Identifier: oilfieldsofcrawf22blat (find matches)
Title: The oil fields of Crawford and Lawrence counties
Year: 1913 (1910s)
Authors: Blatchley, Raymond S Illinois State Geological Survey
Subjects: Petroleum Petroleum
Publisher: Urbana, University of Illinois
Contributing Library: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Digitizing Sponsor: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

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ompanies in Illinois have separatebranches for leasing, drilling, buying, pipe-line discharging, telegraph-ing, and engineering. The first step of the oil operator after learning of an oil strike, isto lease as near as possible to the producing wells. If he has sufficientknowledge of the geological structure of the area, he follows the trendof the anticline or terrace, as the case may be. If he feels that hisproperties are within the limits of possible producing territory, he makeshis locations and starts his drilling. It is regrettable that many inexperienced operators are attracted bythe rush to newly proven areas and by lack of knowledge of both thenature of the business and underground conditions, are led to failure.It is often the case that such novices open up a field. Any observer ofthe oil business will soon note, however, that the larger companies andoperators do but little wildcatting, preferring to profit by the ex- ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. Bull. No. 22, Plate XVI.
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The standard derrick. blatchley) LEASING OF OIL PROPERTIES. 147 perience of the novice. It is true also, that field limits of many provenareas are established only by these indiscriminate test holes. Leasing. In contrast with the oil territories of the mountainous Appalachianregions and of the far west, Illinois is a drift-covered plain. All of itis either in cultivation or devoted to pasture. The land divisions aresimple and uniform and are based on the civil township of thirty-sixsections. Each section usually is sub-divided into tracts of the mul-tiple of twenty acres. The leasing of properties then starts upon asimple basis. There are no set rules concerning leasing as this is necessarily de-pendent upon local conditions. The oil men deal entirely with in-dividual land-owners, and leases are private bargains. While some ofthe territory is developed by land-owners, it is more often leased tooperators for a period of five years, with option of further lease as pro-duction continues.

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