Production - Domestic - Oil and Gas Development in 1931 in Illinois, Southwestern Indiana and Western Kentucky

Drilling activity in the eastern interior coal basin, which includes Illinois, southwestern Indiana and western Kentucky, decreased greatly in 1931. Only 521 wells were drilled as compared with 1438 in 1930.' The decline in oil production (Fig. 1) was due partly to the failure of new production to make up for the natural decline of the old wells and partly to artificial curtailment of production to meet a decreased demand. During the year prices trended sharply downward until July, after which they made a partial recovery (Fig. 2). The average price of Illinois crude, which is the same as that for southwestern Indiana, was $0.852 per barrel in 1931 as compared with $1.616 in 1930, or slightly more than one-half. The cost of drilling has declined only slightly. The 25 per cent curtailment of production which was adopted by agreement of the southeastern Illinois operators on Sept. 1, 1930, ended on June 3, 1931. It was effective for five months in 1931 as compared with four months in 1930. The outlook for 1932 is for drilling activity in the whole area to continue at about the same rate or to decrease somewhat unless it is stimulated by a substantial rise in crude oil prices or by the discovery of extensive new productive territory. Discoveries of new productive areas and new sands during the year were few. A new gas area was discovered early in the year in Busseron township, Knox County, Indiana, in which the producing sand is in the Pennsylvanian at depths of 630 to 730 ft. The wells had a total initial open-flow capacity of 7 or 8 million cubic feet per day but are shut in for lack of marketing facilities. An exceptionally large gas well which was drilled in Gibson County between Oakland City and Francisco reached a total depth of 1490 ft. and produced from the Brown sand of Chester age. The initial open-flow capacity was reported as 13 million cubic feet per day. In western Kentucky a number of extensions to oil and gas-producing areas are reported. The most active drilling campaign was in Hart County, where 124 wells were drilled, most of them in the