Show oil 01 1 and special hydrocarbons hydro carbons BY A V TAYLOR the activity in oil and other hydrocarbons in utah during the year 1917 can be suin summed nied up in a few words A greater interest all along the line over the year 1916 the interest in oil development in the state is growing by leaps and bounds and the most encouraging feature is that the real oil men are the ones who are now taking the lead during the last few months practically every prospective field in the state has been inspected and numerous parties are still in the field perhaps the greatest interest is being displayed in the uintah basin here the attention of the practical oil man naturally turns because of the large deposits of gilsonite and other hydrocarbons which are found within the basin and which are known to have their origin from oil and also because of the existence of large deposits of oil bearing many locations covering oil placers have been made where the anti clines or domes containing oil may be found the deposits of asphalt near vernal which would represent the northeastern edge of the basin the asphalt deposits on the southwestern edge of the basin in whitmore canyon near sunnyside Sunny side both of which are either in the lower wasatch or upper laramie it is difficult to determine which and the fact that the fissures carrying the gilsonite seem to lead down as far as the upper cretaceous would indicate that in all probability the oil filling the gilsonite fissures had its origin from tile the asphalt beds or from the adjacent the asphalt deposits in whitmore canyon are of very great extent about ten miles in length and a thousand feet in thickness with a few layers of shale between the sand strata and extend to an unknown depth under the surface on a dip of about 7 degrees northeast toward the basin several wells were drilled down to the asphalt formation about two miles back from the face of the outcrop and in each case a heavy black oil wag was encountered which gradually seeped into the holes filling them part way in one case the tools were left in over night with the idea of pulling out in the morning at which time it was found that they were entirely surrounded with a heavy and viscous oil and it was impossible to move them such an enormous outcrop of ands must necessarily be indicative of oil reservoirs somewhere in tile the basin in the san juan field in the san juan field san juan county in the southeastern part of the state there has been some investigation during the fall the development of the field is handicapped because of its great distance from the railway which is about miles from thomp sons utah and about seventy five miles from dolores colorado the wells that were brought in five or six years ago while small yielded a very high grade fine base oil it is the judgment of those fa with the field that the best anticlines anti clines have not yet been touched and that possibly with further depth in the present wells greater production will be secured around green river in the region around green river several wells have been drilled and oil strata have been encountered but there was practically little more than a showing of oil in the wells the folds in this part of the field would appear to be rather flat the report of the geological survey department is rather negative for this region but southwest and west of green river the evidence of folding is quite strong and in the neighborhood of the san ratael rafael swell very large droppings crop pings of oil sands appear numerous samples of what appeared to be found in this region have been submitted to the writer during the last few years but upon examination the substance proved to be a residuum this would indicate that the oil in this district would have a base the land in this region has been withdrawn from entry by the government so that there has been little invest N nna z 4 oil exposed by cut in canyon wash man in background is standing on top of oil bearing strata during the year there has been a renewed interest in the rangeley field and also in the field where the california company operated several years ago the latter district lying west and south of vernal the eastern rim of the latter district contains large deposits of rock asphalt and it is thought that on the dip of this formation oil should be encountered it is just possible however that the oil will be found in a minor or local folding further west from where the drilling has been carried on up to the present time at a first glance the geological features of the basin would seem to be very simple from an oil illers drillers dr point of view but on a more detailed examination features present themselves which make it difficult to decide the most likely spot for oil the middle and later tertiary deposits overlie the oil bear ing formations practically throughout the center of the basin and as there has been very little movement since these deposits were laid down it is difficult to discover dooly building salt lake utah ignation and practically no attempt at development in the western and southwestern parts of this field activity in the juab field there has been some renewed activity in the juab field in nephi county and in tile the region near filmore millard county but it is too soon to report results there has also been considerable activity in the gas fields around farmington however it is pretty well agreed by experts that the gas along the eastern shore of the lake is a marsh gas and has its origin from the decay of the vegetable and animal matter brought down with the debris from the erosion of the checan canyons to the east the old guffey guff ey and gayley well near near farmington reached a depth of about 2100 feet and was still in boulders tree trunks and other vegetable matter was encountered at different depths in the well along the virgin river recently leases have been secured by california oil men of tracts of ground in what is known as tile the virgin field near st george washington county