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Show Denver Geologist Inspects Oil Lands Near Castle Peak and Pariette Mines conducting extensive tests in thi direction. "Mr. Jones Is an oil producer and engineer of w.de experience, and I manager of the Western Plains Oil company of Tulsa, Okla., and consulting consult-ing engineer for a number of companies. com-panies. He and Mr. GustaveBon took a large number of samples of oil shales and sands from different locations loca-tions :n the baBin for test purposes. While at Vernal they expressed the opinion that the extraction of oil from shale and sands would become an industry of great importance iu eastern Utah and western Colorado. "For sixty years the extraction of oil from Bhale has been one of the big industries of Scotland. Until recently, re-cently, however, the oil supply of the United States has been sufficient without with-out resorting to shale. The war has changed conditions materially. The demand for lighter oils has become greater than the production, and the , country has been breaking heavily -1ntr th 175 000 000 barrels which ! (Salt Lake Tribune) ! Unprecedented activity in the location loca-tion of oil and oil shale lands in the Uintah basin is reported by J. W Musser, who returned yesterday from a month's visit to the basin In the interests in-terests of oil concerns which are preparing pre-paring to begin operations in the section. sec-tion. Mr. Musser was accompanied on his inspection trip by Glen H. Ruby of Denver, a promnent geologist associated with the Empire Gas and Fuel company of Barllesville, Okla. i "Notwithstanding the fact that winter has laid siege to the basin country operators continue their ac-tivites ac-tivites in the section. Scarcely a day passes that some geologist or oil expert ex-pert does not register at one of the basin towns preparatory, to making actor that the oil sands may be handled han-dled by steam shovel. Oil and gaa have been found oozing from a spring near the property. While in the basin Mnsser met a German scientist, C. Schmidt, who has been giving considerable attention atten-tion to the commercal development of the various hydro-carbon deiosits. Mr. Schmidt announced that he hat discovered ichthyol,- an exceedingly rare medicinal product formerly obtained ob-tained from Austria, in the wurt-v.erite, wurt-v.erite, another oil product recently discovered in eastern Utah. It is reported re-ported also that a very high grade paraffin of principally liquid! pe. trolatum, a refined medicinal oil having hav-ing the consistency of light lubricating lubricat-ing oil and formerly imported from normally constitutes the reserv supply. ' ''Government experts, chief among whom Is Dr. David T. Day of the geological geo-logical survey, have been giving a great deal of attention to the oil situation, sit-uation, and have conducted exhaustive exhaus-tive tests in the distillaion of oil Trom shales and sands. It is estimated estimat-ed by the federal investigators that there are approximately 3000 square miles of highly impregnated oil shales and sands in eastern Utah and western Colorado, and that these shales and sands contain more than 70.000,000.000 barrels of oil. a sufficient suf-ficient quantity at the present rate of consumption to care for our needs for nearly 250 years without drawing upon the wells nt all. Great mountains moun-tains of seemingly barren rock extend ex-tend Tor miles around the rim of the basin, and this rock, when placed in fire, burns readily, and tests have demonstrated that it contains from 25 to 80. and even as high as 110 gallons of oil to the ton. "Much of the oil supply in the past has been produced by tne California, Mid Continent and Appalachian fields and it is not generally realized that two-thirds of the world's supply o. nil comes from the United States. However, the oil fields are gradually becoming barren. In view of this it is gratifying to know that the Rocky mountain field, embracing Utah, Colorado, Montana and Wyoming, is gradually increasing its production, and leading geologists are of the opinion that the Uintah basin field will prove the greatest oil field of the west. From a production of 1,000,-000 1,000,-000 barrels in 1912, the Rocky mountain moun-tain field has increased to some 7,-000,000 7,-000,000 barrels annually, and its swaddling clothes still are being worn." a quiet investigation ana study or the! oil conditions. The reports so far have been unanimous in favor of tho Uintah country becoming one of the real big oil producing districts of the country. "Mr. Ruby made a careful investigation investi-gation of the formations on the south near Castle peak and Parriet mines, where gilsonite is being mined, arid from there worked his way to the northern rim of the basin, following the asphalt outcrop which is easily traced for miles. Before leaving for the east Mr. Ruby expressed the opinion opin-ion that the field was far too Important Import-ant to remain idle and announced the intention or returning early in the year in the interests of the company lie represents." In one day while going over the fields Mr. Musser says lie met five men in different localities, and each from a different state, conducting oil investigations, Calfoiiiiaiis Interested A well recently was brought in near Vernal by California and Hawai. ian interests and since then numerous numer-ous locations hae been filed on ad joining lands by some of the big oil concerns of the country which aro preparing to begin drilling operations in the spring. Mr. Musser and his associates have acquired some hold-ngs hold-ngs in this vicinity. The field has as its north and northeast boundary the big asphalt outcrop which is encountered within a Tew miles of Vernal: To the northwest north-west the Cedar Butte Oil company, controlled by California capitalists, has acquired heavy holdings, including includ-ing a monutain of saturated oil sands On the south of the field are large gilsonite veins which have been worked work-ed for years. Geologists of national reputation. Mr. Musser reports, have expressed the opinion that this field, which is known as the Sand Ridge anticline, gives promise of becomng a big producer. The Cedar Butte Oil company has announced that preparations have been made for a test of the sands in Salt Lake. Dr. P. S. Coke, generak manager of the company, and some of the members of the board of directors, di-rectors, are expected in Salt Lake within the next week to supervise the test. The sand mountain is situated north of Whiterocks Indian agency and the formation is of such a char-j n.ussia, can oe proaucea rrom in c oil found in the Uintah fields. I ''The Emerald Oil company, composed com-posed largely of Vernal business men, has drilled fourteen wells in doing validating work, and now is on the fifteenth. The oil obtained Is all of a paraffin base and yields high in gas. Adjoining the Emerald holdings hold-ings near Rangely is the property formerly held by the Colorado-Pacific Oil company, but which, I am Informed, Inform-ed, has been purchased recently by A. C. McLaughlin of San Francisco. On this property wells have been drilled to oil in more than 100 places, and the oil is of the same high quality. qual-ity. "Among others who have recently recent-ly located lands in the basin is a group of men heavily interested in the vicinity of Casper. This group represents Pennsylvana, Wyoming, Utah and Montana capitalists. Another An-other group is known as the Kuhn-Ilill Kuhn-Ilill interests of Pittsburg. The C. I. Pierce people of Chicago have acquired ac-quired holdings aggregating 10,000 acres. Prominent operators associated associat-ed witli the Mexico Petroleum company com-pany in the Tampico fields form another an-other holding group, and it is believed believ-ed that from six to a dozen companies will be actively engaged in oil development de-velopment in Uintah during the com-, itig year. Eastei ns Active "Among other visitors I met on the trip were D. H. Gustaveson of Salt Lake and J. B. Jones of Kansas City, consulting engineers for the Ute Oil company, controlled by St. Louis and Milwaukee capitalists, and one of the most active concerns in the basin. The company has located about 150,000 acres of land in the southeastern part of the basin, and has been doing validating drilling for the past three years. The company has a modern drilling camp at Eo-nanza, Eo-nanza, where two modern rigs are at work and where it is planned to drill several deep wells, with standard stand-ard rigs next summer. "'Mr. Gustaveson also is consulting engineer for the C. I. Pierce people, and represents the Utah-Radlett Oil company, a million-dollar corporation headed by I. B. Perrine of Tw in Falls and of which John Pingree of Salt Lake Is vice president. Mr. Gustaveson Gustave-son devised a field apparatus for extracting ex-tracting oil from shales, and has been |