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RESOURCES OF 97

Petroleum Resources of Kansas

By RAYMOND C. MOORE,· PH. D., LA-WRENCE, KANS.

(New York Meeting. Febru.... y. 1920) Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/TRANS/article-pdf/65/01/97/2176920/spe-921097-g.pdf/1 by guest on 27 September 2021

THE oil-producing districts of Kansas comprise the northern portion of the so-called Mid-Continent field. As shown in the accompanying map, these districts are located chiefly in the southeastern and south central parts of the state. A considerable area in southeastern Kansas, extending northward nearly to Kansas City, has long been known as oil territory, the productive wells being distributed in patches or spots of irregular size and shape, the location of which is controlled by conditions of structure, and by the texture and porosity of the" sands" beneath the surface. In south central Kansas, there are a number of producing fields, the location of which appears to be controlled chiefly by well-de­ fined structure. The most important districts are those in Butler County, especially that in the vicinity of El Dorado. which was for a time the most productive district in the entire Mid-Continent field. Recently new pro­ duction of importance has been brought in the vicinity of Peabody and present development is active to the north across Marion County. Tests in the western parts of Kansas have not been successful in finding new petroleum fields.

HISTORY

The first well drilled for petroleum, in Kansas, was near the town of Paola, Miami Co., about 40 mi. southwest of Kansas City, in the summer of 1860, only a few months after the completion of the famous" Colonel" Drake discovery well in Pennsy lvania. Kansas appears to be the second state to engage in a serious attempt to find oil by drilling. The Civil War caused the temporary abandonment of attempts at oil development in the state. It was in the vicinity of Paola, where numerous oil seepages had been observed, that the first well producing oil in commercial quantities was drilled,l where also gas was first piped to the city for commercial use. Prospecting spread southward into Linn County and northward into

* State Geologist of Kansas. 1 Raymond C. Moore and Winthrop P. Haynes: Oil and Gas Resources of Kansas. Kans. Geol. Survey Bull. 3a (1917) 20. VOL. IiXV.-7 98 PETROLEUM RESOURCES OF KANSAS

Johnson and Wyandotte Counties. a number of small gas wells being ob­ tained. Later development extended southward toward lola, Chanute, Neodesha and Coffeyville, reaching to the houndary of the Indian Terri-' Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/TRANS/article-pdf/65/01/97/2176920/spe-921097-g.pdf/1 by guest on 27 September 2021

FIG. 1. tory, now Oklahoma. From 1891 until 1894, prospectors covered the entire southeastern part of Kansas along the Neosho and Verdigris rivers. Many oil wells, though none with very large individual production, were RA YMOND C. MOORE 99

brought in, particularly in Allen, Neosho, Montgomery, and Wilson Counties. The production of petroleum in KaI?-sas amounted to relatively little until tests completed in the then Indian Territory showed that beneath the Mid-Continent plains lay really important deposits of oil. The great impetus then given to drilling in Kansas resulted in a very rapid increase in the volume of production. Although in 1900 less than 75,000 bbl. of oil were obtained in the entire state, the production in 1904 amounted to 4,250,779 bbl. Due to the decline in price, drilling fell off and so large Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/TRANS/article-pdf/65/01/97/2176920/spe-921097-g.pdf/1 by guest on 27 September 2021 an annual production was not again reached until 1916 when, with a considerably increased market price and the recent discovery of the rich Butler County fields, the production of the state was brought to nearly 9,000,000 barrels. The larger place which Kansas has occupied in recent years as a pro­ ducer of petroleum is almost wholly due to the discovery in June, 1914, of commercial quantities of oil in Butler County, south central Kansas. It has been known for a number of years that gas was available in this part of the state. One of the wells in the Augusta gas district was drilled into an oil sand at a depth of about 2500 ft. (761 m.) and before the end of 1914 five oil wells had been drilled in the heart of the gas field. By the close of 1915, the number of oil wells was increased to twelve, one of which is reported to have had an initial natural flow of 1500 bbl. Mean­ while, geological examination of the country to the north revealed a very promising structure in the vicinity of El Dorado. In the latter part of 1915 the Continental Oil & Gas Co., now the Empire Gas & Fuel Co., brought in a 100-bbl. well on the Stapleton farm, section 29, township 25 south, range 5 east, about 15 mi. northwest of Augusta. The discovery was in a sand penetrated at a depth of about 660 ft. (198 m.) Offset wells confirmed the importance of the shallow sand but in the first well the sand was cased off and the drilling continued. A lower productive sand was encountered at a reported depth of 2460 ft., the well being completed with an initial production of 120 bbl. a day from this horizon. Succeeding wells were, for a time, drilled into the shallow sand only. Later the deeper sands were developed, culminating in the discovery and exploitation of the 2500-ft. sand in the Towanda district in the spring and summer of 1917. Some of the wells in this district are reported to have had an initial daily production of more than 25,000 barrels. In the latter part of 1918, oil was discovered in the extreme north­ western part of Butler County east of Elbing. The wells were not im­ portant, but the drilling in the early part of 1919 on a favorable structure south of Peabody, Marion Co., was marked by large production. The present activity in development is in this region and northward across Marion County into Dickinson County. 100 PETROLEUM RESOURCES OF KANSAS

