USA > Texas > Tarrant County > Fort Worth > History of Texas : Fort Worth and the Texas northwest edition, Volume II > Part 16
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This discovery had the natural effect of creating a wild interest in oil all over Texas, and later the whole country was reached by the excitement and the oil stock salesman.
Literally thousands of oil companies and syndicates were formed to drill for oil, of whom a very few did more than make a start before the day was finished.
The first real organization to go into the business in a large and practical way was the J. M. Guffey Petroleum Co., who owned the discovery well and surrounding leases.
In a remarkably short time this company was building steel stor- age, a pipe line to deep water at Port Arthur and were moving their production to market by tank cars. This company grew and pros- pered and is now one of the largest producing and refining concerns in the country, known now as the Gulf interests.
The Spindle Top pool was never extended to cover a great area, but the formation was wonderfully rich and has produced more oil per acre of proven territory than any other field in the country. The bulk of this production came from the level between 1,000 and 1,100 feet in a very porous sandstone, but when this was flooded with salt water much oil was produced from loose sands above, and this field is still producing about 1,000 barrels per day from these sands.
The second Coastal pool to be opened was at Sour Lake, which definitely proved to be a real oil field in May of 1902. As stated be- fore, efforts to develop oil in this district were made in 1895, and it had long been looked upon as a good oil prospect because of the large volume of petroleum gas which was constantly boiling up through the wells and small ponds.
It was at this time and place that the Texas Company really began to make itself felt in the oil business.
A company had been organized at Beaumont to do a pipe line business from Spindle Top during the previous year, and when the
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FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
Sour Lake field was proved they purchased for $900,000 the Sour Lake Springs property of 850 acres. This was the first big pur- chase of oil acreage in the Coast Country and this company has con- tinued to grow and expand to its amazing proportions of the present day.
This experience proved definitely that Spindle Top was not the only oil pool in the Coastal region and set the "wildcatters" to work in every direction. The results came slowly and only after much ex- pense and labor, but one after another new fields were discovered, of which the following are the dates of discovery of the most impor- tant :
Saratoga
June, 1903
Batson
Dec., 1903
Humble
. Jan., 1905
Goose Creek . June, 1908
West Columbia
Sept., 1917
Hull July, 1918
In addition to these comparatively small pools have produced for a varying number of years, known by the names-Markham, Dayton, Hoskins Mound, Damons Mound, and at Blue Ridge, near Houston, there is at this time an excellent prospect for a field of the first magnitude. Indeed all of these small pools may develop large quan- tities of oil by deeper drilling.
The total production from these various pools to December 31, 1920, is as follows :
Spindle Top
47,029,418
Sour Lake
58,555,909
Saratoga
20,418,192
Batson
Humble 30,342,255
83,851,829
Goose Creek
29,030,636
West Columbia
18,580,392
Hull 5,197,689
Of these pools the first discovered is probably the most interest- ing, because its great production comes from an area of producing territory of not more than 150 acres. It is peculiar also in that this oil has practically all come from one stratum, whereas most of the other pools have producing sands at numerous levels.
At Humble for example there are at least seven different levels, varying in depths from 600 feet to 3,500 feet.
It should be remembered in comparing the above figures that these pools are not all of the same age. The Hull field is practically in its infancy and at this time promises large results in the future.
The first real oil field that was discovered in North Texas was near the town of Electra in Wilbarger County and near the west line of Wichita County. The first well was the Texas Company's No. 1 on the Stringer ranch, completed in August, 1911. This led to other development, which extended the field through part of the W. T. Waggoner ranch and farther east into Wichita County. In
ONE OF THE NEW OIL REFINERIES IN NORTH TEXAS
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FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
1912 this pool was extended to the central north half of Wichita County, and a number of excellent producing oil wells were dis- covered. In July, 1918, the Fowler Oil Company completed their No. 1 at Burkburnett, a small town in Wichita County fifteen miles northwest of Wichita Falls. This opened up one of the most prolific pools of light grade oil that was ever discovered in the South. The oil was found at a depth of about 1,500 feet and completions ranged from 200 barrels to as high as 4,000 barrels per well. This was known throughout the country as the Burkburnett pool, as the little town of Burkburnett was in the exact center and about the richest part of the pool. In October, 1919, a very large well was drilled about four miles northwest of Burkburnett, on the Burk Waggoner farm. This opened up a new pool, locally known as the Northwest extension of Burkburnett. This oil was found at the same depth as wells in the Burkburnett townsite, but the sand was thicker and much larger wells were discovered. This is the richest shallow sand pool ever dis- covered in Texas.
