REVIEWS 637 



Texas Petroleum. By William Battle Phillips, Ph.D., Director. 

 The University of Texas Mineral Survey Bulletin No i; 

 102 pp., plates, maps. Austin, July, 1901. 



The University of Texas Mineral Survey, organized in May, 1901, 

 with Dr. William B. Phillips of the university as director, establishes 

 a new record for expeditious work in ofificial geologic investigation by 

 the timely appearance of this volume on a subject which is attracting 

 much attention within the state and without. 



An historical account of the development of the Texas oil fields is 

 followed by a chapter on the nature and origin of petroleum, and 

 other chapters on the oil and gas-bearing formations and the utiliza- 

 tion of Texas oils. 



The Paleozoic formations are not known to hold oil or gas in com- 

 mercial quantities. The Cretaceous formation, more specifically the 

 Corsicana field, has furnished practically all of the oil which has been 

 produced until the current year. This field has a well-defined extent 

 of from two to three miles in width by six and one-half miles in length 

 in a northeasterly direction. The oil is reached at a depth of 1,050 

 feet in a soft, gray, foraminiferal shale. In July, 1901, there were 603 

 producing wells, with an average daily output of about 3,000 barrels of 

 oil worth 70 cents per barrel. The production of oil in Texas for 

 1899 was 669,013 barrels, while that for 1900 was 836,039 barrels, 

 almost all coming from this field. The Corsicana refinery has a capac- 

 ity of 1,500 barrels of crude oil daily. Half the output consists of 

 gasoline and kerosene, the residuum being marketed as fuel. 



In the Tertiary, the Nacogdoches field was the first to be discovered, 

 dating from 1867. The oil is found in Eocene strata at depths of 70 

 to 150 feet, and is a heavy lubricating oil with a high boiling point 

 and non-gumming qualities. No oil has been produced in this region 

 since the early part of 1900. 



The Beaumont field has been the center of attraction since January 

 10, 1 90 1, when the famous Lucas "gusher" was brought in. In July, 

 190 1, there were fourteen producing wells all within an area 1,000 by 

 2,000 feet on Spindle Top Heights, a low ridge lying about four miles 

 south of Beaumont. The ridge is about one mile wide and two miles 

 long in a northeasterly direction and reaches a maximum elevation 

 of 30 feet above the surrounding prairie. Wells outside the proven 

 area are dry. It is presumed that the ridge marks an anticline, though 