STRATIGRAPHY

In general, the geology of Kansas is almost ideally simple. The state is a-typical part of the Great Plains region and has the uniformly gentle slope and simplicity of geologic structure which characterize the plains. The surface of Kansas has a general inclination from west to east amounting to about 10 ft. (3 m.) per mile, the elevation of the western state boundary

being about 3500 to 4000 ft., that of the eastern boundary from 750 Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/TRANS/article-pdf/65/01/97/2176920/spe-921097-g.pdf/1 by guest on 27 September 2021 to 1000 ft. The rock formations of which this sloping plain is built lie almost flat and are exposed in broad north-and-south bands across the state. They sag slightly in central Kansas, the rock slope, or dip, being toward the west in the eastern counties and to the east in the western part of the state. The oldest beds appear at the surface in the east and dip beneath the younger overlying formations, which appear in succession as the state is crossed to the west. The rocks in the general region of the Mid-Continent field range in geologic age from almost the oldest known to the youngest. The oldest rocks are and other crystalline rocks of pre-Cambrian age, which are exposed in the southeastern part of Missouri, in the Arbuckle and Wichita Mountains of Oklahoma, in the of Colorado, and at points north of Kansas farther distant. The pre-Cambrian no­ where appears at the surface in Kansas, but recent exploration for oil and gas in the central part of the state suggests that it approaches the surface much more closely than was supposed. Sufficient tests have been made to indicate quite clearly the presence of a buried ridge or mountain range of , which appears to trend in a direction slightly east of north from Butler County to the northern limits of the state. No evidence of metamorphism of the sedimentary rocks immediately overlying the granite has been found, and it is probable that the ridge represents a part of the pre-Cambrian Boor. Table 1 presents the chief stratigraphic divisions of the rocks of Kansas. Strata which ·belong :to the Cambrian and Ordovician, consisting of dolomites, , , and , and aggregating about 2000 ft. (609 m.) in thickness, underlie eastern Kansas and perhaps other parts of the state. They have been penetrated in a number of wells but in no place found to contain commercial quantities of petroleum or natural gas. Upon the eroded surface of the rocks of the older , in the Great Plains country, is found the system, or, as it is called by drillers, the "Mississippi lime." The Mississippian is a clearly defined, readily traceable, stratigraphic unit, consisting chiefly of crystalline limestones containing a rather unusual amount of hard flinty . RAYMOND C. MOORE 101

TABLE 1.-Geologic Section of the Kansas Region

System Groups Formation I Character of Rocks

! 1 Recent I Alluvium. sands I Quater nary Wisconsin stage Glacial deposits I Kansas stage I I Unconformity Tertiary -I PJioeene OgalalJa Gravel, sand, clay

Miocene Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/TRANS/article-pdf/65/01/97/2176920/spe-921097-g.pdf/1 by guest on 27 September 2021 I Unconformity I Montana I Pierre ! I I Colorado I Niobrara , , shale 1 I Benton \ MeBozoic I I-----D-a-k-o-t-a-I-sa-n-d-.-t-o-n-.---I , shale I Unconformity I Comanchean Washita I Kiowa Sandstone, shale I I Cheyenne I Unconformity \------1------I Greer "," sandstone, Cimarron i Woodward I shale, dolomite, gyp- i Creek sum, salt I Enid I ------I W •Iii ng on I Sha Ie, rlmes one Big Blue I Marion I I Chase I i Council Grove I I \ WabnUDsee I Limestone, shale, sand- I Shawnee i stone I Missouri I Douglas 1 I PennsyI' V8msn ! Lansing ! Kansas City i Des Moines i Marmaton Lime&tone, shale, ...nd- Paleozoic I Cherokee stone Unronformi!y Chester Unconformitll I Warsaw Limestone MiB3issippian Osage Keokuk Burlington ...... Pierson

