Show UTAH OIL FIELDS written for the review by marcus E jones A M CHARACTER OF OIL the mineral oils asphalts asp halts and natural gas all belong to the class called hydrocarbons hydro carbons they differ from one another by endless gradations according to the amount of volatile matter the heaviest hydrocarbons hydro carbons are the asphalts asp halts such as gilsonite lite etc then come the higher solids whose constituents are chiefly fines such as and many others then come the fluids carrying varying percentages cen of asphalts asp halts fines and oils which go under the general name of mineral oil the last in the series of hydrocarbons hydro carbons is is natural gas which is a hydro hydrocarbon carbon volatile under ordinary temperatures there are no two locations in the world which produce exactly the same kinds of hydrocarbons hydro carbons for the chemical conditions are different in the different localities and also the opportunities for the evaporation of the volatile elements are are different the oils of certain regions have general similarities for example the oil fields of pennsylvania and adjoining regions are very familiar and from them all of our early experience in oil and natural gas was derived there were certain qualities in those oils which required special processes for economical treatment these qualities led pennsylvania people to turn down the california oils and also those of utah because they contained different elements from the pennsylvania oils As a result the oils of both these regions have for many years been regarded of no value until recently it was discovered however by careful study of natural oils that by cracking them they could be made useful for the production of petroleum naptha and asphalts asp halts as well as the oils of eastern regions this soon led to general exploitation of the oil bearing rocks of the country conditions OF OIL occurrence NCE the mineral oils are generally conceded to be the product of the decomposition of vegetable or animal matter or both under extreme pressure in the presence of salt water if this decomposition takes place under conditions which allow the gases produced to escape the product in time will be asphalts asp halts of varying composition and we therefore have gilsonite and its allied asphalts asp halts should the conditions b ba such tb that at the volatile elements go off less readily we shall have mineral oils of varying degrees degree of fluidity if the conditions are such that the volatile elements cannot escape then we shall have large accumulations of natural gas and very fluid oils with no asphalts asp halts except those which are in solution in the oil LOCAL conditions the oils of utah all belong to the cretaceous and tertiary beds though in the far south there may be oils found in the carboniferous beds the regions in which these oils have been found so far are portions of the bed of great salt lakeland lake and in eastern utah south of the uinta mountains covering a territory with many interruptions from price ashley and grand junction to the arizona line the principal oil field with which the public is generally acquainted acquaint edi lies in the vicinity of green river utah this is an extensive basin belonging to the colorado division of the cretaceous and is characterized by having the strata nearly horizontal but with the southern edres edges 0 a little turned up and eroded this therefore produces what geologists call a syncline and on its southern side presents open edges of all the strata and enables the oils to escape with some ease the oils therefore are heavy oils carrying an unusually high percentage of and from the nature of the rocks will be found occupying a certain horizon around the edge of the basin there is no anticline in this region nor is there any reason to expect that much natural gas will be found there the opportunities however for the storing of oils in this region in sandstones are very great but whether oils actually do occur in the sandstones is yet to be determined on account of the great extent of these beds if a true anticline were ever discovered in them without eroded edges the opportunities for the occurrence of large quantities of oil and gas would be very great there are certain regions where what might be called a half anticline exists over a large area and should produce large quantities of mineral oil As yet however there is but one locality in which these rocks have either been located or attempted to be drilled we shall await with considerable interest the result of this boring the tertiary beds are confined to two regions the top of the coal range f from rom price to strawberry valley and thence to ashley and eastward the other tertiary field is confined to the great bas basin in proper and has been opened around farmington and salt lake city this latter belongs to the cene tertiary while the former belongs to the eocene and miocene tertiary the latter beds produce all of the gilsonite and allied asphalts asp halts and are very rarely situated in such a way that the accumulations of either oils or gas could occur but they are peculiarly full of carbonaceous matter from which these hydrocarbons hydro carbons be produced the salt lake fields have produced natural ga gas for about ten years and at one time supplied salt lake city with light no oil in any quantity has yet been found but it certainly exists the natural gas though apparently patently ly exhausted at farmington still abounds in other localities idealities and will some day be utilized anticlines ANTI CLINES there is a great deal of talk and most of it foolish talk about anti clines everybody who locates an oil claim declares that he is on an anticline the reason for this is that no great bodies of natural gas and oil have ever been found except in anticlines anti clines but people should not be misled by the theory that 0 oils is I 1 cannot be found except in anticlines anti clines for they can occur in smaller quantities in synclines syn clines but they will always be heavier and in utah more ble than the lighter oils because of the high percentage of which they contain an anticline is a condition of the rocks by bv which they are tilted up after the fashion oi of the roof of a house and therefore make an all enclosed space on all aides which forms a reservoir for the accumulation of gas and oil such reservoirs may be very local IQ in california they them are always local and te amount of oil which they contain will he be governed by their size and extent in utah very few anticlines anti clines will he found but when found they willbe will be more extensive than those of california or even wyoming |