Show OF SWAB PROVES OIL COMES FROM EXHAUSTED ITS PRESSURE commercial production at 2028 feet now assured 8 auch casing being cemented in further effort to secure shutoff shut off of water from upper stratum the john L shafer no 1 well on cane creek dome still retains the kick which it had on december 8 when it blew in with a flush production estimated at from to barrels the producing stratum at 2028 feet has not been exhausted proving that the oil comes from a pool and not from a pocket the oil sand is still very much alive in spite of the five months of abuse curing which time 2000 feet of heavy salt water has weighed down upon it and tons of mud and cement have been pumped in under high pressure in an effort to deaden the flow and permit the setting of casing these facts have been conclusively proven during the swabbing operations at the well the past week oilmen on the ground are now convinced that the stratum at 2028 feet is a producer of large proportions several times during the week the tremendous pressure from the sand shot oil to the top of the derrick and the well gushed a fountain of oil almost continuously during the running of the swab the well flowed at the rate of 1200 barrels of oil a day and its performance increased as swabbing continued proving that by relieving the sand of the burden of water and mud weighing against it the well will repeat the demonstration it made on december 8 and for several weeks thereafter the running of a swab was largely in the nature of an experiment peri ment to determine whether or not the well could again be made to flow oil the opinion of many oilmen was that the ac of oil had spent itself and that a true producing horizon had not yet been reached decision had virtually been mabb to case off the stratum at 2028 feet and send the drill bo explore deeper territory largely on the insistence of george T hansen president of the utah southern that every effort be made to develop the horizon at 2028 feet before sending the drill deeper the midwest utah oil utah southern companies decided fco swab the hole to see whether or not it could again be made to flow oil the results have surprised even the most optimistic after a few hours of swabbing the well blew oil to the crown block and a stream has flowed almost continuously during the week every effort will now be made to the production aronn the 2028 foot level m the shafer no 1 so that the oil can be used as fuel for further drilling preparations are now being made to pump mud and cement around the bottom of the 8 mch m an attempt to stop the leak is allowing water to pour in a higher stratum field superintendent erin clover A smith is today pumping in mud the intention being to fill the space between the 8 and 10 mch basing with heavy mud before cementing about twenty tons of mud will go to the well on the moab garage tomorrow morning cementing will take place friday or saturday and a weeks time will be allowed for the cement to set swabbing operations started last saturday after the swab had been 1 for five hours the oil and gas kicked the column of water from the hole and for two hours a mixture oil and water poured into the tanks during the first day the fluid was about 65 per cent oil with considerable emulsion and the well flowed at the rate of about 25 barrels of oil an hour the next day there was a considerable improve in the showing when swabbing started monday the oil spouted 80 feet into the air drenching the derrick and surroundings the stream was diverted to the storage tanks and so great was the pressure that the 3 inch flow line was torn fromi its on monday evening the check valve in the swab was broken and all day tuesday was spent in repairing the break wednesday morning swabbing was re squirted suir ted and from the start the well great activity after the idab was run a few tames oil acm fenced to pour from the casing head fat times spurting twenty feet into air at 2 30 yesterday afternoon the well blew in spouting oil to the athe top of the derrick enveloping the rig in oil and sending the crew ying for shelter the stream was diverted to the tanks the great pressure pounding the stand pipes against the tanks and threatening to wreck the flow line A stream of oil gushed into the tanks for forty minutes about seventy barrels of fluid being saved the fluid was estimated at about 90 per cent oil the swabbing operations have brov ed that the producing stratum flows by heads as it did when it first blew in last winter during the intervals between flows the water accumulates above the sand and holds the oil in check until further agitation by the swab As swabbing continued the proportion of water mixed with the oil grew less indicating that the water was being pulled from the sand A conservative estimate of what the wells production would be with the water pressure eliminated is 1000 barrels daily yesterday field superintendent A smith received orders from thi midwest exploration company to make a further attempt to nd the well of water by cementing the 8 inch at 2025 feet accordingly mud hogs were today put in place and the pumping of mud has started if this attempt at cementing fails the only recourse will be to case off the producing stratum and explore deeper sands with the no 1 well picking up the first production at 2028 feet in the subsequent wells to be drilled on cane creek structure two other strings of tools will soon be pounding ailward on the cane creek dome the work of erecting a derrick for the no 2 will start shortly a crew of men being now engaged in completing the construction of a wharf work will start in a few days on the construction of a road to the snowden location and the rig will be erected as soon as it can be moved to the the J H shafer no 1 ell on the shafer dome five miles southwest of the cane creek discovery well is now at a depth of feet twelve inch casing has been ed and drilling will be resumed an fn day or saturday superintendent smith hopes to roach the first pay horizon at 2300 feet by the middle of july |