| Show OIL IN COU S TY UTAH washington D C oct 31 the prospects of finding oil in commercial quantity in dashington Vas hington county utah are being investigated by geologists of the united states geological suney department of the interior A study has already been made of the small oil field at virgin city the only place in that part of utah where producing wells have been drilled to determine the geologic features that govern the occurrence of oil in that general region in order that the results may be applied to territory oil in the virgin alt field the virgin city oil field Is in T 41 8 R 12 W near the town ot virgin city about 80 miles south of lund on the los angeles salt lake railroad oil was discovered in this field in 1907 and for a short time thereafter drilling was active but the money panic of 1807 interfered and exploration ceased abruptly in 1917 the dixie oil co bought the wells cleaned them out and installed a refinery having a capacity of gallons of oil per 8 hour shift designed to supply the local market there are now tour producing wells having a total estimated production of 20 barrels a day source of the oil the oil cornea from a 1 foot bed of porous limestone which is encountered at a depth of to feet the wells find no oil until they reach this bed and deeper drilling gets no increase this oil bearing bed forma a part of the beds at the base of the Moen kopl formation that have been called super aub rey limestone above this lime tone are red some sandstones and a few thin lime stones which comprise the bulk of the moen kopl formation below the super aubrey limestone Is afie massive flinty kaibab lidstone lim stone the original source of the oil has not been definitely determined no carbonaceous matter is apparent anywhere near the oil sand either in the red beds of the Moen kopl above the limestone or in the kaibab limestone below the oil bearing bed the most probable source of the oil seems to be the layers of limestone the oil Is reported to vary from 25 degrees to 35 degrees baume to have a paraffin base that includes some asphalt and to contain some sulphur it is dark brown and Is very fluid dvells not on anticline the producing wells are not on anticlines anti clines such as are believed to have caused the formation of oil pools in most of the large fields of the united states the rocks in the virgin river field dip strongly to the northeast although the dip Is not uniform but Is modified by local steep and the producing wells are on one of these local batten ings where the rocks dip much less steeply than they do in the immediate vicinity suggesting that the change in dip may have caused the formation of the oil pool a suggestion that is strengthened b arc fact that most of the dry holes have been di hied in areas where the alp is steep i places tor other test wells if this view Is correct there are several untested locations near virgin city that are structurally as favorable at least as the small area from which oil Is now obtained and the relation of the producing wells to these flattened areas Is sufficiently close to justify the recommendation that other localities where the structure Is similar be tested approximate locations tor such tests are the northwest corner of the NW swa sec 23 T 41 S R 12 W the center of the NB SW sec 23 T 41 S R 12 E the center of the bec eec 26 T 41 S R 12 E the center of the NE NW sec 26 T 41 S R 12 W it drilling at these places gives favorable results a still more pronounced flattening in the W sec 26 T 41 S R 12 W should be tested though it lies so close to the outcrop of the oil bearing beds that it may not prove any better than the other locations the tact that the oil Is not found on anticlines anti clines may be regarded as distinctly favorable to prospects in the surrounding region where structure may ba found tor as the oil in the virgin city field has gath ered on local terrace like generally regarded as only moderately lavo rable tor the accumulation of oil and gas much better results may be expected where the attitude of the is more favorable provided they afford the proper requirements of a possible oil bearing bed at higher horizon another possible oil bearing bed is in the upper part of the Moen kopl formation about 1000 feet above the oil yielding bed of the virgin river field this oil bearing zone was noted on a creek 3 miles north of the dixie co well where a 6 foot layer of brown sandy shale that emellee strongly of oil when broken is overlain by 4 feet of contorted oil bearing shale containing nodules of gypsum two feet higher a 6 inch layr Q chalo and a crossed by stringers of pure black asphalt one fourth of an inch to an inch thick where the structural conditions are favorable and these beds lie feet or more below the surface beds at horizon may be of greater value than the lower oll bearling bed furthermore wells bunk in such locations may reach down to the producing beds ot the virgin river field the present virgin city field appears to ba of value only for supplying local demand the thinness of the oil sand seems to preclude the possibility of production adequate to repay the expenses of distributing the oil to refineries outside the field however at some distance from virgin city the oll bear ang beds may thicken so much that they will furnish an adequate reservoir tor greater accumulation of oil therefore any pronounced ti structure that may be detected in the beds of the Moen kopl formation in this general region should be prospected to test athla possibility the survey geologists are now trying to determine whether oil may be found in the formation some distance below the virgin city sand from U S geological sur Q tha heirls ls |