The experience of "Spindle Top" and Beaumont was repeated here with a notable exception of the fact that there was no decrease in the production within the area of the oil producing sands. Wild- catting was indulged in to an alarming extent. Men with vivid imaginations, extensive vocabulary and an elastic conscience provided themselves with blue prints, fountain pens and blank stock certi- ficates, and with these as their total assets sold stock to unsuspecting, confiding and gullible people without limit. Many persons parted with their hard earned money for beautiful green stock certificates, setting forth that they were the owners of so many shares in some oil company, the location of which they, subsequently, were unable to discover. Many of these promoters wilfully and maliciously de- vised schemes which they knew could not and would not yield any- thing to the stockholders. These men were not natives. Many who had never seen Texas before set forth their extravagant claims, reaped the harvest and moved on to new fields where the inhabitants had not heard of their nefarious practice elsewhere.
Much of the froth has blown away, and oil production has de- veloped into a stable, conservative and reliable business. The Burk- burnett, Iowa Park, and adjacent fields are still producing oil in large quantities.
Ranger was the next scene of exciting and visionary activities. Here, too, oil was found in paying quantities, and people who were so fortunate as to become interested in reliable companies have reaped good profits. But the wildcatter, a necessary agency in all mining ventures, and many of whom are honest men with the very best intentions, without imposing upon the credulity of mankind, had a large following of unscrupulous adventurers who reaped with suc- cess the schemes of promoters which infested Burkburnett, and many hard earned dollars were lost to their owners, as was the case in other fields.
Development in Central North Texas began about 1911. when a few shallow wells were found near Moran in Shackelford County. VOL. II-9
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FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
This development lead to a lot of drilling, and, really nothing of consequence developed. In 1915 the Texas Pacific Coal & Oil Com- pany discovered oil in the southwestern part of Palo Pinto County, which is locally known as the Strawn pool. These wells were in the shallow sand and did not produce in large quantities; however, it led to further development throughout the area, and in October, 1917, the Texas Pacific Coal & Oil Company, drilling on the McClesky farm near the town of Ranger, brought in the first real oil well in Central West Texas. The completion of this well attracted the at- tention of oil operators from all parts of the United States. During 1918 and 1919 acreage in Eastland and Stephens counties and all adjacent counties was in very active demand and millions of dollars were spent for leases and millions more for drilling wells, laying pipe lines, etc. In March, 1918, The Texas Company completed the first real oil well in Stephens County, a few miles southeast of the town of Breckenridge. This led to active work in that county, and since then the production has surpassed the wonderful production in East- land County, known as the Ranger pool. In November, 1918, the Tex-Penn Oil Company drilled in a well in the extreme northeastern part of Comanche County, near the Eastland County line. This is locally known as the Desdemona pool, and while developing some prolific wells, that were short lived, the pool eventually did not cover a great area.
Small local pools have been developed in Brown, Coleman, Calla- han, Young and other adjacent counties, and in all of these counties active development is now going on.
The discovery of oil in North Central Texas came at the end of a three years drought, and the enormous amount of money spent for leases and development relieved a very serious financial depression throughout that portion of Texas. The millions of dollars spent has brought prosperity, not only to the farmers and stock raisers of that section of the country, but to the merchants, land owners and the towns and cities in West Texas.
The following statement shows the enormous amount of oil pro- duced in this section. which includes the year 1919. Figures for 1920 are not available at this time. .
Petrolia, Clay County, 1904-1919. 3,450,298 bbls.
