Show Basin Oil Drilling Featured in l Magazine Utah's Uintah Basin famous for dino no dinosaurs saurs and honey bees has become one of the country's busiest locals for oil drilling THE LATEST Issue of oC Bulletin publish pub pub- lish d by bv the Standard Oil Company of California relates how oil w was s discovered discover discover- ed cd In the cow pastures of the Bluebell and Altamont fields 50 SO miles west of Vernal and miles cast east of Salt Lake City Chevron Oil Company Western Division Division Divi sion slon a subsidiary of Standard of California Cali Call fornia made the initial discovery of oil at Bluebell In 1967 THE THRUST now is not the drilling of new wells but the drilling of old wells to much greater depths Last summer ummer the company participated ted In a well drilled to feet deeper than any of Bluebells Bluebell's other pro producers Initial production was 2000 barrels barrels bar bar- dailey BUOYED BY that success the company company com com- pany has turned its sights one mile westward west west- ward to an existing well whose production production tion had been falling failing off The target depth here is feet N I Bluebell Altamont Bluebell Altamont crude is described in the Bulletin article as a wax-like wax high pour point crude that virtually solidifies when the temperature drops below 90 degrees Fahrenheit BECAUSE IT has these characterise characteristics tics it has to be heated then hauled by truck southward to the My Myton ton pumping pumping pump pump- ing station where it is mixed with lower pour pour point point crude from the Rangely field so it can be sent through the pipeline to the refinery Rangely is at the easternmost easternmost easternmost east east- end of the Uintah Basin Chevron Chev Chev- Chevron ron discovered oil there in 1932 and in inthe inthe inthe the late the company turned to toa a man-made man process to coax more oil out of its rocky reservoir and into the wells That process process is commonly known as water flood BY MEANS of type plunger pumps a volume of water under pressure is injected into the earth to pry oil out of the rock Of the wells at Rangely are water injection wells most Of them converted from former producing wells Recently under way at Rangely is a year one-year pilot program referred to as WAG Water Alternating Gas Instead Instead In In- stead of using water exclusively to assist assist assist as as- recovery recovery from producing wells Chevron engineers will alternate between between between be be- tween water and gas injecting water for fora a month then gas for a month WHEN THE WAG pilot project js is fully operating there will be four injection wells with pressures of oY l up up t tO j pounds |