Geological and Engineering Thinking in the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana - Past, Present, and Future

· .... :-:-:.-; ;.;. .. -:.;. .... ·f~!III~fJ~R!~~~. ~.'UltH Geological and Engineering Thinking in the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana - Past, Present, and Future MICHEL T. HAlBOUTY PETROLEUM CONSULTANT MEMBER A/ME HOUSTON, TEX. Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/JPT/article-pdf/9/05/19/2238938/spe-784-g.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 Introduction the entire world's annual production. Although Col. Alfred Drake produced oil from the first well drilled for To understand the present situation and the future that purpose in 1859, it was left to the discovery of possibilities of the Gulf Coastal province, it is important Spindletop in 1901 to give birth to the modern oil indus to go back to New Year's Day, 190 I, and review the try. Spindletop was the greatest of all oil discoveries. status of world production and the extent of the applica From its flow the world's standard of living would in tion of science to the finding of oil. crease at an incredible rate. The world's annual production was about 138 million What role did science play in this discovery? None! bbl. Russia was the leading oil producing nation with Pattillo Higgins had the faith and the determination to an annual output of 68 million bbl. Of the 58 million pursue his belief in face of lay and scientific criticism, bbl being produced in the United States, 92 per cent, and he proved to all, especially those geologists who or 53 million, was from the so-called "oil region" of called him "fool," that the so-called "oil experts" were Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Indiana and New not looking ahead, much less keeping up with current York. Four million, or 6 per cent, was from California, developments. After Spindletop, exploration in the Gulf and the remaining 1 million, or 2 per cent, was pro Coast progressed at a furious pace and resulted in many duced in Texas, solely from the Corsicana field. salt dome discoveries, still without benefit of science or Learned men, and the big-time operators of that day technology. paid little attention to new oil possibilities of other areas. When a new field, such as that in Corsicana, The Early Engineer and Geologist was found, it disturbed the thinking of the young indus Engineering was practiced by the roughnecks, rousta try. Corsicana was not very exciting to producers be bouts, and drillers. They were the ones that devised new cause the average production per well was about that of ways and equipment to drill faster, to keep the forma the wells in the other fields in the country. As far as the tions from sloughing in, to produce. Because of these Gulf Coast was concerned, the best brains in the busi workers, the profession of petroleum engineering was ness said that the area would never produce any oil born years later. John R. Suman was the industry's first whatsoever, that the unconsolidated sands underlying real "educated" petroleum engineer, and his contribu the Coast area could have no oil, and that the region tion to this profession is, of course, known to us all. as a whole was unworthy of testing with the drill. The geologists did not come out of the classroom until 1917 when World War r proved that the country The Spindletop Discovery did not have enough petroleum to fight a long war and every effort had to be made to find new reserves. BlIl That was the setting on New Year's Day, 1901. Then the tools of the geologist in the Coast were few and of suddenly, like the cascade of a torrential flash flood, 10 little consequence. Most of the piercement type domes days later at 10:30 a.m. the discovery of Spindletop were already discovered by the wildcatter's drill. No changed the thinking of man the world over. It com surface outcrops existed in the region to map a struc pletely revolutionized industrial engineering and gave ture, and the drillers' well logs were fakes or, at best, birth to the liquid fuel age. This significant discovery guesswork. The only real tools that were available for made a revolutionary impact on the entire world. It scientific study were the bit, the few honest drillers' logs made the United States the foremost oil producing and micropaleontology. It was apparent to all that cor nation overnight. It was to catapult the United States relation of wells was important to determine structural into the position of first world power, although it would relationship for subsurface studies, and the industry take a few years and a world war to bring about the worked and hoped for a better method to look under full realization of that fact. neath the flat surface of the region. At Spindletop one well was producing 100,000 BID. Four such wells were capable of producing more than Geophysics, the Answer Manuscript received in Soeiety of Petroleum Engineers offiee on Geophysics was the answer, and when it made its April 2, 1~H)7. Paper presented Rt. AIME Annual Meeting- in New Orleans. Feh. 24-2R. 1!l;)7. advent in 1923. the results were heyond the expect a- SPE 784-0 M-\.Y, 1957 tions of operators. This new application of an old sci safe to assume that the beds at greater depths will be ence proved that types of structures other than the old as productive as those already producing in the upper piercement type domes existed in the province and horizons. It is remarkable to note that most of the re could produce oil. leased research and studies on domes in recent years Management backed the geophysicists to the limit have been by independent geologists; and, the majority and in doing so forgot about the geologists for years, of deep wells drilled to test the extreme outer flank and it is gratifying to know that in the last 18 months of these structures have been by independent operators management realizes its mistake and has seen to it that such as Mecom, Richardson, Burton, Abercrombie, and more cooperation between these two exploration sci others. ences is necessary, and with most successful results. As of Jan., 1957, there were 2,385 land fields along the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast within a lOO-mile belt Piercement Salt Domes on the Gulf Coast along the Coast line. The author believes that with new geological thinking, improvement in deeper drilling This brings us to today's condition. The "big forget" techniques and equipment, that this same land area will for 25 years of the old piercement type domes is behind produce as many new fields in the next 56 years as us. After practically eliminating these structures from have been found in the past 56 years. drilling budgets, we realized that they still are the most What about the tidelands? There is no question that important economic geological feature we have on the the offshore area will add much more wealth to this Coast. The realization was brought about by the fact area and that many more oil and gas fields will be that structures found today solely by geophysics were found therein. It is not only possible but highly probable very few, of very low relief and of little consequence. that if drilling activity in the tidelands in any sense ap Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/JPT/article-pdf/9/05/19/2238938/spe-784-g.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 A search through old files brought forth the fact that proximates that on land, that equally as many fields wiII here, under our feet, were structures, the piercement be found offshore as onshore. type domes, with several thousands of feet of uplift and closure, barely touched, just waiting to be explored by Domestic Demand and Supply the drill. The result of this activity in the past five years is one Forecasters have given the oil industry something to of record and a bright page in this province's history. really think about. Although there are many predictions We are prone as geologists and engineers to accept of domestic demands and supply with wide variations, precedent too readily and many of us use it as a means if we use the most conservative one, we all have a lot of dodging progressive thinking-to be content in sit to accomplish in meeting the demand. By 1965, less ting back and doing what has already been done with than nine years from now, the United States is sup the least effort. This has been true throughout the his posed to consume 13 million BID of petroleum against tory of the oil industry. the present rate of just over 7 million BID. These fore When Spindletop produced from the caprock, all casters also place our output in 1965 at 10 million other domes thereafter were drilled to test the caprock BID as against our present rate of 6.8 million BID. only, and if they were barren, as the great majority If this is true, and it surely seems like these estimates were, the well was abandoned. Later when Miles Frank will prevail, the United States will have to depend on Yount found shallow production on the immediate flank other sources for the 3 million BID deficit. at Spindletop in 1925, others followed by drilling for This writer does believe that our demand will in shallow production on immediate flanks of other domes crease and that the 13 million BID would be consumed without due regard as to the possibilities existing on the in this country by 1965.

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