The first well drilled by this Company was on the William Fisher farm in northwest quarter section 14, Monroe township, Perry county. The Berea was struck at 1012 feet, but the indications were so unfavorable for a paying well that it was not considered advisable to shoot it. However, on June 2d, 1892, after waiting nearly a month, the well was shot with 80 quarts of nitro-glycerine, which had been hauled from Sistersville, W. Va. The cost of the shot was $200. The first day following the shooting of the well it produced 12 barrels, and a year later was still producing 10 barrels per day. Following this other wells were drilled in sections 14 and 15. In all 25 have been drilled, only 3 of which were dry holes.
THE CORNING OIL and GAS FIELD
BY J.A. BOWNOCKER.
[Click on image for expanded map.]
Other companies began work and the territory was rapidly leased and tested. Naturally operations began near the round-house where oil had first been shown to exist. From this as a center the drill moved out in all directions until the limits of the field had been disclosed. The later work has been along the northeast end of the territory in Morgan county, where the oil seems to be shut out by reservoirs of salt water. During the present summer (1900) the valuable pool in the Oakfield district has been developed, though small wells had been found there several years earlier. The principal farms are the Porter, Longstreth, Donnelly, Monahan, McDonald and Grenen. The first well was on the Porter farm and was finished early in 1900. Its production was 35 barrels the first day. The second well was on the Monahan farm. It was completed soon after the Porter well and had an initial flow of 45 barrels in 24 hours. The next two wells were drilled on the Longstreth farm, and both were fair producers. Early in the Spring a well was completed on the Donnelly farm and flowed 125 barrels the first day. Other wells on this farm are much smaller. Two wells on the Grenen farm began flowing 675 and 90 barrels respectively. It is interesting to note that the development of this, the richest part of the Corning field, occurred late in the territory’s history. Possibly other pools of equal richness may yet be discovered lying near the principal field.
An important step in the development of the field occurred on August 13th, 1893 when the Buckeye Pipe Line was completed. Before that the oil was transported by tank cars. The oil which is brought to the tanks partly by gravity and partly by suction, the latter being produced by an 8 horse-power gas engine, is stored in two iron tanks, one of which has a capacity of 30,000, and the other 28,000 barrels. From these tanks the oil is forced to Elba, a distance of 34 miles, through a 4 inch line. This work is done by a 35 horse-power engine which gives a pressure in the line of from 700 to 1000 pounds per square inch. The rate at which the oil is transported varies with the temperature. In the summer when the oil is warm, and hence thin, 128 barrels may be pumped in one hour, but in the winter when the oil is cold and thick the transportation may be restricted to 11 barrels for the same period.
When the pipe line was completed the production of the field was about 500 barrels per day. It increased to 1300 barrels in 1896, but since then has declined. At present it ranges from 800 to 900 barrels per day. The total production of the field is shown by the following letter:
The Buckeye Pipe Line Company—Macksburg Division.
Oil City, Pennsylvania, October 25th, 1900.
J. A. Bownocker, Esq., Columbus, Ohio: