American Oil and Gas Reporter - October 2019 - 25

"Old School" Sleuthing
At Oil Information Library
Can Offer Useful Clues
When I started working in oil and gas, folks would tell me
one of the best ways to evaluate a prospect was to jump in the
truck, drive to the town closest to the area of interest, and spend
time listening to the old guys having coffee each morning at
that single table in the local Casey's General Store.
Through the years, I have learned that technique works
pretty well, although I have adjusted it slightly to beers on the
back of my pickup after shooting some clays or completing a
similar activity. At first glance, this may seem like a large time
investment, but this process provides people willing to put in
the effort a unique edge and perspective they won't quite get
from online data providers. For some, this can mean the
difference between drilling a dry hole or killing the prospect
and moving on.
For those who simply can't make it out to the field as much
as they would like, but still want the sort of edge provided by
the old guys at Casey's, consider visiting the Oil Information
Library of Fort Worth. It may seem a little "old school" by
today's big data standards, however, with a little effort, some
luck and help from the library's expert staff, you can set
yourself and your company apart from the competition by
picking up that additional piece of information that simply
didn't register with the big data providers. Located in downtown
Fort Worth in the lower level of the old Bank of America
building on 7th near Burnett Plaza, this treasure trove of data
resides literally beneath the street on your way from the
parking garage to the main building.
When you arrive, you will want to speak with the Librarian
Manager, Kathryn Canty. With a quick conversation about the
area you are investigating, Kathryn will have you in the right
area reviewing the actual scout tickets and drilling logs of your
area of interest in no time. In fact, in some cases, she will even
help collect and scan documents needed for you.
Board of Directors President Jack Deans from Burnett Oil
tells the story of an individual in jeopardy of losing his lease
because the Texas Railroad Commission didn't have documentation
of an old well that the leaseholder knew existed. Jack personally
spent time searching the library for any kind of documentation
showing the existence of the well in question. After he had
nearly given up, Kathryn saved the day-and the lease-with a
historic map paired with production data that successfully documented the well in question. This data did not exist in digital
format anywhere at the time.
I had the opportunity to discover and get to know the folks
at the Oil Information Library of Fort Worth during a recent
open-hole logging course they helped me host, and I was
amazed by the sheer amount of data housed in this small
facility. One key core report of oil saturated reservoir rock
downdip proved a prospect and significant field extension. In
another case, a recompletion scout ticket with accurate depth
reports killed the prospect but saved a drilling budget. In some
cases, the library has generational scout tickets for the same
well, each containing a unique set of information generally

"Kathryn pulled examples of the type
of material often found in the library
and it was like going back in time and
hearing directly from the folks who
drilled the well.

found in the ticket's notes section.
Kathryn pulled examples of the type of material often found
in the library and it was like going back in time and hearing
directly from the folks who drilled the well. One old driller's
log from 1947 highlighted every few hundred feet of geology
as the crew drilled to a pay formation at about 6,200 feet-a gray
medium limestone. That may not seem too unusual until you
look at the huge amounts of source rock residing above the pay,
which was overlooked at the time because the technology to
fracture it did not yet exist. Another driller's log from 1936
shows a 260-foot well with an initial production of 4 barrels a
day that took more than three months to drill. According to the
notes, a fishing job delayed the well's completion significantly.
Another tells the tale of a dry hole drilled in 1923, specifying
where the plugging job placed its wooden plugs.
At a glance, this information may seem like mere cool
archival data. However, a closer look may help an operator
discover the potential of a new prospect, avoid a costly dry hole
or even steer clear of a potential hidden danger.
If you get the chance, and want that extra edge in the oil field,
I highly encourage you to get hold of the Oil Information Library
of Fort Worth, or one of its reciprocating organizations, and do
some data wildcatting-you never know what you may find. ❒

JEREMY VISCOMI is a strategic

marketing expert for the oil and
gas industry. Among his many
roles, he serves as the MidContinent regional lead for the
Petroleum Technology Transfer
Council, providing independent
operators with access to emerging technology aimed at reducing
risk and growing profits.
OCTOBER 2019 25

American Oil and Gas Reporter - October 2019

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