallower hori-
IONS still 400 to 500 feet off the
principal known producing hori-
zon at the top of the Madison lime.
Although the Turner Valley hori-
zon is known to everyone to be be-
low the top of Madison lime; and al
though everyone knows that there
is oil in undetermined quantities in
the Devonian and lower horizons,
the Montana wells that have been
drilled through the Madison lime can
be counted on the fingers of the
hands OF these there is not one
that did not have one or more show
ings of oil which, through acidiza-.
ton. might have been made produc-
tive
That is the picture of the Montana oil
industry today. 1t affords rOseate fu-
ture to the investor who can guess from
the events of the past what may hap
pene in the future.
Those of us who have shared in
more than 100000 of royalties on
the Baker farm in Kelvin field; those
of us who saw the royalties on the
Howling farm sell for $250-and Iv-
ed to see these royalties pay ONE
HUNDRED AND SEVENTY THREE
THOUSAND DOLLARS; those of us
who once refused to pay S. per cent