Show oil operations in spring valley alley V field BY WILL C HIGGINS A few years ago the union pacific railroad company in sinking a well in spring valley sixteen miles east of evanston uinta co wyoming for the purpose of obtaining a water supply for locomotive use encountered a large flow of oil the fact is still fresh in the memory of those in any iv way y interested in oil pro as is the further fact that the well was immediately capped and all knowledge of the discovery denied this however did not dampen the ardor of those who fully realized the importance of the find and dis pite many obstacles it was not long before much of the land along the oil bearing belt had been located upon by experienced men who were confident in the belief that here in the heart of the desert was the making of an oil producing field which would in time equal if not eclipse the splendid records made by many of the done until the beginning of october of last year when the texas king oil company headed by J C roberts fully alive to possibilities ties offered acquired a large tract of ground in the proven zone and began operations erat ions the texas king oil Coni company pany first or aspen sand was encountered at a depth of feet the sand being penetrated to a depth OL nine feet the well was started at the surface with a 10 i inch hole the diameter diminishing to 6 inch at the bottom it has since been demonstrated that the aspen sand has a thickness of sixty feet when p 40 1 7 at i Q oil districts of 0 pennsylvania among the first to get a foothold in the spring valley field was the pittsburg salt lake oil conti company finy which brought in a number of producers produce ro constructed a pipeline and installed a refinery for some time this company was the only active concern in the district and the panic of three years ago coming on but little development was well no 1 texas king oil company this company now has a holding of 1680 acres which lies a mile and a half north of the refinery of the pittsburg salt lake oil company and adjoining the domain of the pittsburg company drilling operations with a standard rig having a sinking capacity of feet was begun by the texas king company in october 1910 and the the well was first bro brought ugilt in it had a flow of barrels daily now however its regular flow is forty five b barrels a r r e I 1 s daily in the course of sixty days well no 1 as it is designated will be sunk to the limit of the first sand or strata which should greatly increase its production well no 2 located feet north of well no 1 was started in the middle of december last and the well was brought in about new years the top 0 of f the oil bearing sand was struck at a depth of feet and the bore was continued through the sand a distance of sixty feet or more giving a total depth of feet f this is a stronger well than no 1 and although it flowed a little when first brought in it is in reality a pumping proposition ion and is now pumping sixty barrels of oil daily the company will start another well about the fir first st of february production and market the gross production of the two wells of the texas king company is approximately barrels of oil daily well no 1 paid for itself within a period of six weeks after it was drilled and its daily output is now nearly all clear profit while well no 2 will have paid for the initial cost of its bringing in in by the time this issue of the mining review goes to press the oil from both wells is conducted into storage tanks and is delivered to the railroad through the president al W isherwood treasurer and E W secretary the roberts oil company encouraged by the success attending the operations of the texas king oil company the members of the company quite recently secured a tract of ground in the same locality and are now drilling for oil this enterprise has been incorporated under we name of the roberts oil company which has obtained control of acres ing the texas king hoi holdings dings on the north WHIM I 1 A J 4 t f 7 Y officers and visitors at texas king oil well no I 1 pipeline of the pittsburg salt lake oil company by whom the oil is purchased and resold to the utah oil refining company of salt lake city by whom it is refined the daily expense connected with the operation of the two wells is placed at 5 at the tanks the oil brings a barrel or at the rate of daily or net or monthly figuring on this basis the two wells would produce a small fortune yearly but making allowance for shrinkage it is safe to figure on a yearly net profit of for these two producers and especially so if well no 1 is sunk clear through the oll oil bearing sand and the yield will in all probability hold out for years another factor connected with the possibilities of a greatly increased future production is the fact that two more oil bearing sands exist at greater depth the second sand exists at a depth of about 1100 feet and the third at 1550 feet with a nuin number of wells ells on a productive basis and all three sands yield about the same grade of oil the company will undoubtedly be on a regular and quite heavy dividend paying standing the company is very modestly capitalized the capital stock consisting of shares of a par value of 1 each J C roberts is president J J vice south and west at a point feet west of the texas king well no 1 a well Ws was started on the of the present month with a standard rig the company expects to get oil in the first sand at a depth of about feet by february and is making