WELLS As briefly outlined above, drilling in this field is further complicated by the presence of a lower intermediate water bearing formation below the second oil zone and between this zone and the third oil zone.
The lower intermediate water has been encountered in wells Nos. " Baldwin" 3, 6, 18 and 22 of the Standard Oil Company and to date the third oil zone has been encountered only in No. 22.
Only the four wells of the Standard Oil Company mentioned above have been drilled deep enough to encounter the lower intermediate water. The production of oil and the gas pressure are so high during initial production from the deep wells that in some cases the water does not immediately appear, but is very noticeable after decline in production.
Standard Oil Company No. "Baldwin" 3 has encountered and plugged off this lower intermediate water formation. No. "Baldwin" 6 produced clean oil at first, later produced as high as 30 per cent water, and at the present time is sanded up in the bottom and water temporarily excluded.
Standard Oil Company well No. "Baldwin" 18 was brought in as a big producer. The water in the oil amounted to only .3 per cent. at that time, but since the production has declined and the gas pressure has been reduced, the percentage of water has risen to 11 per cent. and the well produces 3000 bbl. of water per month. An effort will undoubtedly be made, after the well ceases flowing, to plug the bottom of the hole and exclude the water.
Standard Oil Company well No. "Baldwin" 22 encountered the lower intermediate water, and its production was first obtained from the third oil zone only at the rate of about 1500 bbl. of oil per day. The lower intermediate water was also exposed in the well and water from this formation appeared in the initial production. Both third oil zone and lower intermediate water have been plugged off and the production is obtained from the second oil zone. In plugging off the water formation with the third oil zone, no assurance is given that the third oil zone is protected from infiltration.
Under present operating conditions it is practically impossi ble to penetrate and produce from all three oil zones or, except in the central dome, from more than one oil zone, in an individual well, due to the inclusion of one of the water formations under such conditions. It may, however, become mechanically possible at some time in the future to perform this feat, and the increased production which would be obtained thereby may justify the expenditure which would be necessary in experimenta tion to bring this about.
Reference to production figures as reproduced in Tables 1, 2 and 3 and Figs. 43 and 44, shows the following interesting points as to the production of this field.
The production for the first year after discovery (1917) amounted to 922,926 bbl. of oil; production for the second year (1918) amounted to 6,829,469 bbl. of oil; and production for the third year (1919) amounted to 12,071,139 bbl. of oil, or nearly one-eighth of the entire production of the state for that year.
The total production of the field for the past three years end ing March 1, 1920, has amounted to 21,763,005 bbl. of oil, and
the average percentage of water is only 5.9 per cent.
The maximum total daily production at any time since dis covery occurred in the month of June, 1919, when the field' was producing at the rate of 38,102 bbl. of oil per day. The total production at the present time amounts to approximately 33,000 bbl. of oil per day.
The maximum daily production per well, at any time since discovery, occurred in December, 1917, during which month the seven wells which were then completed produced at the rate of 1,706 bbl. of oil per day each.
From a study of Table 3, it will be noted that the percentage of water produced by the field at the present time is somewhat less than the average percentage of water for the entire produc tion period. The decrease from 5.9 per cent. to 4.5 per cent. in dicates a healthy state of affairs and although the production of individual small producing companies has shown an increase in water over the average, at the same time such companies are located on the edge of the field where water troubles become more aggravated, and the amount of production of the edge area up to the present time has been small, so that the production of the field as a whole has not been materially affected.
The total daily production of water for the field during February, 1920 was 1,649 bbl. Of this amount the Petroleum Midway Company, Ltd., produced 382 bbl. or 24.7 per cent. Out of the total of 382 bbl. for this company, 306 bbl. per day were produced by their well No. "Darlington" 1. The water production from this well, therefore, amounted to 20 per cent. of the total amount of water produced from the entire field and, if eliminated from this production, would reduce the percentage of water for the field at the present time from 4.5 per cent. to 3.6 per cent.
The above mentioned well is located on the northern edge of the field. The attention of the company was directed to the menace which this well constituted in February, 1919. At that time the company proposed to suspend repair work at the well pending the results obtained in drilling an adjoining well (No. "Darling ton" 3) as to source of water. This proposal was approved and No. "Darlington" 3 has been completed. The work of plugging No. "Darlington" 1 is now in progress and it is expected that this well will be repaired, the water situation in this area greatly benefited, and the percentage of water for the field reduced.
Special mention should be made of the comparative absence of water from the production of the Standard Oil Company and Red Star Petroleum Company. The reduction in percentage of water for the Standard Oil Company from 3.8 per cent. (average percentage of total production) to 1.7 per cent. for February, 1920, is most gratifying and is an indication of the amount and character of the work this company has been carrying on in an endeavor to keep the production of their properties free from water. It will be remembered that the well which a year ago produced the greatest amount of water of any individual well in the field was located on the Baldwin lease of this company.