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Jan 1, 1901

Jan 1, 1904

By David B. Reger

The expansion of the previously discovered gas pools and an intensified search for additional pools in the Oriskany and deeper sands were the principal petroleum activities in West Virginia during 1941. One small oil pool was discovered and another was considerably extended. One small gas pool was discovered, several isolated well discoveries were expanded into definite pools, and various recognized pools were substantially increased. The proved oil territory of the state was increased about 600 acres and the proved gas territory about 45,000 acres. The new discoveries of oil did not equal withdrawals but gas reserves added were greater than gas withdrawals. Oil activity, as in the past several years, was slight because of unfavorable crude prices. Most operators prefer to leave oil in the ground rather than to drill for it without a better return. Gas activity increased greatly because of better demand, even though the price of gas did not improve. The account of operations, as gathered from trade journals and other reporting services, shows that 838 new wells were drilled, resulting in 114 new oil wells with 2606 bbl. of daily new production; 558 new gas wells with 949,226,000 cu. ft. of daily open flow; and 166 dry holes. Also, 86 old wells were drilled to deeper sands with 9 bbl. and 56,030,000 cu. ft. of added production. On the new wells the oil average was 22.86 bbl. per well per day; and the gas average was 1,701,000 cu. ft. per well per day. On new wells the ratio of dry holes to completions was 13.61 per cent. On deeper drilling to other sands the ratio of failures was 15.12 per cent. From an exploratory standpoint one strictly new oil pool (Higginbotham Run) was opened in Kanawha County and one strictly new gas pool (Lost Run) in Taylor County. One entirely isolated wildcat gave commercial Oriskany-sand gas production and may open a pool. Various other wildcats greatly extended the boundaries of known Oriskany-sand gas pools and various others may have opened new pools in the shallow sands. On the other hand, various Oriskany tests in Harrison, Monongalia, Roane and Wood Counties were dry and all five tests to the White Clinton sand (Sil.) in Boone, Harrison, Kanawha and Wood Counties failed to find commercial production. The principal oil wells completed, by counties, were: Calhoun, 24; Clay, 7; Gilmer, 6; Hancock, 9; Kanawha, 9; Pleasants, 10; and Ritchie, 14. Production for the year was estimated by the Oil Weekly as 3,421,000 bbl., compared with U. S. Bureau of Mines final figures of 3,444,000 bbl. in 1940. The leading counties in gas-well completions were: Boone, 32; Braxton, 19; Cabell, 16; Calhoun, 46; Clay, 20; Gilmer, 37; Jackson, 94; Kanawha, 82; Lincoln, 17; Putnam, 46; Ritchie, 33; Upshur, 20; and Wayne, 33. Production for the year is estimated by the author as 210,000,000,000 cu. ft., as compared to the U. S. Bureau of Mines' final figures of 188,751,000,000 cu. ft.* in 1940.