"co Kinderhook Limestone, shale .. U "conformity I co Dolomite, sandstone, ~" I Joachim Ordovician Jefferson City shale .!l Roubidoux 11 Unconformity - ~ I flo 1 Gasconade .. ICambrian Proctor ~ I Eminence Z IPotosi I Unconformity Pre-Cambrian 102 PETROLEUM RESOURCES OF KANSAS

TABLE 2.-Divisions of Rocks of Kansas Thickness. Group Forma.tion Member Feet 1-- Eskridge shale 30-40 Neva limestone 3-5 Elmdale shale 120-140 Wabaunsee formation Americus limestone 6-10 Admire shale' 275-32.~ Emporia limestone 5-10 Willard shale 45-55 Burlingame limestone 7-12 Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/TRANS/article-pdf/65/01/97/2176920/spe-921097-g.pdf/1 by guest on 27 September 2021

Scranton shale 160-200 Howard limestone 3-7 Severy shale 40-60 Topeka limestone 20-25 Shawnee formation Calhoun shale 0-50 Deer Creek lime.tone 20-30 I Tecumseh shale 40-70 I Lecompton limestone 15-30 I Kanwaka shale 50-100 'Misbouri 1------'I Oread limestone 50-70 Ln,,"rence shalet 150-300 I Douglas formation la1&n limestone 3-15 Weston shale 60-100 ------,------~ I Stanton limestone 20-40 I Vilas shale 5-125 Lansing formation I Plattsburg limestone 5-80 I Lane shale 5(} 150 ._-,------i Io)a limestone 2-40 I Chsnute shale 25-100 I Drum limestone o-SO I Cherryvale shale' 25-125 Kansas City formotion : Winterset limeotone 30-40

I Galesburg shale 10-60 i Bethany Falls limestone 4-25 : Ladore shale 3-50

I Hertha limestone 10-20

I Pleasanton shale 100-150 I Coffeyville limestone 8-10 I I--_ shale 60-S0 Marmaton formation i Altamont limestone 3-10 Des Moines i Bandera shale 60-120 I Pawnee limestone 40-50 I , Labette shale 0-60

I[ : Fort Scott limestone 20-40 ,------i Cherokee shale' ' Undifferentiated 400-500

, Possibly "ontains shallow oil sand at J;;I Dorado. • Includes Chautauqua sandstone member; probably 1500-lt.• and at AugUlita and El Dorado. , P088ibly \lOrioon of oil sand at 2400 ft. at Augusta and El Dorado. , Includes the main oil sand outside Augusta and El Dorado and Peru; contains Bartlesville and Burgess sa.nds. RAYMOND C. MOORE 103 In Oklahoma and northern Arkansas, it includes important beds of shale and some sandstone; but where encountered by the drill in Kansas and throughout most of Missouri, it is essentially a limestone series. An exception, apparently, is found in central Kansas, according to recent in­ formation from well records, which indicate a disappearance locally of the limestone and a replacement by clastic material. The thickness of the system in the south central part of the Mississippi basin is more than 2000 ft., but in Kansas it is not more than 300 or 350 ft. The oil and gas deposits of the Mid-Continent field are confined almost Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/TRANS/article-pdf/65/01/97/2176920/spe-921097-g.pdf/1 by guest on 27 September 2021 wholly to rocks of the Pennsylvanian system, which in a broad belt across eastern Kansas and Oklahoma. The rocks of this system consist of a thick series of alternating shale and limestone formations, with irregular beds of sandstone and some beds of . Though not great in thickness, many of the beds are surprisingly persistent hori­ zontally, having been traced in most cases some hundreds of miles along the outcrop. They have a total thickness of nearly 3500 ft. in the south­ ern part of the state and a slightly smaller amount to the north: A total thickness of about 3000 ft. has been measured along . Table 2 shows the stratigraphic divisions of the Pennsylvanian that have been recognized in Kansas, with their approximate thicknesses. Permian rocks are found in a north- and- south band across central Kansas. The zone of outcrop is narrow at the north, where it is over­ lapped from the west by the much younger beds of Cretaceous age, and reaches its maximum width near the southern border of the state. The lower Permian beds are marine and overlie the upper Pennsylvanian strata without unconformity or other prominent mark of stratigraphic division. The upper Permian, which is confined to the southwestern part of the Permian area in the state, consists chiefly of red beds. The subdivisions which have been made are listed in Table 3, with approximate thickness. The remainder of the surface in Kau811,s is occupied by rocks of Cre­ taceous and Tertiary age. The former consists of an important basal division of sandstone, the Dakota, and of middle and upper divisions of chalky limestone and shale. The total thickness is approximately 1300 ft. Seepages of oil have been reported in the Cretaceous area and there are some excellent structures, but no commercial production of oil has been obtained from these rocks or in the part of the state in which they outcrop. In common with the Mississippian and older systems that underlie it, the Pennsylvanian strata have a gentle inclination outward from the Ozark highland. In northeastern Kansas, they dip toward the north­ west; in central eastern Kansas, almost due west; and in the southern counties, slightly southwest. If the Pennsylvanian is continuous be­ neath the thick overlying formations of Permian, Cretaceous, and Ter­ tiary age in the western part of Kansas, the system is a part of the broad 104 PETROLEUM RESOURCES OF KANSAS

