Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1954-10-29, Page 6• 'dG er,174.r '61 uC lanai Cleaners Mount Forest IRN6Cessora to TON CLEANERS Wo Pick Up tnd Deliver Monday and Thursday Phone 230 Seaforth ANDY CALDER AGENT Ladies' and Gents' 2 -piece Suite, l)1; plain Dresses, 61; Plain Skirts, Mc; Gentle Trousers, 600 Quality Pius Service 1s Our Motto S. BUCHANAN - Proprietor THE HURON EXPOSITOR Oil, Gas Potential Is Good; Imperial Continues Drilling While drilling for oil is a costly business and the results in Huron have not been spectacular. Never- theless, Imperial Oil will continue its drilling program, J. R. Hamlin, in charge of production for the company in Western. Ontario, told Huron Municipal Officers in Exe- ter last week. Oras has been discovered in com- mercial quantities in wells in the Zurich district. he said. The fact that work is to continue through- out the county indicates that the area is considered to be potential- ly valuable insofar as oil and gas are concerned, he said. The occasion was the autumn meeting of the Huron County Mun- icipal Officers' Association. Pr•esi- del1t of the association is Harry Strang, of Usborne Township. In his address Mr. Hamlin said: It is common knowledge to any group of people in this part of Ontario that Southwestern Ontario is the birthplace of the vast petro- leum industry which exists in Canada today. The refining branch of the industry began in 1857 when tarry bitumen found close to the surface at Oil Springs was distill- ed, and in 1858 boring resulted in IN A 5E4E4 ... YOUR HYDRO AT WORK FOR YOU AND YOURS Adequate, reliable, street lighting, made possible by low-cost Hydro electricity, is one of the great benefits of modern living. Automatic traffic lights speed and inte- grate the flow of traffic ... help prevent accidents protect pedestrians. Street hghts safeguard the citizens of e community in other ways too . Brightly illuminated streets are an important fac- tor in reducing crime. Thanks to a dependable supply of elec- tricity, provided by Ontario Hydro and your local municipality, the streets of our Province are better lighted than ever before. Another example of . Information concerning Ontario Hydro can be obtained by writing to your Hydro Chairman, 620 University Avenue, Toronto. Saving money" . . . and writing cheques 1 A bank offers you two types account, Savings and Current. mi9 ! E H 5 �,:..:'. :.. G.4..r,�G».E?k�'., K '..C... nib. 5. ...: �.v.>•*:�. � •,�s./�. of deposit xi -ea. 1!yo'e write cheques frequently, you will like the many advantages of a Current account. lrho Ca IJV to 5 If your main purpose is to save, to accumulate funds, it's good to have a -Savings account. `%an>•iY�.hfs:�r''?m'v?fis:o,•Y. ..r.,. .r/,y ,<z. 9 ;y."' ':ia'wr�.�c3'r.,.•" . � //.'%..%u.. ..,�',,... ,. .,f. M •da, /,.3vf :i1WW $ ;4, 'S� a :`:� F�.i" /" ENT The money you leave in a Savings account as earns interest, and your bank book gives you an up-to-date, continuing record of your financial progress. If your funds are active, with frequent deposits and withdrawals, a Current account provides a special service; a monthly statement, together with your cancelled cheques—useful as receipts and a ready reference for budgeting, bookkeeping and other purposes. THE BANK,) SERVING YOUR COMMUMTY better quality petroleum being din covered. The bedrock was pene- trated by the Shaw well at Oil Springs in 1861 and the first flow- ing well was encountered. The producing phase of the industry was established and subsequent drilling and production has con- tinued throughout Southern On- tario at various intervals right up, to the present time. Some portions of the area have seen more inter` sive activity than others; however, we must remember that the seareh for oil and gas goes on continuous- ly over the year in most areas where sedimentary rocks exist. In a general . way, I want to make a few comments on the ori- gin, occurrence and production of oil and gas and then deal in great- er detail with some of the special problems which face an exploration company when it is prepared to do concentrated work in specific areas. Ever since the discovery of oil at. Oil Springs in 1858, and the