Wichita & Wilbarger Cos., 1911-1919. 87,078,566 66
Moran, 1914-1919 468,433
Strawn, 1915-1919 853,415 60
Coleman County, 1918-1919 77,843
Eastland County, Ranger, 1917-1919. 25,579,838 66
Desdemona, 1919 7,375,823
Brown County, 1917-1919
670,568
Stephens County, 1917-1919 11,340,678 66
The discovery of oil in West Texas necessitated the building of a number of pipe lines to transport the oil to refineries and to seaport points for shipment on vessels. All of the major pipe line companies in the United States now have lines out of oil producing districts of
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FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
North Texas; the principal ones being the Prairie Pipe Line Com- pany, The Texas Company, Gulf Pipe Line Company, Magnolia Petroleum Company, Humble Pipe Line Company and many other smaller concerns. The carrying capacity of the lines out of the fields is approximately 250,000 barrels per day. Many refineries have been built in the fields and in West Texas towns, the refining capacity in the immediate territory being considerably over 100,000 barrels. per day.
The North Central Texas field was handicaped in its earlier stages of development for lack of railroad facilities, the Stephens County field particularly so for the reason that there was no railroad in this county, which necessitated transporting the heavy field material by teams and trucks for distances of from twenty to seventy-five miles. As a result of development and need for rapid transportation a num- ber of railroads have been built for the purpose, largely for trans- porting oil field supplies and hauling oil. Kemp and Kell, of Wichita Falls, financed the building of a road beginning at Dublin on the Fort Worth and Rio Grande extending through the Desdemona field, thence north through the Ranger field and from the Ranger field to the town of Breckenridge. This line is now being extended north and will be built to New Castle and connected with the M. K. & T. Railroad running to Wichita Falls. The Cisco & Northeastern has just completed a line from Cisco on the Texas & Pacific and M. K. & T. Railroads to the city of Breckenridge. It is now their in- tention to go on to Graham to connect with the Rock Island Rail- road or extend it east to Mineral Wells. Another road is now under construction between the town of New Castle and Graham, and will be extended southwest through the Stephens County field and into the town of Breckenridge.
There have been 1,695 failures, or what is termed dry holes, by reliable concerns that have sunk wells in search of oil.
How many companies have been floated on paper without any intention of the promoters to sink wells is unknown. The un- scrupulous promoter having sold what stock he could to unsuspect- ing individuals has taken himself to other fields, leaving no record of his activities.
The wonderful and rapid development of Ranger was due to oil, a word today of almost magical significance. In October, 1917, the Texas & Pacific Coal and Oil Company brought in the McClesky well at 3,260 feet, just outside the city limits, and the initial flow was be- tween 800 and 1,600 barrels daily. At the time few comprehended the extent of the Ranger field. It was thought to be a small reservoir that had been tapped, and hundreds of wells were drilled over a small area immediately about Ranger. Gradually they extended farther and farther out until a real rush of development was on, and "wildcat" operations covered not only all of Eastland County, but extended into Stephens County, and, in fact, every other county, north, east, south and west of Ranger for a distance of 100 miles, and in some instances even more. The discovery of oil at Ranger started an exploring era that has never been equaled in this country. During
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FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
the three years which have since elapsed Texas has become one of the leading oil fields of the world, and ranks third to day among the oil producing states of the country, being surpassed only by Okla- homa and California, the difference being only a few thousand bar- rels between Oklahoma, the first, and Texas, the third. Oil has been found from the Red River to the Rio Grande, and the east and west line of development extends over something like 1,000 miles, even far into the interior of New Mexico. While wildcatting is at a low stage now, it is still away above the normal status and may yet lead to discoveries greater than any of the past.
The Ranger field embraces all of Eastland and Stephens Counties. the Strawn district of Palo Pinto, and the Sipe Springs district of Comanche. A number of the leading oil operating companies of the world maintain operating headquarters in Ranger, namely: The Prarie Oil and Gas Co., Mid Kansas Oil and Gas Co., Humble Oil and Refining Co., Gulf Production Co., the Texas Co. and the Ranger Oil and Refining Company. There are four oil refineries and a num- ber of casinghead gas plants. In addition to the producing com- panies Ranger has been made the center of the pipe line activities for the Texas Co., the Prairie Pipe Line Co. and the Sinclair, Gulf, Pierce, Magnolia and Humble Companies.
The leading pools of the Ranger field are Desdemona, Sipe Springs, Rising Star, Necessity, Gunsight, Pleasant Grove, Eastland, Caddo, Strawn and Breckenridge.