TABLE 3.-Subdivisions of Permian System in Kansas

Group Formation I Member I Thickne.s. I I Feet -.~-. - ---~!------.--.~------: Greer I Big Basin sandstone 12 I~hale 20 ---·----1 : Day Creek dolomite 1-5 Woodward ' Whitehorse sandstone 175-200 Dog Creek shale 30 Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/TRANS/article-pdf/65/01/97/2176920/spe-921097-g.pdf/1 by guest on 27 September 2021 ------I IS· Cimmaron I I himer 4-25 : Cave Creek I Jenkins shale 5-50 I I Medicine Lodge gypsum 2-30 ------I I Flowerpot shale 150 I Enid I Cedar Hills sandstone 50--60 I Salt Plain shale 155 I Harper sandstone 350 _____1 ______

. I Wellington i Undifferentiated 50D-800

Abilene limestone 4-8 i Pearl shale 70 , Marion Herington limestone 12-15

1 Enterprise shale 35-44 i Luta limestone 30 1

Big Blue , Winfield limestone 20-25 Doyle shale 60 , Chase Fort Riley limestone 40-45 Florence flint 20 Matfield shale 60-70 : Wreford limestone 35-50 ,------I Council Grove : Garrison shale and limestone 135-150 : Cottonwood limestone 6

shallow sag, or syncline, that characterizes the general structure of the state. However, when examined in detail it is seen that there are many irregularities in the structure of the Pennsylvanian rocks. In many places in eastern Kansas, the rock strata are absolutely horizontal, and in a number of places, they are inclined to the east for short dis­ tances. These irregularities are minor waves on the major structure of the Pennsylvanian but are, in most instances, the controlling feature in the accumulation of commercial deposits of oil. Most of the minor structures are of the unsymmetrical dome type, the rocks dipping away in all directions. Others are merely terraces, or "noses," where thc western dip is diminished sufficiently to permit local accumulation of vetroleum. None of the structures are very prominent, the vertical RAYMOND C. MOORE 105 distance from the top of one of the best defined anticlines to the upper part of the adjacent saddle, that is the closure, being only 160 feet. The texture of the "sand" is a controlling factor in the production of areas in southeastern Kansas. Oil and gas wells with an important production are located in many instances without relation to structure, the supply of oil and gas being controlled by the lenticular character or the" patchy" texture of the sands.

TECHNOLOGY Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/TRANS/article-pdf/65/01/97/2176920/spe-921097-g.pdf/1 by guest on 27 September 2021 Two types of drilling are employed in the Kansas fields, the standard, or cable drilling, which is used in all the deeper wells, and the Star, or Parkersburg type, which is commonly used in the shallow fields of the eastern part of the state. On account of water conditions in certain parts of the Kansas fields, especially in the EI Dorado and Augusta districts, the depth to which the oil-producing sand is penetrated and the casing of the well are important considerations. If the well is drilled too deep, there is danger of drowning within a comparatively short time. In most cases, only the ordinary requirements of casing are met. The use of cement and the mud­ laden fluid has been successful, where employed in the Butler County wells, but there has been no uniformity of practice, due to varying condi­ tions in the field and to lack of state supervision.

