the wells substantiated the presence of a thick sedimentary section, causing sev- 

 eral of the companies actually to lease acreage in the basin before the No. 1 

 Cuervo was drilled. Such acreage acquisitions are generally referred to as 

 protection acreage, indicating that the companies hope to be protected in the 

 event of an important discovery. However, the moment Amprex's first forma- 

 tion test flowed oil, scouts and other interested individuals noticed the "black 

 oil," and competition moved into the basin! 



Within a few weeks, much of the unleased acreage in the basin had been 

 leased. Royalty that had been trading at minimum prices now demanded com- 

 petitive prices. Hotels were crowded with geologists, geophysicists, rig workers, 

 brokers, landmen, lawyers, and promoters. Banks had a land-office business 

 handling the transactions and wages resulting from this new industry. Farmers 

 and ranchers who once scratched and winnowed the sands of the Arenoso for 

 their livelihood became the fortunate. Trading centers became towns and an- 

 other industry entered into the life of the valley with drilling rigs beginning 

 to dot the landscape and with the mechanized equipment of drilling and ex- 

 ploring covering the roads and trails of the basin. 



From the still valley of a few years ago, much would change. Road systems 

 would grow over the valley floor; fields would be irrigated from the shallow 

 fresh-water sands discovered by the drilling operations; farmers, ranchers, and 

 merchants would prosper; and the communities of the area would progress. 

 These changes to the valley and the profits Amprex and the people of the area 

 and the country would realize were all the result of two of the basic steps in 

 exploration: the curiosity and optimism of a geologist and the willingness of 

 an oil company to take calculated risks involving large sums of capital. They 

 were the end results of a detailed, fully integrated, scientific attack by an ag- 

 gressive exploration group upon an unknown area: the Arenoso Basin. 



858 



