Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 22, Number 78, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 June 1901 — The Jasper County Oil Field. [ARTICLE]

The Jasper County Oil Field.

[from the state geologist’s annual report.]

During the past .two years active development has been carried on in Jasper County, Indiana, with the result that a considerable area of valuable oil territory has been disclosed. The. oil is found in limestone which, without doubt, is a continuation of the Comifer-ous-limestone formations at present producing oil in the Canadian fields'and at Terre Haute in Vigo County, Indiana; the limestone being easily recognized throughout a large area of southern Michigan and western Indiana, but entirely absent in the eastern and central portions of the latter State. The formation is nearest the surface in the section of Indiana which has since developed into the Jasper County oil field and is found in the most productive portions of this field at approximately 100 feet below the surface. This history of the Jasper County field dates from 1865, when a company was organized in New York to exploit certain oil territory, supposed to * exist in the Kankakee swamps of Indiana. This company was organized during the great oil excitement in Pennsylvania and adjoining states, but no records remain of any active development underraken by this original company. The next interest shown in this section was in 1893, when a well drilled on the W. J. Swisher farm, six miles west of Medaryville, southeast quarter section 33 (31 north, 5 west), Gillam Township, was completed, which produced a considerable amount of oil. This well was drilled by the owner of the farm to provide water for his stock. Not finding water at the usual depth the well was continued to a depth of about 85 feet, when a flow of oil was encountered which, according to flowed intermittenly, its production at certain periods ranging as high as 10 barrels daily. The oil was found to be a good lubricant, and for a number of years the owner of the well obtained a fair income from the sale of it at approximately $lO per barrel. Shortly after the Swisher well was completed a number of test wells were drilled in the immediate neighborhood, but in the light of present development it would seem that none of them penetrated the Corniferous limestone to a sufficient depth to obtain oil in any quantity. The recent history of the field began in July, 1899, when a company, composed of a number of practical oil producers and known as the Interstate Oil Company, commenced active work. They leased approximately 36,000 acres of land, 26,000 of which they obtained from B. J. Gifford at oneeighth royalty, the only condition being that they put down a bore to the oil producing rock on each section of land, one well to be sunk every 60 days, until the tract was drilled oyer. After purchasing the oil on the original Swisher farm, the company sunk a bore 700 feet northwest of the first well, which resulted in a two-barrel producer. Additional wells were completed in section 33 until by the end of the year 1899 a considerable acreage has been proven to be productive territory. About this time the development of the district was brought to the attention of a number of English capitalists known as the Byrd Syndicate, Lmt., of London. That syndicate made a careful investiKtion of the property of the terstate Oil Company, and finally purchased the leases and 19 producing wells, paying therefor the sum of SISO,(XX)- The new company immediately began extensive operations, and by the close of 1900 had more than 100 producing wells in operation. Several other companies were formed soon after the Interstate Company sold its territory and most of the unleased land near by was quickly taken up, either by lease or direet sale. In eastern Jasper, western Pulaski and the counties to the northward, the New Albany or Genesee brown and black shales immediately under the drift and are encountered in sinking wells for water. As already noted, these shales are rich in bitumens, both oily and gaseous. In the yard of J. P. Des Elms, on the northwest of the northeast quarter of section

34 (31 north, 5 west),about a mile northeast of the Swisher well,, a bore was sunk for water in 1893 a few feet into the shale produced gas enough to supply several stoves. It was used in the cooking stove for six months, but as no separator was put on to shut off the water the latter finally found its way into the stove. In April, 1900, the well, after being primed, pumped a few strokes, would flow water for 10 or 15 minutes and at the same time allow a large amount of gas to escape. This when set on fire would burn with a flame several feet higli as long as the water flowed. The Corniferous limestone or oil bearing rock underlying this shale in the productive area of Jasper County is a hard gray limestone which, in a number of test wells which have been drilled through the formation, has been found to be approximately 40 feet in thickness. The upper 20 feet, however, constitutes the oil producing portion of the limestone, and in this 20 feet are found several bands or pay streaks of porous rock which enlarge into crevices with considerable regularity. The usual formation encountered in drilling a Jasper County well is as follows: Drift, consisting of sand, clay and loam, 50 feet, under which is encountered a bed, 45 to 55 feet in thickness, of close grained black shale which forms an impervious cover for the Corniferous limestone reservoir. This black shale or slate does not cave in drilling, it thus being necessary to use but a short length of drive pipe to shut off the drift formation. The operators'use for this purpose 5f inch casing, and by driving it a sufficient distance into the black shale shut off the surface water. With the usual form of portable drilling machine employed in the Jasper County district, an expert crew has completed a bore in the remarkably short time of 23 hours actual drilling time, it thus being evident that the cost of a well is a very small sum.