Jan 1, 1942

By David B. Reger

The expansion of the previously discovered gas pools and an intensified search for additional pools in the Oriskany and deeper sands were the principal petroleum activities in West Virginia during 1941. One small oil pool was discovered and another was considerably extended. One small gas pool was discovered, several isolated well discoveries were expanded into definite pools, and various recognized pools were substantially increased. The proved oil territory of the state was increased about 600 acres and the proved gas territory about 45,000 acres. The new discoveries of oil did not equal withdrawals but gas reserves added were greater than gas withdrawals. Oil activity, as in the past several years, was slight because of unfavorable crude prices. Most operators prefer to leave oil in the ground rather than to drill for it without a better return. Gas activity increased greatly because of better demand, even though the price of gas did not improve. The account of operations, as gathered from trade journals and other reporting services, shows that 838 new wells were drilled, resulting in 114 new oil wells with 2606 bbl. of daily new production; 558 new gas wells with 949,226,000 cu. ft. of daily open flow; and 166 dry holes. Also, 86 old wells were drilled to deeper sands with 9 bbl. and 56,030,000 cu. ft. of added production. On the new wells the oil average was 22.86 bbl. per well per day; and the gas average was 1,701,000 cu. ft. per well per day. On new wells the ratio of dry holes to completions was 13.61 per cent. On deeper drilling to other sands the ratio of failures was 15.12 per cent. From an exploratory standpoint one strictly new oil pool (Higginbotham Run) was opened in Kanawha County and one strictly new gas pool (Lost Run) in Taylor County. One entirely isolated wildcat gave commercial Oriskany-sand gas production and may open a pool. Various other wildcats greatly extended the boundaries of known Oriskany-sand gas pools and various others may have opened new pools in the shallow sands. On the other hand, various Oriskany tests in Harrison, Monongalia, Roane and Wood Counties were dry and all five tests to the White Clinton sand (Sil.) in Boone, Harrison, Kanawha and Wood Counties failed to find commercial production. The principal oil wells completed, by counties, were: Calhoun, 24; Clay, 7; Gilmer, 6; Hancock, 9; Kanawha, 9; Pleasants, 10; and Ritchie, 14. Production for the year was estimated by the Oil Weekly as 3,421,000 bbl., compared with U. S. Bureau of Mines final figures of 3,444,000 bbl. in 1940. The leading counties in gas-well completions were: Boone, 32; Braxton, 19; Cabell, 16; Calhoun, 46; Clay, 20; Gilmer, 37; Jackson, 94; Kanawha, 82; Lincoln, 17; Putnam, 46; Ritchie, 33; Upshur, 20; and Wayne, 33. Production for the year is estimated by the author as 210,000,000,000 cu. ft., as compared to the U. S. Bureau of Mines' final figures of 188,751,000,000 cu. ft.* in 1940.

Jan 1, 1942

By Frank C. Greene

The principal event in the development of oil and gas in Missouri in 1942 was the drilling of the Cities Service Oil Company's No. I Jim Cook, in the northwest corner, NW. 1/4 sec. 32, T. 65 N., R. 39 W., Atchison County, in the northwest corner of Missouri. This well, not yet completed, bailed several barrels of free oil in about 27° Baume from a sand called the Bartlesville by those in charge, at a depth of 1450 ft. The well is on a block of leases obtained after the area, which is covered by several hundred feet of glacial drift, had been prospected by core drilling. Earlier in the year the same company drilled a well on the Glen Gray farm in the southwest corner, SW. 1/4 sec. 29, T. 65 N., R. 39 w., to a depth of 2427 ft. in the Hunton lime with a rotary drill. Oil stains in this hole led to the drilling of the second well. Table i .—-Wells Drilled for Oil and Gas in Missouri in 1942 Country Number of Number of County Oil Wells Gas Wells Dry Andrew.......... Atchison.......... I Bates............ 2 6 Caldwell.......... I 3 Cass............. I Clinton........... I Holt............. I Jackson.......... I I Knox............ I Nodaway......... I Platte............ 4 4 Ray.............. 5 Sullivan.......... I Totals.......... I 7 28 Otherwise drilling in Missouri was uneventful, with a total of only 36 Completions, of which one was a very small oil well, Seven were small gas wells and 28 were dry holes. The total footage drilled was 24,7541/2 ft., of which 14,0281/2 was by cable tools and 10,726 ft. by rotary. Twelve of the dry holes were drilled into Mississip-pian or older beds. Table I gives a summary of activities by counties.

Jan 1, 1943

By Frank C. Greene

The principal event in the development of oil and gas in Missouri in 1942 was the drilling of the Cities Service Oil Company's No. I Jim Cook, in the northwest corner, NW. 1/4 sec. 32, T. 65 N., R. 39 W., Atchison County, in the northwest corner of Missouri. This well, not yet completed, bailed several barrels of free oil in about 27° Baume from a sand called the Bartlesville by those in charge, at a depth of 1450 ft. The well is on a block of leases obtained after the area, which is covered by several hundred feet of glacial drift, had been prospected by core drilling. Earlier in the year the same company drilled a well on the Glen Gray farm in the southwest corner, SW. 1/4 sec. 29, T. 65 N., R. 39 w., to a depth of 2427 ft. in the Hunton lime with a rotary drill. Oil stains in this hole led to the drilling of the second well. Table i .—-Wells Drilled for Oil and Gas in Missouri in 1942 Country Number of Number of County Oil Wells Gas Wells Dry Andrew.......... Atchison.......... I Bates............ 2 6 Caldwell.......... I 3 Cass............. I Clinton........... I Holt............. I Jackson.......... I I Knox............ I Nodaway......... I Platte............ 4 4 Ray.............. 5 Sullivan.......... I Totals.......... I 7 28 Otherwise drilling in Missouri was uneventful, with a total of only 36 Completions, of which one was a very small oil well, Seven were small gas wells and 28 were dry holes. The total footage drilled was 24,7541/2 ft., of which 14,0281/2 was by cable tools and 10,726 ft. by rotary. Twelve of the dry holes were drilled into Mississip-pian or older beds. Table I gives a summary of activities by counties.

