| OCR Text |
Show First Discoveries Of Oil At RanHv Field Made in 1901-02 by Ray E. Colton, Sc. D. Petxoleum Geologist While the present production of Rangely. oil field of the Uintah Uin-tah Basin of Colorado and Utah, dates from the California Oil Company's discovery well, Raven Ra-ven No. 1, which produced from the Weber sandstone in September, Septem-ber, 1943, drilling has been going go-ing on in the area for the past forty-five years. Oil was first discovered at Rangely through oil seeps in a spring near the northwest corner of Section 5, township 1 north, range iuz west The Poole well, location SWU, SWVi, NEW of Section 33, township 2 north, range 102 west drilled in 1901-2 with the intention of reaching the Da-kola Da-kola sandstone was abandoned at a depth of 2,130 feet, after encountering a few barrels of oil per day in the Mancos shale at a depth of 750 feet.. The Requina well, location SEtf , SWlb of Section 21, township town-ship 2 north, range 102 west, also completed in 1902, had an oil showing at 480 feet from shattered ' zones in a shale formation. for-mation. Approximately 12 wells were drilled between the years of 1902-1907. The first well below be-low the Mancos shale, northwest north-west corner of Section 16, township town-ship 2 north, range 102 west, was also drilled during this period per-iod and reached a depth of 3,701 feet. In 1919 a production of 130 barrels of oil per day Was obtained ob-tained by the Emerald Oil Company Com-pany Number 1, location SEY, NE J4 of Section 31, township 2 north, range 102 west from the Mancos shale at a depth of 521 feet. From 1919 to 1945 a great number of shallow wells !were drilled, many producing from a few barrels daily to more than 100 barrels. Approximately zo or tnese wells still produce commercial oil which is a parafin base product pro-duct of about 41 degress A.P.I. Baume gravity test and which finds a ready market at Jensen, Utah and Salt Lake refineries. Before the completion of the Number 1 Raven of the California Califor-nia Oil Company, all of the wells in the field (totalling some 107) bottomed in the Mancos , shale, exscpt for about eight which continued into the Dakota sand-I sand-I stone group and deeper. Heavy flows of gas were struck in the Dakota sandstone, by three wells drilled in the S Vfc of Section 30, by one well in the NWVi of Sec-21, Sec-21, township 2 north, range 102 west, all of which were drilled 1924-1927. The largest yield of natural gas discovered in one well was 74,000 cubic feet. A deep test well drilled by the Associated Oil Company in the SEU of Section 24, township 2 north, ange 102 west during 1926 and abandoned at a depth of 4,772 feet, found the Dakota dry but encountered some oil saturation and gas shows in the Morrison formation. The Entra-da Entra-da formation was probably reached at about 4,052 feet. I In 1931 the California Oil Co. commenced the drilling of its Raven Number 1, location NWV. SE'4 of Section 30, township 2 north, range 102 west. This well was completed at excessive cost with rotary tools in 1933 at a total depth of 7,173 feet, having drilled through all of the Meso-zoic Meso-zoic rocks below the Mancos shale and through about 1,500 feet of Pennsylvania sediments. The Dakota and Nugget formations forma-tions logged some gas and the first oil show was found at 5,-704 5,-704 feet in the Weber sandstone of the Pennsylvania formation. Drilling and coring continued down to the total depth. The hole was then plugged back and shot with nitroglycerin, using in all about 1,800 quarts. After producing about 8,000 barrels of crude oil the well was shut down until 1943. The oil obtained from the Weber sand in this well is 35 degrees A.P.I. Baume gravity test. The gas is unusual in that . it contains as much as 27 per cent nitrogen. |