excellent progress in drilling operations A phenomenal success an unusual feature connected with the operations and success of the texas king oil company exists in the fact that but little was generally known concerning this enterprise ter prise until a producing well was brought in no stir was made no trumpets were blown and no effort was made to interest capital to attract thel the attention of the public until after success had crowned the initial efforts of the association when this stage was reached however no financial assistance was needed or requested for the company was on a producing and paying basis this is an instance where a few staunch citizens banded themselves together and led by a master hand achieved the nucleolus nu cleous of a fortune almost before their friends realized the scope of their operations erat ions the grand possibilities already within their grasp from the beginning the direction of the affairs of the texas king oil company has been under the direct management and su pervasion per vision of mr J C roberts and the successes already chronicled chronic led are very largely due to his ability and extended experience in oil drilling operations mr roberts was brought up in the oil fi fields elds of pennsylvania and for twenty five years has operated in the oil bearing regions of new york west virginia ohio indiana illinois oklahoma texas colorado and california also in canada judging by long experience and after years of successful operation mr roberts is of the opinion that the spring valley oil field will develop into one of the greatest money makers ever found since the early history of the pennsylvania fields A close working policy the texas king oil company and the roberts oil company whose interests are so intertwined and fuu mutual are working together in the greatest of harmony together they occupy one camp and thus secure economy and efficiency the camp of the company has been established at a point about 2000 feet from the wells here boarding and bunk houses have been constructed ted in addition there is an office and two cottages have been built for regular employed emp loyes A large barn is included in the list of accommodations besides blacksmith and repair shops corral and sheds A fine natural spring supplies the best of water for camp purposes the camp is connected with evanston by telephone the two companies jointly own a water system which supplies the boilers at the drilling rigs and furnishes the water necessary for drilling operations the water is derived from a well 2000 feet distant the water being piped to the wells and conducted 1 du acted into tanks having storage capacity of 2000 barrels gas from the wells is used in the fur 17 11 hl XZ 4 drilling rig on property of rob LS is oil company naces under the boilers so that fuel cost is hardly worth mentioning other producers in the field among the other pro producers acers in the field which are worthy of note and which have been in successful operation might well be mentioned the pittsburg salt lake oil company the standard reserve and the international consolidated oil company there are two refineries in the district the one installed by the pittsburg salt lake oil company and the leroy the latter being located six miles northeast of spring valley another refinery to be put in by boulder colorado people will soon be in active commission greater activity anticipated early in march it is stated several eastern oil companies will begin drilling operations in the spring valley field included in the number being the manhattan oil company the alleghany allegheny Alleg hany oil company the tiona petroleum company and the bradford oil company whose properties adjoin and sur PW f V texas king no I 1 flowing well manager J 0 roberts figuring out profits round the holdings of the texas king and the roberts oil companies in addition there gre are the home oil company of evanston the operators cooperators co high gravity oil company of illinois and colorado the los an geles wyoming oil company the penn drilling company and the ohio river oil company the manhattan oil company J in n which mr roberts is interested came into the field soon after the texas king no 1 well was brought in and secured over acres adjoining texas king ground the company will begin operation with two standard rigs and it is the intention to operate upon a large and extensive scale I 1 this spring an and coming dooming summer analysis of spring valley oil following is an analysis of spring valley oil made by dr F crude oil color olive green specific s gravity at 60 degrees F the crude flashes at a temperature below 60 degrees F it consists mainly of paraffin hydrocarbons with small quantity of products the distillation yields the following percentage in commercial products per cent naphtha 60 degrees F gasoline and benzine water white kerosene 45 degrees baume degrees flash degrees fire test lubricating reduced stock degrees baume signal and headlight 40 degrees baume degrees fire test 70 1000 the cold test of the crude oil is 58 degrees F and the amount of crystallized draffin that was present in the lubricating stock is per cent two gallons of state geologist knight of nebraska has discovered a new substance in spring valley oil a product of excellent value which he terms of which there are two gallons to a barrel of oil at the market price of tile the professor is ia quoted as saying this would make the oil worth about 12 a barrel on account of it alone |