drilling of the Drake well in 1859 in Pennsylvania, many strange and romantic ideas have been express- ed. Some of these still persist to this day and yet, in general, such ideas have no true foundation bas- ed an our modern knowledge. A common belief is that oil lies in the earth es a river or lake ex- tending under and flowing beneath large areas. Some of the early law pertaining to oil and gas was bas- ed upon that notion. Even today many people think an oil "pool" is a body of liquid, like water in a cistern, and that one can siphon or pump oil out -of the earth at any rate desired, un- til the pool le empty. Nothing is farther from fact. The truth is that oil (petroleum) is found in rock. Nevertheless, long usage has fixed the word "pool" as equivalent to a quantity of oil dispersed, in rock in the earth. The word, therefore, has special meaning in the oil busi- ness. Another common misconception is teat oil flows out of the "pool." The public thinks of an nil well as a "gusher" spouting forth wealth and riches to the owner orf a well. The facts are that oil cannot pro- duce itself from the earth; that there is nothing in oil itself which causes it to rise up and flow out of wells; • and that oil moves into a well only if it is pushed or ex- pelled from rock by the gas and water associated with it, supple- mented in many cases by the force of gravity. Any individual or company who is interested in the search for oil and gas must realize that a long and rough road may lie ahead. The search for and the discovery of commercial deposits of oil or gas is a speculative and risky enter- prise, requiting skill, knowledge; and highly specialized techniques. Oil and gas, once found, should be looked upon as a natural resource which is not of a recurring nature "ince it cannot be replaced once it is produced; it cannot be 'replant- ed like our forests or restocked like our rivers and streams. Once discovered. it can, however, by the use of our modern scientific and technical knowledge, be conserved and protected against waste to the end that the highest possible econ- omic recoveries can be obtained, turd to the end that our resources of oi] and gas will be utilized to their best advantage, both today and in the future. In Huron County the amount of exploratory work which has taken place since 1860 has not been on the same scale as in other areas of Southwestern Ontario. The first well exploring for oil and gas was drilled near Goderich in 1866. but the discovery of salt changed the plans of the drilling parties and established a new industry. Since that time, approximately 26 wells have been drilled in the County en search of oil and gas. and of this number our company has drilled 17 and participated in one other. Prac- tically all this drilling has taken place in the past four years. From the amount of activity presently raking place in your county, it can. he assumed that the parties carry- ing on such work feel that it is a prospective oil or gas country, that it is underlain by sedimentary rocks, and that by intensive and continued efforts new information and knowledge will be obtained which will, we ahope, eventually re- sult in successful commercial dis- coveries being made, Speaking in a more speeiflc vain, I would like to touch briefly on two aspects of an .exploration program. At the start of an exploratory pro- gram, geological studies are car- ried out, geophysical tools such as seismograph and gravity meter are employed, and above all else leases of 011 and gas rights must be ob- tained, for without the leases the incentive to explore is asent. There is no sense• in spending a lot of money looking for oil unless you can, through lease arrange- ments, secure a fair share of what you may find through your efforts. Over the years there oras, devel- oped a legal instrument called an oil an'd gas lease which is basic and essential to the industry and in the evolution of its, form from the earliest days in Petrone to the present time, there ran be followed the development of the industry it- self. Each step forward in the lease form and content represents a step forward in the industry- it- self. The ,modern lease ad.juetta the