By August 30, 1920, there had been 2,371 completed wells in this field. Of these 1,722 had produced oil or gas in paying quantities. and 515 had been abandoned as dry on the same date there were 821 drilling wells in the field.
For the week ending August 28, 1920, the daily oil production in the Ranger field averaged 112,283 barrels. According to available figures the output has varied considerably from time to time, and by November of the same year the flush production was apparently gone and the daily output was down to 1.700 barrels. Just how fully this field will be developed within the next five or ten years remains to be seen. In the opinion of some leading officials of the big com- panies the field has just been scratched. The acreage is now to a large extent in the hands of the big oil operators, and from now on development will be the big man's game.
In January, 1916, four miles west of Strawn, the Texas & Pacific Coal Company drilled a number of shallow wells, from 760 to 800 feet deep, the flush production of which averaged about 100 barrels daily, after which they settled down to pumpers ranging from 10 to 25 barrels.
The next devevopment was that known as the Doublegates field. on land owned by the Texas & Pacific Company, adjoining the Stuart ranch. From there it extended to the Hohart and Warren tracts, along the line of Stephens and Palo Pinto Counties, and at the same time the Texas & Pacific Coal Co. was developing the Stuart ranch. The product from wells on the Hohart and Stuart properties was con- siderably greater than that of the discovery wells in the field, and
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FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
several of them had an initial product ranging from 600 to as high as 1,500 barrels.
The development on the Warren tract was done by the Lone Star Gas Co., and they have a complete modern equipment, including power plants. The Strawn Production Company is also operating on a part of the Stuart property.
THE NEW POOL
In June, 1920, this field was extended east about three miles by the bringing in of a well in the 1,550 feet sand on the Collett and Robinson ranch seven miles north of Strawn; and since that time there have been five other producers brought in in the shallow sand, the last of which was drilled by the Texhoma Oil and Refining Co. and is just now being completed (January 20, 1921). This well is rated at about 300 barrels daily.
On the Collett and Robinson ranch there has been developed a gas sand at 1,490 feet, and there are several wells completed and shut in ranging from 3,000,000 to 20,000,000 feet capacity. Contracts have been made with the Lone Star Gas Co. to connect this field with their 16-inch gas line, which supplies Fort Worth and Dallas. The prin- cipal operators in the territory are the Texas & Pacific Coal and Oil Co., the Lone Star Gas Co., the Strawn Petroleum Co., Collett and Lange, the Texas Co. and Henry S. Livingstone and associates. The consensus of opinion seems to be that the new eastern extension of this field will cover a large area, and, by reason of the development of both oil and gas in comparatively shallow sands, will prove to be a highly profitable field. This is borne out by the fact that some of the original wells drilled over five years ago are still producing oil in paying quantities, and the pressure in the gas wells is still holding out, notwithstanding continuous use for development purposes for several years. Owing to the use of the most improved drilling machines only about thirty days are required to drill and equip a well.
This field is being adequately equipped with pipe line facilities, the Prairie Oil and Gas Company having two eight-inch lines along the east quarter of the field, and the Humble Oil and Refining Co., as well as the Pierce Oil Co., being in the western and southern por- tions. These facilities, along with the pipe line of the Lone Star Gas Co. and the Texas & Pacific Oil and Coal Co., both of which are used exclusively for gas, furnish ample facilities for handling all the pro- duction of either oil or gas.
It is predicted by some operators interested in the field that an extensive gas and oil territory will be developed through the south- ern part of Palo Pinto County lying to the east of this pool. Up to this time the operators have confined their attention to the shallow sands, but there is also a prospect of good production from the deep sand in the same horizon as the Ranger production, and it is expected that this deeper sand will be developed in the near future.
Among the large oil and gas operators at Breckenridge are the Texas Company, the Gulf Production Company, the Prairie Oil and Gas Company, the Humble Oil and Refining Company, the Magnolia
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FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
Petroleum Company, the Mid-Kansas Company, the Fensland Com- pany, the Texas and Pacific Coal and Oil Company, the Sun Com- pany, the Atlantic Oil and Producing Company and the Lone Star Gas Company. There are also dozens of smaller concerns. The St. Clair-Gulf Company has recently closed its operations in this field.
