HISTORICAL SUMMARY 625 



DEVELOPMENT OF OIL IN ALABAMA 



Following the beginning of the petroleum excitement in Pennsylvania 

 many wells were drilled in Alabama, mainly near the gas springs or oil 

 seepages wJiich had long been known along the outcrop of the Carbonif- 

 erous beds near the southern termination of the Appalachian Mountains. 

 Some oil and gas were obtained, but not enough to encourage development, 

 and little further testing was done for over a quarter of a century. In 

 1889, however, several deep wells were sunk to the Trenton, obtaining oil 

 in two horizons. The 3deld was stated to have been 35 barrels per day; 

 no development followed, and test drilling has never 'since been actively 

 pushed, although there were some small developments about 1913. Ala- 

 bama has never ranked as a producing State. 



Influence of Geology on Development of Oil 



Geology has pla3^ed a most important part in the development of the 

 Appalachian oil field. While it is true that the first wells* were located 

 solely on the basis of seepages, and that the discovery of all of the earlier 

 pools resulted from purely wildcat drilling, the later developments have 

 been far more rapid, much less expensive, and the production greater and 

 more prolonged than would have been the case had the operations not 

 been directed largely by geology. 



In the earlier days a large proportion of the drillers and operators 

 were absolutely convinced that a fixed relation existed between the occur- 

 rence of oil and the minor features of surface topography, and hundreds 

 of wells were located upon hilis of a certain type, in valleys of a particular 

 depth or width, or beneath conglomerate ledges of a particular appear- 

 ance which happened to possess a physical resemblance to locations that 

 had been found productive elsewhere. In the Appalachian district there 

 was seldom, if ever, any scientific l)asis for such locations, although there 

 is a distinct relation between the general topography and the major anti- 

 clines on the east. Elsewhere, however, as in certain parts of Oklahoma, 

 domes may sometimes be locally recognized by topography, although it is 

 never safe to drill without geological verification. 



As soon as the developments became moderately extensive it was noted 

 by operators that the Pennsylvania pools were commonly of elongated 

 outline, with nearly straight axes of fixed magnetic bearing. This gave 

 rise to the "degree lines,^' which for some years were the chief guides in 

 new developments. The bearings north 221/^°, 30°, 35°, and 45° east 

 were among the most popular, each having many adherents. Although the 

 drillers were long unaware of their relation, such lines were governed 



