The Permanence of the Permian Basin

My July article for Pruitt Tool and Supply's newletter Worm Dirt.

This month we drill into that seemingly endless lake of oil called the Permian Basin.

The Permian Basin has the distinction of being recognized as the most productive petroleum producing region in the Continental United States. Located in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico it underlies an area slightly larger than the state of Indiana. A down warped area eventually covered by the Permian Sea, it continued through much of the Permian period and consequently contains one of the thickest deposits of Permian rock found anywhere. Structurally, a basin in the subsurface, much of it lies underneath the Llano Estacado.
When the Spanish Conquistador, Francisco Coronado spied the huge Caprock Escarpment which caused him to dub the area the "Palisaded Plains" or the more commonly known "staked plains", he had no idea of the wealth waiting below that vast sea of grass.
His written account of the area was pretty descriptive...."I reached some plains so vast that I did not find their limit anywhere I went, although I traveled over them for more than 300 leagues...with no more land marks than if we had been swallowed up by the sea....there was not a stone, nor bit of rising ground, nor tree, nor shrub, nor anything to go by." Later explorers such as Randolph Marcy in 1852 found no argument with Coronado's statement.
One of the richest fields of the Permian Basin was owned by Ira and Ann Yates. The Yates’ had swapped a thriving general store for a sprawling ranch in Pecos County and were starting to regret that decision. The land was too poor to sustain enough cattle or sheep to be profitable and they were having a difficult time paying the mortgage and taxes on their property. On a hunch, Ira Yates invited Transcontinental Oil Company to come exploring.
In 1926, an exploratory well was drilled into the San Andres formation of the Permian Basin lying beneath the Yates ranch. At approximately 1,000 feet it "gushed" a spew of crude oil into the air. With no way to contain the spew, the crew dammed a nearby draw building a crude holding pond for their oil.
Punching away, other wells were showing impressive strikes and Yates and the oilmen knew they had a significant find.
However, just as it happened in other fields in this period of time, oil production facilities and transportation infrastructure were lacking. But the richness of the Yates Field spurred Humble Pipe Line Co. to hurriedly construct a 55,000 barrel storage tank which proved to be woefully inadequate.
The first five wells drilled on the Yates Field together produced an average of 9,009 barrels a day which was more than could be stored or moved. A sixth well blew out due to extreme gas pressure and 500 barrels of oil a day blew through the damaged well onto the ground, pooling in nearby canyons. Most of that "blow out" oil was recovered by damming the canyons and sucking it up with pumps.
In 1929 the spudding of well Yates 30-A blew out with the spectacular flow of 8,528 barrels per hour - over 200,00 in a day setting a world record.
The high production rate of the Yates field coupled with lack of storage and transport caused the State of Texas Railroad Commission to step in and require a proration of the field for the first time in Texas history.
The Railroad Commission's right to oversee petroleum production gave them the power to require all operators be given an equal share in the pipeline outlet based on their wells’ total field production. Additionally, the RCC restricted the depth operators could drill into the cavernous reservoir which gave each of them an equal advantage.
Naturally as it happened in all big oil strikes, an instant boomtown was born around the red barn on the Yates Ranch and given the name Redbarn. This early town was located about 3 miles south of present day Iraan, TX (pronounced Eye-ruh-ann - a compilation of the names of Ira and Ann Yates.) The early boomtown of Redbarn, whose permanent population was never more than 75 was abandoned in 1952 giving Iraan unchallenged bragging rights to the history of the Yates Field in the Permian Basin area.
According to the Railroad Commission of Texas' website, there were 355 active rigs in the Permian Basin in 2011. It states, “The Permian Basin remains a significant oil-producing area, producing more than 270 million barrels of oil in 2010 and more than 280 million barrels in 2011. The Permian Basin has produced over 30 billion barrels of oil and 75 trillion cubic feet of gas and it is estimated by industry experts to contain recoverable oil and natural gas resources exceeding what has been produced over the last 90 years. Recent increased use of enhanced-recovery practices in the Permian Basin has produced a substantial impact on U.S. oil production.”

