THURSDAY, AUGUST 30. 1962
MEDFOHD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD. OREGON
FIRES REPORTED
Salcm-Wfl-Seven small new
forest fires were reported to
the state forestry department
Tuesday. The largest was a
five -acre blaze in Douglas
county. All were classed as
man-caused, ahd all are re
ported out.
TOPS IN QUALITY!
LOW IN PRICE
Slanted Oil Well Drilling
Revealed as Texas Scandal
By PATRICK CONWAY
Austin, Tex.-illPH-While the
Billie Sol Eslcs case has been
stealing the headline;, a scan
dal has been building up in
East Texas that could make
Estes' manipulations look
like a tempest in a petty cash
box.
This scandal involves the
slanted drilling of oil wells.
There is no clear indication
of how long it has been going
on, or how widespread it is
or how much oil has been
stolen.
But it involves the East
Texas oil field, the biggest in
the Western Hemisphere, the
nearby Hawkins field and
Webster field. Webster field
is southeast of the East Texas
field, in Harris county or the
city of Houston.
Texas Ally. Gen. Will Wil
son estimates the value of the
oil stolen from slanied wells
is in the millions of dollars.
From 1895 through June
30, 1062, a total of 310.814 oil
wells were completed in
Texas.
Most of them were drilled
by the geometric rule that a
straight line is the shortest
distance between two points;
in the case of oil wells, be
tween the surface of the
ground and the oil under the
ground.
Some oil operators learned
how to strike oil even if
there was none under the
ground they had under lease.
They did it by drilling at a
slant from their leases until
they tapped pools under near
by leases.
This is slanted or deviated
drilling. Wilson has cut off
some 500 wells in Easl Texas
from pipelines because they
are on leases that contain
slant-drilled wells.
According to Wilson, there
are other forms of skulldug
gery in the fields. One is the
"granddaddy well." It is a
producing well tied in by
plastic pipes to a number of
dry holes.
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The dry holes draw nil
from the "granddaddy well"
and are thus made to look
like producers. The reason
for this is that there is a le
gal production quota for
every oil well.
Has Quota
Legally, only the "grand
daddy well" has a quota. But
by attaching it to dry holes,
the crooked operator multi
plies the production 'Of the
"granddaddy" by the number
of dry holes he has it attached
to.
He upcs plastic pipe be
cause metal delecting devices
cannot delect it.
Another form of crooked
ness is to make a marginal
well out of a good oil well
by choking il. A marginal
well produces less than 20
barrels of oil a day but it can
legally produce every day in
the year.
On the other hand, a well
that produces more than 20
barrels a day can produce ie
gallly only eight days a
month. It often pays to have
a marginal well.
The East Texas field con
tains 19,110 wells that pro
duce 120,000 barrels of crude
oil a day. At the current price
of $3.10 a barrel, this totals
$372,000 a day. Almost 4.C00
of the wells are classafied as
marginal.
Investigate
The Texas Railroad com
mission started a secret in
vestigation of slanted hole
drilling last January. As the
investigation grew and the
knowledge of it became pub
lic, 50 Texas Rangers and
Department of Public Safety
Intelligence men and patrol
men were sent to guard the
East Texas wells.
Wilson thought a guard
necessary lo keep crooked
operators from plugging wells
with cement and prevailing
their being checked for an
illegal slant.
Survey crews began to find
slanted wells; the total dis
covered is 77 and the investi
gation is proceeding. Wilson
has filed mils totaling $20
million against operators of
slanied wells.
So far, no tests have been
made on property under lease
by major oil companies. The
major companies have, in
fact, contributed to an attor
ney generaTs fund to Investi
gate wells operated by small,
independent companies.
This does not please inde
pendent operators. G. H.
(Pappy) Yoachum, a leading
Kilgorc, T e x., independent
operator, has protested the
"strong-arm methods" in the
investigation.
"Evidence of possible col
lusion httween certain mo
nopolistic interests and cer
tain slate agencies Is contin
uing to accumulate," he said.
Yoachum said major oil
companies are the worst
slanted hole drilling offend
ers. He and three other inde
pendent operators and a com
pany they own have appealed
lo U.S. Atty. Gen. Robert
Kennedy lo ' investigate the
major oil companies for pos
sible violation of anli- trust
Iaws.
The operators also have
sued the majors (or $10 mil
lion. Oil kepi Grcss. Upshur.
Rusk, Smith and Cherokee
counties in East Texas from
feeling the full impact of the
great depression in the 1930s.
Now. the slanied hole drill
ing investigation threatens to
plunge the area into depres
sion while the rest of the
country lives in prosperity.
Hundreds of oil workers
are out of jobs. The state is
losing thousands of dollars in
tuxes and the situation may
get worse.
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE
Hedrick Students
To Attend Meeting
A moot inn will bo held (or
nil studrnu pntrrin sev
enth grade at Horirick Junior
lliRh school Friday, Sept. 7,
from 9:30 to 1 1 a.m.
Students will receive books,
schedules, and lockers, meel
their teachers, see their class
rooms, and have an opportun
ity to ask questions nt that
time.
Students iho will be new
to the school should Attend
the meeting, as well as sev
enth graders Itofctstrar ".!!
should be done as soin a
possible.
For students In the I. one
Tine, Howard. West Side, and
Wilson areas the bus schedule
will bo that normally in oper
ation for the fl a m. schedule
at lit drtck .Junior IHrIi
school, For the orientation
j mooting, the busses will opet
! ate one hour later than th
j usual time, school officials
j said,
j Two Women Killed
In Gresham Accident
Gresham 'ITT Two mv
; identified women died here
Wednesday m a collision be
itween a car and a log truck
The injured truck driver
as tentatively Identified as
'Waller Vanbertl.
i
ANOTHER
279.95 Value
Ansel Food 1279.95 Value SUlfif
3 be iH ii Ana yp n
SI -Mm "r pi ' FREEZER
:,7, Given Away Sept. 24 j
1 " 1 Paulen Gates Thrift Mkt. V J?
lBrid9m.nBr0,BUy-likV - flQ. .
It - n ...ib. trwl v ' FTt-,. 1
HWieaeri: i Mrs Golda 0rady
46S Freeman Road, Central Point JyUUUJ S
li GrOUflO BCC Z -1 Winner of the 2-Way Radio jayjl
Fruit Drinks - 41VQ 3 si00
White Star Chunk Style
TUNA
2 Flat Tin
Grape Jill 100 Pure
GrapeJuice
24 oz. Can
00
4:1
arshmallows
Pear Halves
Potato Chips
Grape Juice
Mayonnaise
Doumak
White
Modoc Fancy
No. 22 Cans
Laura Scuddsrs
49c Size Bag
Flav-R-Pac Froien
12-oz. Cans
lO-oi. pkg.
for
for
Bordens Full Quart Jars
Kosher Dili Nubbins
Nalley's
22-oz. jar
33
Large Crisp Bunches
White Spanish
ONIONS
Firm Ripe
Tomatoes
Local Male
Peaches
I IF
a 1S? Bunch
Romanic or
Red Lettuce
m urn my i!l
lb. tSMff lb. lb. Bu. I
PAULSENlSlGAfES 1 7
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