Show oil 01 1 and hydrocarbons hydro carbons in utah by br A IT TAYLOE the past year in oil and special hydrocarbons gilsonite tabb and has not witnessed any radical cha changes figes except perhaps that there is greater activity in the search for prospective oil and oil sli ales renewed activity in oil there has been considerable renewed activity in utah during 1916 partly owing to the high prices of oil and partly due to the fact that the extraordinary development in wyoming has taught the eastern oil producers that the intermountain region outside 0 of wyoming has great possibilities for oil production two new companies have been organized to operate in the juab fields south of nephi one company to finish the two wells started several years ago and the other to operate farther south and west the exposure of vast beds of shale bearing oil of a base both on the east and west sides of the valley give strong probability that oil is to be found somewhere either on the east or west anticline several oil experts have examined the southern end of sanpete county west and south of manti and have pronounced the region as interesting to oil men and suggest that the country be given closer and more detailed examination iby by oil men interested in new developments there has also been renewed activity in the opening up of the asphalt oil springs in great salt lake one spring being located on the edge of bear river bay on the east side of promontory and another on the west side the oil coming up from crevices in the formation out in the lake these occurrences curren ces furnish interesting features for oil geologists A company which has been operating in the north end of cache county has one well down feet gas in considerable sid erable quantities has been encountered its purpose is to drill deeper to strike what is claimed to be a large oil horizon which is said to be indicated by exposures in the shape of oil bearing shale on the hanks flanks of the wasatch in the uinta basin country also in west of the rangeley district and around vernal there has been little doing the last year some oil locations were filed but practically no drilling such also is the case in the san juan field the large oil opera operators tora are rather adverse to undertaking oil development on government land due to the present uncertain situation regarding titles in several instances oil men have refused to undertake drilling on the ground which their experts reported upon favorably due salt lake of the cirni of richards Rich aids taylor engineers to the fact that it was land it is to be hoped that the federal leasing bill will furnish relief so that utah will get her share of new capital for opening up her prospective oil territory most alost of the prospective oil territory in utah is in unsettled regions and the title to the land still remains in the government production chiments Shi ments of have been about normal during the year the long wagon haul discourages any new development so far as markets are concerned and hence reacts re acts on the production A number of new uses for have been discovered in the last year one use is for a prepared flooring this preparation has all the qualities of the itself that is it is firm tough and has the quality of hard rubber its wearing qualities are tetter better even than cement the preparation has been used on the board walks at atlantic city its depots and other public places it is also claimed that a cheap solvent has veen been discovered for which if true would greatly increase its use the difficulty in the past has been to put it in form for convenient use heretofore it has been expensive and difficult to reduce to a liquid without destroying its good qualities normal output of gilsonite shipments of gilsonite during the year have been about normal the production has been slightly less than before the war the german market having been entirely shut off however several german firms have had representatives in the field arranging for contracts in anticipation of peace during the year they state that the requirements in germany will be on a large scale as soon as the war is over operations one compi compiano any the wasatch company is now operating near soldier summit utah producing there lave have been a number of difficulties to overcome but the information is given that they are now in shape to go ahead and produce on a considerable scale the territory extends from near tucker in utah county to near colton about sixteen miles easterly from tucker it is anticipated that under the new process worked out by this company that the production of will continue even after the war when prices will drop somewhat there have been no shipments of tabby ite during the past year the utah hydrocarbon company owning the deposits of this material has ha ceased shipments of the same and does not intend to renew until better railway facilities are provided the wagon haul takes off too much of the profits if all reports are true the denver rio grande railway will start to build a branch into the uinta basin where these deposits are situated during the coming coining year surveys for the railway have all been completed and filed in tho land office A new hydrocarbon hydro carbon A new hydrocarbon hydro carbon deposit called Bruin ite is now being opened up the utah asphalt company and taylor rich ards company of salt lake city have been developing this deposit for a number of years and during that period they have been devising and working out a cheap process for refining the material the process has now been perfected and arrangements are being made for the location of a large refining plant near sunnyside Sunny side utah this material will take the place of gilsonite and for many uses such as the making of rubber high grade paints roofing ete eio importance of oil the greatest activity in new development ment of the special hydrocarbons hydro carbons has been with the oll oil A number of companies have been organized to produce oil from the one company intends to operate on the great shale beds near soldier summit and another company on the beds near colton utah there are many deposits of oil shale in utah the deposits are almost continuous from a point a few miles above thistle utah county in spanish fork canyon to a point near colton utah a distance of about thirty miles there are large deposits in sanpete county from a point near ephraim south toward salina in sevier county also large deposits in the uinta basin country and around price also the deposits mentioned above south of nephi in juab county in view of the fact that utah possesses such extensive deposits of oil and the largest deposits of asphalt it must point to a number of large oil horizons somewhere within its boundaries it would pay the oil operators who are looking for new territory to give utah a careful examination it is much more profitable to be a pioneer in a good field than to come in later when prices are high and drilling territory difficult to obtain |