PRODUCTION STATISTICS Most of the wells in the Kansas fields are not large producers, the average yield amounting to but a few barrels a day. The largest pro­ duction from individual wells has been found in the EI Dorado-Towanda district, where at least one well is reported to have flowed more than 25,000 bbl. a day. The initial production of many wells in this part of the state has exceeded 2000 bbl. a day. Table 4 shows the average pro­ duction of oil wells in Kansas from 1910 to 1918 based on available data. TABLE 4.-Average Production oj Oil Wells in Kansas, 1910-1918

I I I \ ' Average Annual I Average Daily Ye ..r Total Produc- I Tot ..l Number, ' Dry Holes I Production per I Production per tion, Barrels I Oil Wells \ I Well, Barrels Well, Barrels

------~-----~--

1910 1,128,668 1,831 25 616 1.7 1911 1,278,819 1,787 25 715 1.9 1912 1,592,796 1,757 41 906 2.5 1913 2,37.~,029 1,812 87 1,310 3.5 1914 3,103,585 3,054 156 1,016 2.8 1915 2,823,487 3,460 158 810 2.2 1916 8,738,077 3,673 360 2,379 6.5 1917 36,536,125 5,843 420 6,253 17.1 1918 43,253,470 8,950 925 4,833 13.2 106 PETROLEUM RESOURCES OF KANSAS

The crude petroleum has a specific gravity ranging from about 20° Baum~, for some of the southeastern oils, to 40° or slightly higher for some of the oils in the Butler County distrIct. The specific gravity of the oil in the vicinity of Chanute, Coffeyville, and Independence is about 30° to 32°. This heavy oil has considerably less gasoline than the oils with higher specific gravity. On account of this there has been a tendency for some of the refineries to move to points from which a larger supply of higher grade oil could readily be obtained. The oil is gathered by pipe lines from the producing fields in the ButlerDownloaded from http://onepetro.org/TRANS/article-pdf/65/01/97/2176920/spe-921097-g.pdf/1 by guest on 27 September 2021 County district and from other important areas. pipe lines converging toward the northeast in the vicinity of Kansas City. A considerable number of tank cars are used both in the transportation of crude oil from some of the fields and in the distribution of the refined product. According to the best available records, Kansas had produced to the end of the year 1918 a grand total of 119,898,233 bbl. of crude oil. The character of the Kansas oil fields is in part indicated by the statistics of wells drilled. Throughout the larger part of the producing area, especially that located in the southeastern counties of the state, the wells are num­ erous, but none have a Jargeoutput. Theaverageyieldforeach producing well is from 1 or 2 to 25 bbl. a day. In the Butler County fields, some of the wells were credited with a very large individual daily output. In general, the interest in development and activity in the fields is also shown by the number of new wells drilled. Field operations follow more or less closely the fluctuation of the market, periods of greatest activity ac­ companying times of highest crude-oil prices. In the years 1912 to 1918, inclusive, 13,649 wells were drilled, of which 10,979 were producing and 2670 dry. Of the 4671 wells put down in 1918,2549 were oil producing and 272 gas wells.

FUTURE PossmILITIES At the present writing, the rich Butler County fields are past the zenith of their production, the climax having been reached with the de­ velopment of the Towanda district, which reached ita peak in 1918. The discovery of new fields, east of Elbing and extending toward Peabody, in Marion County, has given new impetus to development in this part of the state. Tests south of the El Dorado and Augusta fields, toward the Blackwell area, have thus far given little encouragement, but satis­ factory showings in structures located in Marion County and northward into Dickinson County are attracting considerable attention. Southeastern Kansas fields have been thoroughly tested and, with the exception of new wells in porous sands that have not yct been drained, there is little additional production to be expected. It is possible that new pools will be discovered in part of the state between the old oil and RAYMOND C. MOORE 107 gas fields in the vicinity of Chanute, lola, and Independence, and the fields farther west, Butler County and trending toward the north. De­ velopment in this area, however, cannot be foreseen. In summary, the Kansas oil fields are, in all probability, beyond the zenith of their production. Much of central and western Kansas may yet be tested, but conditions are difficult or impossible to predict, and the result cannot be foreseen. Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/TRANS/article-pdf/65/01/97/2176920/spe-921097-g.pdf/1 by guest on 27 September 2021