Small Gas Fields Research Articles

Developments in Pennsylvania in 1950

Exploratory drilling in the shallow-sand territory of western Pennsylvania (Upper Devonian or higher) during 1950 led to the discovery of only one small new gas field. No new oil pool was discovered. The total number of shallow wells drilled was 14.5 per cent less than in 1949. The Bradford field accounted for 75 per cent of Pennsylvania's oil production during 1950. The average daily oil production in the state in 1950 was 32,395 barrels, as compared with 31,347 barrels in 1949, an increase of 3 per cent. Thirty-four new wells were completed to the deeper formations (Onondaga or deeper) as compared with 27 in 1949. Of these, 2 were drilled for gas storage purposes. Of the remainder, 19 were gas wells and 13 were dry holes. The outstanding event of 1950 was the discovery of another major Oriskany sand gas pool in north-central Pennsylvania early in the year. A wildcat well on the Leidy dome in Clinton County in north-central Pennsylvania encountered an open-flow of gas estimated at 15 million cubic feet per day in the top of the Oriskany sandstone. The initial reservoir pressure was 4,200 pounds per square inch. By the end of 1950, 12 producing wells and 3 dry holes had been completed and 40 wells were drilling. The pool was producing at the rate of about 150,000,000 cubic feet of gas per day. Oriskany tests on 5 other structures were underway at the end of the year in Cameron, Clinton, and Lycoming counties.

Oriskany Sand in Ohio: ABSTRACT

The Oriskany is a somewhat regular sand body in an area comprising parts of fourteen counties in eastern Ohio. The western limit of this consistent deposit can be plotted as a very irregular line between Trumbull and Meigs counties. Although relatively large lenses of sandstone have been encountered at this horizon as far west as Knox County in the central part of the state, only two small fields have been discovered in western outliers. The Cambridge field, discovered in 1922, was developed along the western pinch-out of the Oriskany in a typical stratigraphic trap extending from southwestern Guernsey County into south-central Tuscarawas County. The sand was absent west of the field, oil has accumulated immediately below the gas and a definite water horizon was encountered on the normal southeast dip below the oil at a depth of 2,600 feet below sea level. Although hard and sharp, the sand was exceptionally open in texture. Virgin rock pressure was 1,150 pounds. Gas wells were large in volume but relatively short lived. At its peak in 1926 the field produced 190,000 MCF per day. During 1935 a small gas field with a virgin pressure in excess of 1,600 pounds was discovered on a closed structure in Madison and Wayne townships, Columbiana County, at an average depth of 3250 feet below sea level. The few wells drilled were soon ruined by water and the field was of no commercial importance. During 1946 a gas field was developed on a similar structure and at approximately the same depth a few miles east in Madison Township. High pressures and large initial volumes encouraged development but water encroachment ruined these wells within a year. These two small gas fields are the only producing areas developed in Ohio where accumulation in the Oriskany sand was definitely controlled by anticlinal structure. In 1944 a gas field was discovered along the western limit of the Oriskany in eastern Knox Township, Columbiana County, at an average depth of 2,400 feet below sea level. Initial rock pressures were in excess of 1,300 pounds. Although no oil was discovered downdip, high permeability of the sand and large initial volumes of the wells indicate that their history will be comparable with that of the Cambridge field. A gas well with an open flow capacity of 2,500 MCF was recently completed at a depth of approximately 2,100 feet below sea level near the Pennsylvania line in Vernon Township, Trumbull County. It is one location west of two small oil wells which are located immediately up the normal dip from End_Page 2154------------------------------ End_Page 2155------------------------------ End_Page 2156------------------------------ End_Page 2157------------------------------ End_Page 2158------------------------------ four dry holes completed in water bearing Oriskany sand. These tests are located within a distance of one mile east and west and indicate the possibility of a stratigraphic trap along the western limit of the sand in that area. The position of the Oriskany sand in the series of Devonian and Silurian limestones and dolomites called the Big Lime and its possible correlation with the Austinburg sand in Ashtabula County are discussed. End_of_Article - Last_Page 2159------------

Geology and Development of the Paloma Field, Kern County, California

Stratigraphy, structure and closure of the Paloma field are discussed, withsome details regarding the present state of development. The Paloma anticline, a large dome modified by faults, is the largest single closed dome in thesouthern San Joaquin Valley without surface outcrop or topographic expression.It owes its discovery to geophysics. Of nine wells drilled to the Stevens sand, seven are productive. The ultimate productive area may approximate 3000 acreswhen the limits of the field are determined. Introduction The Paloma field derives its name from the Paloma school, 1/2 mile north ofwhat is now the center of the field. The field is 17 miles southwest of Bakersfield, in the south central part ofthe San Joaquin Valley (Fig. I). The present developed area and its expectedextensions are in townships 31 and 32S., R.26E. It is the most southerly ofseveral fields that produce from the Stevens sand zone. The first well to produce condensate was a joint test drilled by the WesternGulf Oil Co. and The Texas Co. near the center of sec. 3, T.32S., R.26E., wellNo. 54–3. This well was completed on Aug. 31, 1939, at a depth of 10,178 ft.The initial production was 2280 bbl. a day of condensate and 14,750,000 cu. ft.of gas (1/2-hr. gauge) through a 3/8-in. bean. Prior to the drilling of this well, the Ohio Oil Co. discovered anddeveloped a small gas field, which embraces a part of three townships abouttheir common corner but lies chiefly in secs. 31 and 32, T.3IS., R.26E. Thefirst well was completed on July 1, 1934, at a plugged depth of 5239 ft. afterhaving been drilled to 7957 ft. Production was found in a 59-ft. zone 110 ft.below the Fourth Mya bed, within the San Joaquin clays. Until recently this field wasknown as the Buena Vista gas field. It is now carried by the Division of Oiland Gas as the Paloma gas field. Production within the Paloma gas field isderived from six wells, producing from several different zones in the intervalfrom 4177 to 5548 feet. T.P. 1471

Developments in East Texas During 1939

One small oil field and one small oil and gas field were discovered in East Texas during 1939. New gas-producing horizons were found in three old gas fields. Development in proved oil fields was routine in character. Oil-well completions dropped substantially, due to the decline of drilling in the East Texas field. Few important exploratory tests were drilled.

The Outlook for Oil and Gas in Pennsylvania: ABSTRACT

Present conditions of production in Pennsylvania and the outlook for the future as regards (1) new drilling oil fields, (2) development of new End_Page 100------------------------------ fields, (3) development of deeper sands and (4) the revival of old fields. (1) will yield much additional oil and hasten depletion of gas, (2) will add little oil but many small gas fields, (3) already well prospected except Oriskany and Medina sands, and (4) much new oil from Bradford and elsewhere. End_of_Article - Last_Page 101------------