in the extreme southwestern corner of the state A few years ago several wells were drilled in this field and a heavy oil with a mixed base was found it had a strong hydro gen odor similar to the lima oil in ohio several other very promising sections of the state are being quietly investigated by oil men at the present time and without doubt we can expect that some of these investigations will bear fruit the passing of the leasing bill which seems to be assured will be of great benefit in the development of the oil industry in the state gilsonite the shipment of gilsonite has continued steadily throughout the year from the mines on the eastern border of the state in uintah county the conditions regarding this mineral being about normal from the inquiries which have come in during the year the demand is still greater than the marketing fa negotiation the past season with an eastern concern regarding the properties pro berties belonging to R al pope and others with a view of mining the and shipping it east to be used in the manufacture of high grade insulating and rubber products and paints the raven mining company and the utah hydrocarbon hydro carbon company have done very little shipping this year there has been a great deal of inquiry for these products but lack of transportation has prevented their development since the war the price of has increased many fold and during the last year the inquiries have been many for this substance unfortunately the development of this industry has proceeded very slowly the american company has a plant at soldiers summit and is now turning out this product in fairly considerable a A oil drilling scene in SOLI southern thern utah cili ties can furnish the utah hydro car bon company which owns quite a number of veins in the center of the basin about fifty miles from the railway terminus at watson recently received a communication requesting a thousand tons of gilsonite without doubt if proper transportation facilities cili ties could be furnished a much greater tonnage would move out of the basin yearly gilsonite is extending to other channels of usefulness outside of paints varnishes and rooting roofing it is used to a very large extent in mixing with oil to make up a compound for use by rubber manufacturing companies and manufacturers of insulating goods and Tabb there has been very little doing this year with the and tabb properties in the uintah basin there has been some quantities it is reported that it is the com banys intention to enlarge its field of operations it now has a plant near chicago for making up various combinations for the different demands of the trade oil through the eff efforts orts of dr day of the geological survey department and other prominent geologists and chemists a great deal of interest has been aroused regarding the oil in utah wyoming nevada and western colorado it has been known for many years that the oil in this region contain a high percentage of oil products many years ago a small still was erected near levan utah and from the around levan was produced a high grade lubricating oil which was used on machinery in the state some time later another small plant was built in spanish fork canyon near dairy fork and froni from the in that vicinity oil was extracted d for testing purposes the deposits of oil in utah and in western colorado are very extensive they are to be found in spanish fork canyon from the narrows up to sol diers summit in indian canyon and around colton very large deposits are also found in san pe pete te county between manti and salina in the uintah basin are found very extensive beds of oil which have been quite thoroughly examined by government geologists and have been reported in bulletin no F according to the tests made by the government engineers these thes e shale s average between twenty and forty gallons of oil products to the ton most of the oil shale lands in the uintah basin have been withdrawn from entry it is reported that a large plant is soon to be erected near watson for the extraction of oil from the shale in that vicinity watson is the western terminus of the uintah railway which runs from mack alack colorado on the D R G ry to watson to tap the gilsonite fields nearly all of the oil bearing in utah and colorado are found in the green river formation of the eocene period A test plant of one unit capacity for testing oil was erected early in the year near the laboratory building of the university of utah salt lake city many tests have been made during the year the plant was erected primarily to test out the from nevada and it is stated that these sometimes run as high as gallons of if oil to the ton the nevada unlike the utah are free from lime for which reason it is claimed that a much higher percentage of extraction is possible the highest grade of shale in utah and cofo rado known to the writer yielded as high as ninety gallons to the ton the shale beds occur in a series of layers of which some are richer than others exaggerated statements relative to the possibilities of the oil have frequently been made of late more particularly regarding the values of the products to be derived however from the numerous tests which have been made there is no doubt but that with a properly located bed as regards transportation facilities and averaging thirty gallons to the ton or better a plant can be erected for the extraction of the products which would prove a good invests ent the profits to be derived would not be e nearly so large as some of the enthusiast w promoters declare but with proper finane financial ial back backing ing and in the hands of capable men a sub substantial stall bial industry could be established the enormous deposits of this hydrocarbon scattered throughout the intermountain region is like la its brother hydrocarbon coal an assurance of the establishment some time of great industries dus tries if not at the present time then in the immediate future by those having the means and the courage and the foresight |