mutual rights and obligations of both the„ lessor, the party giving the lease, and the lessee, the par- ty receiving the lease. It gives the lessee the right to explore where exploration is justi- field, and to forfeit without any ad- ditional liability when forfeiture is approved. To the lessor, certain advantages accrue ---a Dash consid- eration, return of the rights which he has Leased after a set period if development is not successful, and if success is aohieved 'a stated sum or portion of the product through- out the term. The more common forms used today provide for a "drill, pay or quit" type of obliga- tion on the lessee. The exploring company has the right to' explore; he has the right to drill, but at the end of each year of the prim- ary term he must either be drill- ing, or he must pay this rental, or he must quit or forfeit the lease. If production is obtained the lease continues while production Is be- ing taken and rental or royalty paid. To a lessor teasing his lands, such a. lease in the common form used by the industry is a fair and reasonable arrangement. The les, sor should, of course at all times, as in any other business arrange- ment rrangement he makes, be satisfied that he has confidence in and knows the party to whom he is leasing. Such a precaution on the lessor's part lays a solid foundation for the fu- ture relations of lessor and lessee. Having obtained leases and car- ried out geological and/or geophys- ical studies, the exploring party is in a position where he is ready to take the final step in his explora- tory effort, namely, the use of the drill. In the final analysis the only way oil or gas are definitely prov- en to be present or not is ,by drill- ing. Most of the drilling hi South- western Ontario today is carried out with cable tool drilling rigs and while in other areas this type of rig has long wince been replaced by the more modern rotary tool, Yet in this, area it is the cable tool which operates as the most econ- omic final testing device. I have already mentioned that the lease document gives the les- see the right to explore by drilling on the leased lands, but in addi- tion the lessor is entitled to com- pensation for crop or surface dam- age resulting from drilling opera- tions. Once the drill site is picked, the location is prepared for the rig, the rig moved on and drilling commenced. Imperial does not op- erate any of its own rigs, but ra- ther contracts -its drilling work out on contract. The contractor is giv- en supervision and instructions with respect to the drilling pro- gram, the depths at which size of hole is reduced, the amount and position of casing to be set, and procedures in the ecent of shows of oil or gas. Of a special concern in the drilling program is the care taken to seal off all surface water by an adequate casing program, In Huron County, Silurian production may be obtained.. generally- at depths below 1560 feet, and Tren- ton production below 3000 feet. If production of oil is obtained, production is taken in stock tanks on the well site and arrangements made to transport to the nearest refinery. If production of gas is encountered and it is determined to be in commercial quantities, with sufficient deliverability, ar- rangements would be made to pro- vide for an outlet for the gee to some industry, community, or pub- lic utility company. If the well is completed as a producer, the well site will be gleaned up and perm- anent production facilities install- ed. In order to carry out these pro- duction operations, a maximum of one acre of land with a.ecess road is required for each oil well, and a much smaller area with access road for each gas well. If the well is dry and is to be abandoned, it is the responsibility of the opera- tor tinder his lease to leave the land of the lessor'in the condition it was when drilling started. Spe- cial attention to this aspect of our operations works for good relations betweenfarmer and operator. One short word about govern- ment control and regulation with respect toeour exploration and pro- duction -operations. Under the new Ontario Fuel Board Act, regula- tions will shortly be proclaimed which cover certain phases of