The following information is furnished by D. H. Freel of the Humble Oil and Refining Company at Cisco.
The maximum output of the Breckenridge pool proper (including an area of some twenty-five square miles) is 100,000 barrels a day. At present (January 15, 1921) the pipe lines are hauling 89,000 barrels a day, which is the (present) approximate production. The storage capacity of the field is approximately 250,000 barrels. For some time storage oil has accumulated at the rate of 30,000 barrels a day, owing to inadequate pipe line facilities in neighboring territory, notably Eastland and Comanche counties. Thus a state of congestion has been rapidly approached, and soon the storage tanks will be filled and runs will necessarily have to be cut. By the middle of February (1921), it is calculated there will be stored in Eastland, Stephens and Erath counties about 11,000,000 barrels of oil, and the storage ca- pacity will be exhausted. The remedy lies in a suspension of pro- duction, and the leading producers at Breckenridge, have signed an order to shut down for thirty days. The total receipt of all pipe lines in the three counties above mentioned, was approximately 4,500,000 barrels ; the deliveries, 3,500,000 barrels.
OIL PRODUCTION IN NORTH TEXAS FIELDS FOR THE YEAR 1920
Mr. George R. Kelley, an expert on oil production, writes the following resume of production for 1920 for the Fort Worth Star Telegram :
Nineteen hundred and twenty was a banner year for the oil fields of North Central Texas.
According to figures just compiled more oil was produced in 1920. by about 16,000,000 barrels, than was produced in 1919, which was also a record year. The annual production, estimating the output for Decem- ber at 5,750,000 barrels, is approximately 70,138,000 barrels, compared with an annual output in 1919 of 54,320,744 barrels.
The average daily production of the entire fields for the year was a little less than 200,000 barrels, though it never fell below 132,000 barrels daily at any time and was frequently as high as 225,000 barrels daily. The average monthly output of the fields was more than 5,800,000 barrels. No month fell below 5,000,000 barrels. The lowest production was in February, when the output was only 5,087,650 barrels. The peak of production was attained in October when the whole North Central Texas territory produced approximately 6,850,000 barrels.
There were a total of 5,450 completions during the year, of which 3,600 were producing oil wells, 1,680 were dry holes and 175 were gas wells. The 3,600 new producing oil wells had a new daily production of 776,000 barrels of oil or an average of 215 barrels to the well. The 175 new gas wells had a total new gas production of 1,627,500,000 cubic feet.
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FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
More than sixty-six per cent of the wells completed during the year were producing oil wells. Slightly more than thirty per cent were dry holes and the remaining number were gas wells.
The total value of the crude oil produced in these fields during the year, figuring an average of $3.50 per barrel, is nearly $250,000,000. Operators say that $3.50 per barrel is a very conservative average for the price of oil, as most of the oil has been bringing a premium of from 25 to 35 cents a barrel for the greater part of the year. At no time during the year has there been a reduction in the price of crude oil, but every change in the price has been an advance.
The following table gives the production for each month :
January, 5,902,800; February, 5,087,675; March, 5,360,475 ; April, 5,226,025; May, 5,941,520; June, 5,791,600; July, 5,796,850; August, 6,031,700; September, 5,829,700; October, 6,825,050; November, 6,575,- 025; December (estimated) 5,750,000.
The Burkburnett field led all other districts in the field in annual production, though it was run a close second by Stephens County. In the month of August Stephens County passed the Burkburnett field in production and has held the lead since that time, with little prospect of losing it. Burkburnett produced during the year a total of 26,199,350 barrels as compared with a production last year of 31,604,183 barrels. The annual production of Stephens County was 24,367,000 barrels as compared with a production in 1919 of 4,091,045 barrels. The follow- ing table gives the production by months for the Burkburnett field and the same for the Stephens County field for comparison :
January
Burk 2,504,048
988,590
February
2,242,396
943,444
March
2,300,795
1,012,088
April
.2,544,450
908,190
May
2,580,190
1,441,562
June
2,218,280
1,708,770
July
2,180,258
2,089,741
August
.2,077,000
2,431,082
September
1,919,800
2,448,000
October
1,951,140
3,427,050
November
1,821,000
3,403,500
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