OCR Text |
Show September 15, 1969 OIL & MINING JOURNAL Page 4 Rulison sends shudder through Rockies GRAND VALLEY-Proje- ct Rulison, an explosion twice as powerful as the' atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II, caused the earth to shudder for more than .50 miles in all directions when it was detonated at 3 p.m. last Wednesday. It will be six months before scientists know how successful their experiment was, but the Atomic Enercy Commisstion says such underground nuclear explosions could free enormous amounts of natural gas - about 317 trillion cubic feet - now locked in rock formations thoughout the West. Its intensity, measured on a seismograph 180 miles away in Golden, Colo., showed a reading of 5.5 - about the same as a demaging earth quake - on the Richter scale of earthquake intensity. The AEC said a radiation check at the detonation point moments after the explosion showed there was no leakage of radiation. Only background levels of radiation were recorded, a spokesman said. He added that while small leaks could develop later, tne early checks showed there would be no massive venting. Fear of leaking radiation, that could be carried by water and through the air into mans body, was a major factor in futile protests against the blast that reached the U.S. Supreme Court. About 60 persons staged a. peaceful protest at the site just before the explosion. Sponsors of the project, the AEC and Austral Oil Co., Houston, Tex., have said they feel the 60 billion cubic feet of natural gas that could be freed by Project Rulison may be worth $1.2 billion. The cost of the project is extimated at nearly $7 million, including about $300,000 for a y delay from the original Sept.4 detonation date. Austral six-da- is paying most of the bill. The delays were ordered while scientists waited for a wind blowing to the southeast, so that any possible leaked radiation would be blown to thinly peoulated areas, southeast, so that any possible leaked radiation would be blown to thinly populated areas. site of PROJECT RULISON BLAST triggers rockslide, left, and topples cans six miles from scale at the University of Utahs seismograph explosion. The shock knocked the needle off the a medium-size- d earthquake. nearly 500 miles away. Scientists said the blast was equivalent to Alaska oil lease sale breaks revenue records Continued from Pag c choicest tracts, 1 179 high bids opened and read, the total in bonuses for the state was $828 million. The state hoped for bonus bids averaging $2,200 per acre, but the apparent high bids were more - $2,486 per averaging acre. A bonus bid is money a bidder offers in addition to the base of $1 an acre a year the state collects on oil leases. Hunt Getty representatives apparently had The -- done their homework especially well. Their combines were high bidders on at least four of the No Holes Barred all near a discovery well brought in by British Petroleum. The previous high for an oil lease sale in the United States was $603 million for the Santa Barbara Channel field. The lease bid previous high per-acwas $27,401, in Louisiana, in 1967. It was. the 23rd time Alaska has offered oil land for lease. The total paid for lenses in all previous sales was $97.5 million. A combine of Gulf Oil Corp., British Petroleum Oil Corp. and British Petroleum Alaska Inc., was apparent high bidder on the first six tracts on which bids were read. Total high bids on those six were $95.7 million. A combine of Phillips Petroleum, Mobile and Standard of California, bid $41,230,000 on one 2,560-acr- e tract, a record in an Alaska sale. The sale was picketed by six Eskimos from Barrow, who contended that the North Slope re and its oil should belong exclusively to members of their race - first inhabitants of the bitterly cold area along the of the auditorium, gripping briefcases and presented their envelopes to state officials. A chartered DC8 jet stood by to fly the winning checks to New York banks so the money could begin drawing interest immediately. Arctic Ocean. The state got 1,105 bids on the 179 parcels. Officials were reading bids on each parcel individually - a process that was Each company was required expected to take nine hours. to put up 20 percent of its bid in Altogether, 450,858 acres of with the rest to follow in land are being offered on cash, 10 days. The oilmen brought leases. Oil companies their bankers to the bidding to must pay the state a production approve checks. royalty of 12 percent. Twenty oil magnates flew into Gov. Keith Miller said the sale would lift Alaska from its Anchorage and posted bids early Wednesday after spending the frontier economy. five days on a Alaska will never again be 10-ye- ar past the same, Miller told a municipal auditorium audience of more than 600 persons, most of them representatives of the worlds major oil firms who put up the money. The bids were taken in sealed envelopes. Oilmen and their bankers paraded down the aisle secrecy-cloake- d passenger train in Canada. The train had shuttled 225 miles back and forth from Calgary to Edmonton in Alberta. No one could get on or off and newsmen were not allowed near. Those on board were executives of the Continental Oil Co. and Ashland Oil Co., working out their lease bids Minerals Drilling, Inc. is ready to take on your hole drilling problem, whatever it is and wherever it is. And under the tightest secrecy. Guards were posted between cars and not even the porters were allowed to get off. The train was leased for $10,000 a day, the Canadian National Railway reported. The oilmen left the train in the middle of night and boarded chartered planes for Anchorage. 14-c- ar The secrecy maintained by all the oil firms was tantalizing. Oilmen wouldnt even pick up their name tags until they had posted their sealed bids. They leased full-tim-e open telephone lines to their home offices and 50 extra telephone operators were assigned to handle the volume of calls. The $1 billion Alaska hopes to net from the leases will be put initially into UJS. Treasury securities, one of two investment avenues allowed by state law. The other is bank certificates of deposit, harder to trade because of their longer terms. 10-ye- ar come up with an answer. ..A.-- , INVESTMENT SECURITIES Members Salt Lake Stock Exchange INVEST WITH OUR OVER-THE-COUNT- MARKET SPECIALISTS Salt Lake City 2000 Univ. Club Bldg. 136 E. South Temple Phone: 1 OFFICES: 2050 University Club Building 136 East South Temple Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 P.O. Box 940 Ely, Nevada 89301 6 (702) 2227 River Road' 289-212- 364-197- Las Vegas 1721 L Charleston Blvd. provo 163 N. Univ. Ave. |