NEW YORK. In the Oriskany gas-production area only 21 wells were completed or in progress as compared with 34 in 1943, but there was a much higher percentage of wildcat testing. The high point of the year was the discovery of the first new gas produced in 2 years with the Sylvania Corporation’s 9 million-foot producer on the S. J. Frazier farm in Tuscarora Township, Steuben County. Two other important tests, one a wildcat in Wyoming County, the other a deepening of the original discovery well in the Woodhull field, furnished valuable subsurface information on formations below the Oriskany sand in this section of the state. A map showing location of Oriskany fields and wildcat tests and a table of wells drilled to or through the Oriskany sand are presented. Production figures for Oriskany gas are given. Leasing activities were very slow with the exception of the area surrounding the discovery well, and prospecting work was practically nil.

In the Medina gas belt bordering Lake Erie no new production of importance was found. Approximately 25 wells were drilled in the area in addition to the completions of independents and individuals in the metropolitan area of the Niagara frontier.

The oil-producing section of the state (Allegany County and Cattaraugus County) for the third consecutive year completed approximately 1,500 wells in the water-flood area despite the war-time restrictions on materials and the definite man-power shortage. These completions were divided about half to water-intake wells and half to producers. Although recent drilling has been in progressively leaner areas and nearer to the edge of natural production limits, daily average production of crude oil dropped only 1,000 barrels in 1944 from the approximate 14,000 barrels daily average produced in 1943. An increase in wildcat drilling for shallow oil and gas production and in attempts to extend secondary recovery limits proved generally unsuccessful.

Of paramount importance to gas companies and consumers in the state were the deliveries of natural gas from the Southwest through the Tennessee Gas and Transmission Company’s 24-inch main line and branch distribution systems.

PENNSYLVANIA. The number of wells completed in the shallow-gas territory of western Pennsylvania (Upper Devonian or higher) in 1944 was about the same as in 1943. Although several new gas pools were discovered, it is doubtful whether any of these will be of significant size. A considerable increase in drilling activity occurred in the oil fields, 3,375 new wells being completed in 1944 as compared with 2,617 in 1943, an increase of 29 per cent. Nearly half of the new wells were intake wells drilled in connection with water-flooding and air- and gas-repressuring projects. No oil pools were discovered. Oil production showed a further decline of 9 per cent during 1944. The Bradford field still accounted for 51 per cent of the total Pennsylvania-grade oil production of the Appalachian province.

Twelve deep wells (Onondaga or deeper) were completed in western Pennsylvania in 1944, which is the same number as in 1943. None found oil and only three gas. Of the latter, two are located in the southern extension of the Summit gas pool, Fayette County. The other, located in Beaver Township, Crawford County, in northwestern Pennsylvania, obtained a small flow of gas in the Oriskany sandstone, but an offset encountered salt water in the same sand. Of the dry holes, the Jessie C. Hockenberry No. 1 of the Manufacturers Light and Heat Company in Mercer Township, Butler County, bottomed in a quartzose sandstone underlying 520 feet of Lower Ordovician dolomite, reached a total depth of 10,096 feet. Salt water was encountered in the sandstone. It is now the deepest well in the Appalachian province and also the deepest well that has been drilled entirely with cable tools.

OHIO.The number of tests completed in 1944 increased over 1943 because of the slight stimulus in the Pennsylvania-grade area by the government subsidy of 75 cents per barrel, but the subsidy of 30 cents per barrel on all other grades caused no real increase in development. Production of Corning grade continued to decline. No important new fields were discovered, although thirteen new producing areas were opened, and certain areas tested by fifteen outlying producers will be ranked as new fields. Several important extensions to Clinton fields were developed.

WEST VIRGINIA. Eight gas pools in the shallow sands were discovered in the southern part of the state in 1944. In the Oriskany sand, one pool was found in Kanawha County and an apparent small productive area discovered west of the Sandyville field in Jackson County.

In general, drilling for the year was in excess of that of 1943, but mostly in already proved but not closely drilled areas, this applying to both gas and oil. No oil discoveries of importance were made, and the drilling of inside leases was caused by the increasing demands of the markets.

KENTUCKY. Production of petroleum in Kentucky continued to increase during 1944, resulting in a total of 912 million barrels, of which 17 per cent was contributed by that portion of Kentucky east of the Cincinnati arch, as compared with the total of 7 million barrels in 1943 of which 25 per cent was contributed by eastern Kentucky. This discrepancy is not due to a decrease in production in the eastern Kentucky fields but to the discovery of more new fields in western Kentucky.

In all, 1,135 wells were drilled in Kentucky, of which 480 were drilled in eastern Kentucky. Of this number 229 were gas wells, 122 oil wells, and 129 dry holes. No new fields were discovered but the production was kept to about normal by the reconditioning of old fields in Bath and Menifee counties, and the further development of the small new areas in Jackson and Elliott counties, which were first reported in 1943.

There was increased activity in Clinton and Cumberland counties due to the discovery of shallow oil of very high gravity which was proved to be short-lived. Several wells were drilled to the Knox dolomite in these counties, and one well drilled in Bath County encountered a little gas below the “Blue Lick” water in the upper portion of the Knox. During the year considerable interest was exhibited in the possibilities for deeper production and some leasing has been done with the view to testing the Cambrian sandstones on the Cincinnati arch.

TENNESSEE. Oil production east of the Cincinnati arch in Tennessee in 1944 was slightly more than 9,500 barrels, most of which came from the Mississippian limestone in Scott and Morgan counties. Small amounts of gas were produced in the Jamestown and Sunbright areas but were used for local consumption.

There were 16 completions in 1944, three of which were completed as commercial gas wells and one a small oil well. There was considerable activity in the northern Cumberland Plateau, particularly in Cumberland, Morgan, Scott and Fentress counties where several large blocks of acreage had been assembled.

Surface work is being carried on by at least four major companies and interest is focused on the pre-Mississippian production possibilities.

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