Good Grief - What Are We Coming To?!

My email spam filter works pretty well, but I obviously need to ratchet up my security. Today I received an email from "Married But Lonely" - turns out it wasn't a real person but an ad asking me to "Try Us Out Free!" And their come on line was "Meet A Cheating Wife - married but lonely introduces safe dating personals of women who wish to find men in their neighborhood for discreet encounters."

After being assaulted by the provocative photo of a lingerie clad chick and an uber hot dude in a steamy embrace, I suddenly found myself in need of a cigarette and some pillow talk. Not really - I'm being sarcastic........go figure!

First of all - I wonder why was I the recipient of this message? I don't know which side of this proposition they think I would fall on. But I have to say this - I've seen the guys in my neighborhood, I already have the cream of the crop here at home. And unless there is some random fellow with a lot of time on his hands that likes to mow, do carpentry work, make phone calls and wrangle a whole passel of crazy canines while holding down a great job - I'm gonna have to not only say no, but unsubscribe from hearing from you.

And so.........Dear Married But Lonely, Thanks but no thanks. Deleted, blocked, unsubscribed and trashed. I only wish you had a Facebook Page so I could "friend" you and then "unfriend" you just to make a point. Sincerely, You Have Got To Be Kidding Me

Smoke.............and mirrors.

I know better than to watch news first thing in the morning. But, hubs is a news junkie so it is often forced upon me. And then my blood pressure gets all spiky, my heart gets all racy and my tongue gets wicked.

I am APPALLED at the lack of concern by a certain Congressman in helping a little widow woman find out what really happened to her husband. She has remained faithful to him since he never came home from WWII and has apparently received conflicting reports regarding him that are too numerous to mention. Only when a concerned relative took to the internet and did what you and I do everyday by searching around was she able to get closure. And from what I understand it didn't take much looking.

Imagine her pride in knowing that to a certain village in France - her husband died a hero, crashing his plane and managing to avoid their village. For decades they maintained a grave for him in their local cemetery and then when he was moved to the one at Normandy, maintained that one as well. His name is etched on that beautiful white cross in a field of others. HIS NAME. There is a yearly ceremony honoring him and they named a street for him. HIS NAME.

All this time, strangers have been honoring an American while his wife quietly honored him faithfully at home. Requesting information from the only people she knew to ask. Receiving form letters with erroneous information.

Apparently this story first was told on the anniversary of D-Day but today it aired on CBS. I take issue with various news organizations on occasion as I believe they all have an agenda. But this story is difficult to spin, especially given the Congressman's statements and releases since. After this morning, the Congressman in question's Facebook page began to "blow up" with criticism regarding his handling of this sad situation. And, unlike his handling of that sad situation, the response was swift and surgical.

Comments started disappearing as if they were never posted. No one was able to "like" a comment and, for some - like me, soon the ability to comment just went away....like smoke......and mirrors. And for the record, I tried to be reasonably courteous in my comment. I, at least, did not call him profane names (I just thought them). Sir Congressman continues to "stand" by his packaged apology, which for some,may be adequate. I find it shockingly inadequate. And now the Facebook page has come down entirely, allowing no one else to even view.

For me.................my belief is he needs to personally pay for as many trips to France as Mrs. Harris cares to make in the time she has left on earth to visit and pay tribute to the man she loved enough to remain faithful to all these years. And further, all those flowers she sends regularly to adorn his grave should not be at her expense either. She feels she has years to make up for because she had no knowledge. I feel our Government has much to make up for because the knowledge was there and the means were there to know, they just couldn't be bothered.

And, as for you Mr. Congressman..........you may silence some of the people, some of the time but you cannot hide from this one. This horse has gone galloping out of the gate and there will be no putting it back in the barn no matter how much smoke you blow or how many mirrors you use. The one you look into every morning as you shave will show your true face.