The oil obtained is unlike any other product found in the Ohio and Indiana oil districts, it being of a black or very dark green color and of a gravity which ranges from 17 to 21. Its thickness and low gravity is without doubt largely due to the shallow depth at which it is found, the more volatile portions having long since escaped through their overlying formations. The oil on examination is found to have a cold test of about zero F. and a fire test of over 300 degrees. It has a good viscosity test and is universally used throughout the Jasper County district for lubricating purposes. It is associated with a strong sulphur water of which a large amount is usually encountered whenever a crevice is penetrated. There is usually but little gas found in the district except immediately upon the completion of a new well, when, for several days following, a considerable quantity of gas is often discharged. There has been but little excitement shown in the development of the Jasper County field, due to the fact that the territory is controlled in large blocks, thus largely eliminating rivalry between owners of the adjacent properties such as furnishes the activity so noticeable in the Trenton limestone areas of Indiana. Moreover, the wells are generally small producers running only from two to five barrels each. This, however, is not always the case, as several wells drilled on the Syndicate’s properties in section 28 (31 north, 5 west), Walker Township, and in section 33 (31 north, 5 west), Gillam Township, having resulted in producers whose first day’s output ranged from 10 to 100 barrels or more. The largest well completed in the district is on the south half of the southwest quarter of section 28, Walker Township. This well, when completed, without a shot, Sve a yield of approximately 200 rrels in 24 hours when pumped in a rather primitive manner with one of the drilling machines. It is quite possible that this well would have yielded a much larger amount had it been pumped with a standard pumping ri£ such as is used in the deeper territory of the State.

On the John Perry farm, two miles southeast of Wheatfield, a bore found the oil bearing stratum at a depth of 105 feet, and a fair producing well resulted. A bore which produced gas only was sunk on the J. A. Campbell farm, northeast quarter of section 33 (81 north, 5 west). According to Mr. McFadden, the total estimated daily production of Jasper County at the close of the year 1900, was approximately 400 barrels. The actual daily production possible is unknown, due to the fact that a market for the oil is as yet wanting, although pipe line service will be installed during the summer of 1901. It is doubtful, however, if the oil can ever be freely moved by means of pipe lines on account of its thickness and heavy weight. What has been sold was hauled in barrels to the railway stations and is said to have brought $5.00 to $5.50 a barrel for lubricating purposes. After the sediment is removed but little difference is said to exist between it and the Mecca, Trumbull Co., Ohio, lubricating oil which brings $lO per barrel on the market. It is claimed that a St. Louis firm has purchased a quantity of the Jasper County product for making an artificial rubber compound, the oil being exceedingly rich in asphaltum and paraffine bases. There is probably no oil field in the world in which the expense of development is aa low as in the Jasper County district. The oil formation lies at an extremely shallow depth and the area which has been found to be petroliferous seems to Jbe fairly uniform in character, resulting in a few wells which will not make paying pro-; ducers. Notwithstanding the small output of the average well, the cheapness with which the territory may be operated, tof ether with the value of the prouct, makes it possible to operate at a profit wells which produce but one or two barrels daily and it may be confidently expected that the life of the wells will compare favorably with the development in the Corniferous limestone formation in the Canadian oil fields, where many wells have produced oil in paying quantities for the Sast 25 years. There is little oubt but that the productive territory will eventually be found to extend over a large area to the north and northwestward of present development.