Raccoon Bend oil field, Austin County, Texas

The Raccoon Bend oil field, located on the west side of Brazos River, Austin County, Texas, was discovered in 1928. There is little definite geophysical or surface geological evidence of this marked structural feature, although gas, sulphur water, and pyrite in shallow water wells are all common, and distinctive of the area. It consists primarily of a broad faulted dome having an uplift above normal in excess of 800 feet. The faults are of the normal type, and form several grabens over the central part of the dome. In addition to an Oakville gas sand at 1,000 feet, oil is obtained from two Jackson sands, one a very lenticular basal Whitsett sand, averaging 3,150 feet in depth, and the other a continuous sand near the center of the McElroy formation, averaging 3,475 feet in depth. The field has a proved area of 1,162 acres and has produced a total of 11,400,000 barrels of oil, or an average of 9,800 barrels per proved acre. The pressure of the field, which is operated solely by the Humble Oil and Refining Company, is being maintained by having gas returned to all three reservoirs. The present daily allowable is 4,500 barrels from 114 completed oil wells. About the same amount of salt water is also produced.