THE PKOVINCE OF THE GEOLOGIST 688 



pector, particularly of the service he may render in tlie prevention of the 

 waste of energy and of mone}' in foolish drilling; hut much too little 

 thought is given to the help that he may render tlie operator in the effi- 

 cient draining of the pool. 



Tn the very nature of things, the first well drilled into a ncAv pool must 

 go more or less blindly, but with the information derived from it and 

 from each succeeding well, drilling should become less and less a matter 

 of faith and more and more an exact science. The determination of the 

 position of the top of the producing zone, important as such a determina- 

 tion may be, is only the least part of the work, for to be of real value the 

 study of these data should show the position of each producing oil sand 

 within the zone, and, which is frequently of even greater importance, the 

 position of each water sand. Then, as the true nature of the natural 

 conditions — that is, the conditions existing before drilling commenced — 

 becomes known, it becomes possible to understand the nature of the con- 

 ditions produced when the movement of the fluids is interfered with by 

 the wells that are drilled. 



But in order that this may result — in order that each new well in a 

 held may not continue to be a special and isolated venture — it is neces- 

 sary that a systematic record be kept of the data furnislied by the wells, 

 and that the geologic significance of these data be interpreted by some 

 one competent to make such interpretations. 



The importance of the data made available through development work 

 lias for years been thoroughly appreciated by those engaged in a study of 

 the geology of solid minerals, and a large part of a report on the geolog}^ 

 of any mining camp consists of the interpretation of these data. It seems 

 truly remarkable that so little attention should in the past have been 

 given to the like interpretation of data made available by the wells in an 

 oil field. Deposits of solid minerals are not migratory, and an unchang- 

 ing quantity of mineral is allotted to each tract of land. If it is profit- 

 able, in developing deposits of this type, to make careful studies of all 

 available data, how much more necessar^^ should it be to make similar 

 studies in exploiting deposits of such vagrant minerals as oil and gas. 



Some of the larger companies in California appreciate the fact that the 

 scientific study of the geology of a field will be prof]tal)le to them, and a 

 few are keeping up a systematic investigation of the part of the field in 

 which they operate. But the investigation of no company completely 

 covers any of the larger fields, and the many small operators must of 

 necessity still work more or less blindly. Sncli investigations properly 

 should be undertaken by some branch of the Government, and the assist- 

 LT — Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., Vol. 28, 1916 



