QAL ANNUAL REPORT 
THE GOULD OIL FIELD. 
This comprises less than one square mile, and occupies part of sec- 
tions 2, 3, 8 and 9 of Cross Creek township. It is situated three miles 
west of Mingo, and is traversed by the Pennsylvania railroad. 
The pool was discovered in 1895, the first well having started at 125 
barrels per day, but the decline of this was so rapid that the well was 
abandoned in one year. The second well, which was drilled a short time 
afterwards, started at only 10 barrels per day, but was still producing in 
tgo1. Work was pushed with energy and by 1898 the drilling had been 
done. It is stated that no wells have been drilled in the field since that time. 
Of the 60 wells drilled, at least 25 had been abandoned by August, I9o1. 
On the extreme western edge of the pool several gas wells have been 
secured, and the product of these was used to operate the territory. Gen- 
erally the gas produced by the oil welis was small, so that the greater num- 
ber had to be pumped from the start. It is claimed that at one time the 
field produced 1,200 barrels per day, but by the summer of Igor this had 
dropped to 200 barrels or less per week. The oil has a bright red color 
and commands the Pennsylvania price. Salt-water is abundant, but is 
much less so on the northwest side of the field than it is on the south- 
east. The wells were shot at first with from 30 to 200 quarts of nitro- 
glycerine, and many have been shot a second time, this charge being as 
a rule smaller than the first one. The Berea is found in the valley at about 
1,200 feet, and has an average thickness of perhaps 33 feet. From what 
has been said of the number of abandoned wells, it is clear that the sand 
is quickly exhausted, and the field must necessarily soon become a thing of 
the past. : 
As might be expected a number of wells have been drilled along the 
eastern edge of this township in the valley of the Ohio river. Four or five 
have been sunk within the city limits of Steubenville alone, but the results 
have fallen far short of the expectations of the operators. Three of the 
wells produced gas, but in small quantity, and all but one have been 
abandoned ; the latter well supplies gas for one family only. ‘These wells 
reached the Berea at about 1,250 feet, but the sand was thin and unim- 
portant. Two wells, both dry, have been drilled in or near the limits of 
Mingo. In the southeastern corner of the township in section 25, a dry 
hole has been drilled. Southwest of the Gould field a number of wells have 
been sunk in sections 7, 13, 14 and 19. These have been failures, but have 
made sufficient showing of oil to induce further exploration. 
THE ISLAND CREEK FIELD. 
This lies in sections 5, 11, 16, 17 and 22 of Island Creek township, 
has a length of about 3 miles and a maximum width of less than one- 
quarter of a mile. 
1Geol. Sur. of Ohio, Vol. VI, p. 336. 