Jan 1, 1943

By H. W. Mead, C. E. Birchenall

SELF-DIFFUSION in pure gold has been studied by Sagrubsky,1 McKay,2 Gatos and coworkers,3,4 and Okkerse.5 Sagrubsky used a sectioning technique but reported results far lower than any of the others. The work seems to be carefully done, and it appears that a factor of 60 must have been omitted in his calculations or the units misstated by an equivalent amount. McKay used a surface activity method, and Gatos and Kurtz, following Gatos and Azzam, applied autoradiography to the measurement of activity on an oblique section through the diffusion zone. These two investigations agree well with each other but give results below those reported here. Okkerse employed a very careful sectioning technique. Chemical interdiffusion in Au-Ag alloys has been measured under several concentration conditions. Average values of the diffusion coefficient for the range of 0 to 18 atomic pct Au were obtained by Braune.6 since the diffusion coefficient probably varies markedly over this range, the values may not be too useful. Also, a plot of these data suggests that grain boundary contributions may have been appreciable at the lowest temperature employed. Ebert and Trommsdorf7 give average values for 0 to 9 atomic pct Ag, and Johnson8 reports average values for 45 to 55 atomic pct Au. Johnson also measured silver and gold self-diffusion coefficients in 49.2 atomic pct Au alloys, and self-diffusion in pure silver. The self-diffusion of gold in pure silver has been determined by Jaumot and Sawatsky.10 Other measurements which do not cover a range of temperature or are of low precision are not mentioned in this account since a review by Kubaschewski is available." This contribution reports diffusion coefficients for self-diffusion in gold, self-diffusion of gold in Au-Ag alloys, and chemical diffusion in Au-Ag alloys. Although it had been intended to obtain silver self-diffusion data in the alloys it now appears unlikely that these measurements can be done soon, so a table has been worked out for a self-consistent scheme of diffusion coefficients which should not be too far from the true values. Experimental Details Experiments on pure metals were conducted using fine gold of 99.99+ pct Au and silver of the same purity. Alloys were prepared by melting the two metals together in a graphite crucible in vacuo and allowing the slug to solidify in the crucible. After machining to a cylinder about 0.85 in. diam each slug formed one half of a diffusion couple. Compositions were determined later by analyzing chips taken from the extremities of the diffusion zones. The gold used in the preparation of alloys was sometimes pure gold but was normally either in the form of clean pickled alloy from previous experiments or gold recovered by oxalic acid precipitation from warm aqueous solution. Chips from the various stages of experimentation were dissolved in aqua regia and the solution taken to low bulk, diluted with water, and again taken to low bulk before diluting for the precipitation. This precipitated gold contained a small amount of silver as the only impurity detectable by spectrographic analysis. Disks for use in diffusion couples had opposite plane faces abraded on emery paper as far as zero grit, were annealed for 12 hr at 900°C in argon, and had one face of each disk polished to 000 emery paper. Radioactive gold was plated at about 2 ma per sq cm from a small volume of cyanide solution containing 1 mg of inactive gold as a carrier. Specimens , were freshly abraded on 4/0 emery paper immediately prior to plating. In the case of the active couples disks of a similarly prepared but unplated alloy or pure metal were placed on top and welded to the active disk. With the concentration couples disks of different compositions were welded. Welding was performed after a pressure of 5,000 lb had been applied at

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