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Show April 14, 1969 OIL & MINING JOURNAL Page 5 ivity ices of Crude Oil Are Being Lifted tory drilling; to as. many as 250 wells this year from only 80 in 1968. Venture capital spending on exploration and development, he asserts, will soar to more than $100 million from last year's $20 million. Richard L. Ray, a vice president of Fair Oil Co., Tyler, Texas, declares that practically increase that we an all of the ticipate receiving will be flowed into additional searches for oil searches that cant be made without an increase. T. H. McCasland, chairman of Mack Oil Co., Duncan, Okla., concurs the "price increases are going to be a great help to the independents. Asserts Mrv McCasland : ' "Without we havent been able to do the explorathem, tion we used to do, or the exploration we want to do now. Another Independent with expanded sights is Warren Morton, of Casper, Wyo., who estimates the crude oil price increase will boost his profit about 25 in 1969. Mr. Morton says the depressed prices of recent years forced him to cut back his drilling operations from about 20 wells five years ago to only five or six wells in each of the past three years. Now with the crude oil price rise, though, be has already deal. "started raising money for a that should be money Raising considerably 10-we- ll easier. Edward Montieth, executive vice president for petroleum and minerals at Republic National Bank of Dallas, estimates that a 20 cent-- a --barrel increase In crude oil prices could add 15 cents a barrel to the value of an inde pendents oil reserves, which are usually pledged as collateral for loans. Such crease could enable independents alone to borrow an additional $40 year, or $120 million in three-yea- r says. a price in- in Texas million a notes, he Tom Waggoner, a Wichita Falls, Texas, businessman who raises money from private investors to help finance fixe independents, sees his volume picking up significantly as a result of the price rise. . Too Little, Too Late for Some For some Independents, though, the crude oil price rise is too little and too late. Mr. Clinton of Clinton Oil estimates that 50 of the nations independent oil companies have gone out of business in the past 10 years "and I dont think this increase will make it possible for any of them to come back. One of .his employes, he notes, is a geologist who once was an Independent oil producer. "I know he wont go back, Mr. Clinton 20-ce- declares. In Artesla, N.M., S. P. Yates, president of Yates Petroleum Oorp., shares the view. "I wouldnt even consider getting hack into the drilling business unless crude prices went up ' another 20 or 30 cents, he states. Jeff Bracken, a rancher who also heads up Bracken Oil Co., declares, "The price paid for crude would have to go up 50 cents a barrel for me to do less ranching and more exploring (for oil) . According to Harold McClure, president of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, a trade group representing 5,000 independents, the crude oil price should be raised at lease one cent a gallon, or 42 cents a barrel, to get the industry generally and the independents in particular back to wildcat-tin- u g. Back to Wildcatting The oil companies that announced the crude price rises were trying to do just that get the, The historic Golden Spike of Promontory fame is coming home to Utah for a visit. State officials will go to Sacramento on April 25 to become guardians of the Golden Spike. They will accept the treasure from California's state government at the cli- independents back to wildcatting. U.S. oil well drilling slumped 32 in 10 years to 32,450 wells last year from 47,772 in 1958. The independents have been responsible for all of that decline; the major oil companies that do their own refining have actually increased their exploratory efforts in the past 10 years. According to the American Petroleum Insti- tute, an industry association, the independents max of Sacramentos Centennial celebration. In the Utah party will be Clyde L. Miller, secretary of state; Hugh C. Bringhurst, director of Utah State Division Expositions, and Nathan H. Mazer, field director of the National Golden Spike Centennial Commis- . car. It will go on display in the Gold .Horan of the Utah State Capitol wh&e it will remain until the centennial reenactment of the joining of the rails of Promontory Summit, May 10. It will be returned to the Gold Room for a period following the celebration. It will be returned to its owner, Palo Stanford University, Alto, later in the summer. in The spike will be exhibited Sacramento April 18-2- 5. nt to $3.2 billion. Texaco, in announcing the initial price crease, said "the number erf new-fiel- d ds 1967. Core Drilling Wire Line or Standard Air or Mud Rotary Mine Underground Long Hole Drilling Cable Tool Water Wells or Sampling the spike is on disin Utah, a pictorial display play, "One Hundred Years of While Railroads, will be on view in the Capitol Rotunda sponsored by the Union Pacific Railroad. The display will also include a selection of oil paintings on railroad themes, commissioned by Union Pacific for use in the companys 1969 pictorial calendar. LATEST TYK equipment I . SKILLED personnel -- Phone Springvilb Long Distance 489-480- 0 CONSTRUCTION & DRILLING 104S W. MAKE CO. MAPIETON Bruch Offices: 590 W. 19th SL, wildcat Texaco said, "there has been a serious decline in the rate at which new reserves of crude petroleum and natural gas liquids are being added to total U.S. reserves. Said Texaco: "Just to meet requirements and maintain the present relationship of reserves to annual production, the industry will have to find 75 billion barrels of new reserves more than during the 1968-8- 0 period, two-thir1955 to 45 from billion discovered barrels the ALL TYPES TEST HOLES IN ALL WESTERN STATES The historic Golden Spike will come to Utah. in- well drilling fell in 1967 to the lowest level since 1949 and was about 40 below the record 8,742 wells drilled in 1956. Because of this drop, TESYDORINGS sion. The Golden Spike will come back to Utah by rail as it did for the original performance of the Driving of the Golden Spike. The Southern Pacific tram will arrive in Ogden at 9:05 a.m., April 26. Utah officials, including Gov. Calvin L. Hampton, will meet the train and return in a motorcade to Salt Lake City. The spike will travel in a special armored cut their outlays for exploration and development by 40 between 1958 and 1967 to $1.2 billion, at a time when the majors were increasoutlays 39 ing their exploration-developme- liiki Fills, Idiha 3418 Wistiri Aw., Baisi, IfelM |