drill- ing operations, requirements for permits, and well spacing patterns. The three-man government appoint: ed Fuel Board will be responsible for admieletrating such regulations and in addition, under its Act, it has full authority to regulate and control the production of natural gas and fix retail rates for its sale. In conclusion, I would like to em- phasize again that the exploration OCTOBER 29,4 and search (tor oil and gas fo ci risky and, speculative Ilusigeas, itt requires patleaee, skill, afPgAter tion of scientistic techniques, dregsmr eial responsibility and a certain amount of luck. While our reeving in Huron County to date have no (Continued on Page 7) HOGLE NURSERY (O. Campbellford, Ont. Is happy to •announce the appointment of Mr. Ken Powell, as their representative in your district. All replies will receive our carefuil attention. Our design service is free. Have your home landseaped by experts. (You'll save money by our advice). KEN POWELL --- Seaforth, Ont. Phone 109-W St. Patrick's Church, Dublin presents (hristopher Lynch Famous Irish Tenor IN A PROGRAM OF IRISH SONGS 8:30 p.m. SATURDAY EVENING OCTOBER 30th Tickets on sale at Dublin Stores and Rectory Tickets also available at Box Furniture Store, Seaforth ADMISSION $1.00 USE A wril/TFR k) FOR _-� YOUR 1?f ..- HOME WORK r See the Exclusive Features in Royal Portable As Low as 79.95 Ask for your FREE copy of "How To Type Your Way To Extra Money," at the Huron Expositor SEAFORTH — ONTARIO F th ld THE VOICE OF TEMPERANCE IDO»GS, CATS, LIQUOR Dogs and tate after being given a certain amount of liquor, can still hold up their ,beads and use theist front pawn effectively. But their bind lege trail out behind. Motor con- trol has been lost.. It le much the same with the drinking driver. His hands are steady on the wheel. He drinks be is driving weal,, and perhaps speeds up a little. A child runs out on the street. He sees the child, tries to atop, but his feet do not get to the brakes quickly enough ansa he cannot step on them hard en- ough. He has partially last the motor control of his legs just as with the intoxicated pedestrian who staggers. An accident, perhaps a fatality, results•. The brakes were in good order; the drivet's brain was not,—•,(Adv't.). —, ...., .......... ..,..., �w.rt. POULTRY, HOGS AND DAIRY CATTLE ALL WILL THRIVE ON ROE; WITH THIS WHOLESOME FEED (FARM -PROVEN) WATCH YOUR PROFITS GROW ! Y IF YOU WANT YOUR H065 TO GROW AND GROW -AND GROW -AND GROW 1 FEED THEM WITH A PROVEN FEED -- THE FEED THAT'S KNOWN AS ROE 4 IF YOU WANT YOUR MILK PRODUCERS TO MAINTAIN A STEADY FLOW GIVE THEM WHAT ALL CATTLE THRIVE ON THAT'S THE FEED YOU KNOW A5 ROE �. r YOU CAN'T GET EGGS UNLESS YOU MILD THEM 6-21 LOOK TO ROE IN THE BIRDS MOST FIT TO LAY ROE WILL KEEP YOUR BIRDS PRODUCING TO ` �j .`»�� r IN A MONEY-MAKIN6 WAY, Qts"""S"`ra'Hs MAKE ��'��Itfn�" eflic*1 ',NVIO \ '� ROI 7::. // t>�� I 2,t i l 1 f w� P EDS ,,, -',� �i�r, ,,,,��,i, , / i f ,I ' tic �,,,��,, � --- ,��� /�� lr�/G _� r-.141 �, //;, (''l "�► -.,a ' 4 „ ��►. ► r - / ` i. -' �• � ,, �:�,, ! --- �'� ROE 14y-•. � ROE �2 L�i11 F�'�D:7 l• • YOUR G ®W • as 1w raw. NO u„,C II 1,'.7:7,, , ii �! ,, � , � d rtQ',,;�. �. .� i % `-7-41�►, _ _"" i _ i f . _ r'� / � le a;;;;r', n��,al '/ 'r ��%1 s l . i. ....... - W. R. Kerslake, Seafol Lorne Eller, Henaall </ . . Sirr�� t : ,i % FEED iiiO4 �, D 'A ` , a'y`e A. J. J. A. Sadler, S afia� R. Shouldic, Bx�odhag th ld THE VOICE OF TEMPERANCE IDO»GS, CATS, LIQUOR Dogs and tate after being given a certain amount of liquor, can still hold up their ,beads and use theist front pawn effectively. But their bind lege trail out behind. Motor con- trol has been lost.. It le much the same with the drinking driver. His hands are steady on the wheel. He drinks be is driving weal,, and perhaps speeds up a little. A child runs out on the street. He sees the child, tries to atop, but his feet do not get to the brakes quickly enough ansa he cannot step on them hard en- ough. He has partially last the motor control of his legs just as with the intoxicated pedestrian who staggers. An accident, perhaps a fatality, results•. The brakes were in good order; the drivet's brain was not,—•,(Adv't.).