HEART

Few words in the English language have as many different meanings. Coupled with adjectives, HEART can range the whole spectrum of the human condition. KIND HEART, TENDER HEART, SOFT HEART, BIG HEART, COLD HEART, HARD HEART, BROKEN HEART, BLACK HEART. HEARTS can sing, HEARTS can ache, and sometimes a HEART just simply breaks. Even when a HEART breaks, it can mend and often becomes a stronger instrument for the breaking. The ability to push through difficult times is to have HEART. The talent for identifying with others and their struggles is to have HEART for their plight. One cannot live without HEART - either in the real physical sense or in the more intangible social sense. Sometimes we must guard our HEART, sometimes we give our HEART away and often we have to take a moment and heal our HEART. No one can tell us how long it takes a HEART to heal, for they are unique to each individual. So, the next time someone says, "Oh, have a HEART!" Remember you already do, but you might need to exercise it a little.

To Patent or Not to Patent - Early Oil in Pennsylvania

Edwin Drake, (inventor and oil industry pioneer) was hired by the Seneca Oil Company to investigate suspected oil deposits in Titusville, Pennsylvania. Oil in the area was causing problems for salt well drillers because of the contamination factor to their product. The oil company chose Drake, a retired railway man partly because he had free use of the rail which meant he could travel the area at no expense to them. They tacked a phony “Colonel” title in front of his name to give him some respect and authority and sent him prospecting. Native Americans had long been aware of crude oil and used it as “black medicine” for sprains and cuts. They also found it effective in driving away flies. They called it “antonotons” meaning “Oh, how much there is!” Even early settlers tried to make use of crude but quickly learned it would not work in their oil lamps. Because it burned with a black smoke and smelled horribly, it was basically not fit for anything. Eventually, someone discovered a way to process out the impurities making it usable in oil lamps and for other more genteel uses. Nothing like a good bottle of (snake oil) for what ails you. The ability to process the crude oil caused an “ah ha” moment for James Townsend, the President of Seneca Oil, and he decided it was time to get that crude out of the ground. His plans were to extract, process, sell and get rich! Edwin Drake settled on Oil Creek as a drilling site and decided to drill in the manner of the salt well drillers. He purchased a steam engine in Erie, Pennsylvania, to power the drill and began digging on an island. It took quite some time for the drillers to get through the many layers of gravel. At 16 feet, the sides of the hole began to collapse and those helping him began to despair, but not Drake. It was at this point he devised the idea of a drive pipe. This cast iron pipe consisted of 10-foot-long joints that were driven down into the ground. At 32 feet they struck, bedrock. Drilling tools were lowered through the pipe and steam was used to drill through the bedrock. The going was slow at a rate of just three feet per day. All the difficulty associated with the process resulted in the well being dubbed "Drake's Folly." Crowds gathered to jeer at the apparently unproductive operation which was also going broke. Seneca Oil had abandoned Drake, leaving him to rely on friends to back the enterprise. On August 27, the drill bit had reached a total depth of 69.5 feet, hit a crevice and the crew packed up for the day. The next morning Drake’s driller, Billy Smith, looked into the hole in preparation for another day’s work. He was surprised and delighted to see crude oil rising up in the hole. Drake was summoned and the oil was brought to the surface with a hand operated pitcher pump from a local kitchen and collected in a bath tub. Previous methods for collecting oil had been limited. Ground collection of oil consisted of gathering it from natural occurrences, such as oil seeps or shallow holes dug into the ground. Alternative methods of digging large shafts into the ground also failed, as collapse from water seepage almost always occurred. Drake is now famous for pioneering a new method for producing oil from the ground by using pipe to prevent borehole collapse. The principle behind this idea is still employed today by many companies drilling for hydrocarbons. Unfortunately, Drake failed to patent his drilling invention. Subsequently, after losing all his money in oil speculation, the state of Pennsylvania voted an annuity of $1,500 to the “crazy man” who founded the oil industry. Edwin Drake died in 1880, impoverished after pioneering an industry that made others fabulously wealthy.