Saturday's Internet Edition, May 17, 2008.
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The new discovery of a big oil field in North Dakota that has oil wells producing from 500 to 1,000 barrels of oil per day with huge reserves is an example of just how wrong the experts can be.
Closer to home, the oil companies have been busy testing the far West Texas area to see what the production possibilities will be out here. New discoveries are being made all over West Texas, both oil and gas. Thus far, Reeves and Pecos counties have seen most of the exploration activity.
South of Fort Stockton, in Pecos County, close to the Brewster County line, Pinon Field is fast becoming famous as a huge producer of natural gas. Sand Ridge Energy has been the big player with a very aggressive exploration program. There has been only 3 dry holes out of over 330 wells drilled and these dry holes were the result of mechanical failure.
This area of production discovery is not the Barnet-Woodford Shale that everyone has heard about, but it is an Overthrust Belt that crosses a very large part of far West Texas and it has multiple zones of productive limestones, shales, and sands.
Even as I am writing this report, exploration geologists are following a new discovery that is significant in the Ouachita Overthrust Belt. It is a sub-thrust Paleozoic discovery zone that has been tested in the Fusselman Formation at 140 million cubic feet per day.
This is an exciting new discovery and it will receive much attention in the near future as being the next new trend to explore. This will be the Ouachita Gas Fairway.
Why, you may ask, are all these new discoveries just now being made? The answer is clear. The price of crude oil and natural gas has risen to the point that allows the oil companies to budget a large amount of money toward exploration and technology to search for and produce oil and gas from areas that they were not willing to risk exploring in the past.
Also, what most people do not consider is that the discovery of these reserves is just the beginning of the product that will eventually reach the consumer and each and every step of the way to the consumer is very expensive.
Much of this expense is tied to government regulations, environmental issues and, of course, a proliferation of taxes. Yes, the price of gasoline, diesel and natural gas has become very expensive to the consumer, but if we are ever going to extract ourselves from being dependent on foreign counties and sending our dollars to them, then we need to bite the bullet, so to speak, and do what ever we can to continue to explore and develop new reserves of oil and gas that are just waiting to be found.
And, now for a quick overview of activity near here:
Culberson County:
Chesapeake Operating, Inc. has filed a permit to drill a 14,000 foot vertical well on the DF Ranch 63-1 lease.
Also, Dawson Geophysical, out of Midland, is in the area to run a seismic survey line in the eastern part of the county.
In Culberson County, the big play so far has been exploring in the Atoka and in the Barnet-Woodford Shale formations. From the geology in the county, when the oil companies start moving their exploration prospects to the south and southwestern parts of the county, they are going to encounter different formations that will contain both oil and gas.
Hudspeth County:
Trail Mountain, Inc. has filed two permits to drill in Hudspeth County. The first is to drill a 5,800 foot vertical well on the University Running Gun H2 lease. The second is to drill a 5,000 foot vertical well on the University Sorrel C24 lease.
Jeff Davis County:
Most oil companies have steered clear of drilling to close to volcanic structures, but Chesapeake Operating, Inc. has made a well that was permitted for 14,000 feet on the McKnight 11 lease just 20 miles north of Fort Davis.
Presidio County:
No new wells permitted.
Column One
By Dawn Simpson
Two of our local people were called on to go to San Angelo recently and assist in the situation there with the polygamist-sect group and all the women and children who were removed from that compound.
Joe Carrasco, who works for the Child Protective Service office here in Van Horn, and Phyllis Taylor, the Registered Nurse for the State Health Services here, each spent about a week there. Even though it was an emotionally and physically exhausting time, they admit that it was an experience that they will always remember and appreciated the fact that they were called to do what little they could to be of assistance. It’s just a situation that there seems to be no easy answer for and they left with mixed emotions about what needs to happen to all those children.
Phyllis said that one thing that touched her was the way the children would sing. They had beautiful sweet voices and would sing in groups to each other. Also to see how the mothers would care for the children very early each morning by getting them ready for the day, fixing their hair and seeing that they were clean and neat looking.
It certainly is a sad situation that there seems to be no real good solution to, as we have watched it play out on TV. Of course children need to be with their mothers, but on the other hand are these mothers brainwashed and allowing their children to grow up in a life style that is so questionable, and at what point does state government have a right to step in. I certainly don’t know, but my heart aches for those children.
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There’s a Letter to the Editor about a 50th Class Reunion of the VHHS Class of 1958. I like the idea that they are having it in the fall during our Homecoming celebration. That will give a special feature to Homecoming and I hope the school district will make them feel very welcome. That was a very spirited bunch when they were here for the 2005 Reunion and they will add a lot of fun to that weekend. Maybe other classes around that time might want to plan reunions of their own. Contact Delbert Hollis at the phone number or address listed at the close of his letter for more information.
If any of the classes at high school would like to spotlight that class particularly for their hall decoration or any other way, the Advocate would be glad to furnish any copies of stories and pictures from our bound volumes during that time of 1954-58.
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Congratulations to the Elite Eagles Cheerleaders! Wow, they have only been organized about a year and they are winning competitions already. A couple of months ago they competed in El Paso for the first time and received a 3rd place. And now a 1st place at a competition held in Arlington. That’s great girls. You’ve started off with a bang, and it will be fun to watch you as you get better and better.
Thanks to their coaches for their time and effort. Anything that provides our children with a desire to be good in something is certainly worthwhile, not to mention the fact that any physical activity such as this is good for them. So it’s a win-win organization and will produce some really good high school cheerleaders to boot.
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GARDENING TIPS.......Many of us are well into our Spring gardening by now and these warmer days are making everything really start growing and greening up. I hauled a bunch of things back from El Paso (how I wish we had a nursery here!) and I’m enjoying every minute I can find to plant them in beds, as well as pots. Over the past few years I’ve learned that some things just do better in pots, so you might consider getting into ‘container planting’. This is especially a good way to have color in your yard if you don’t have a lot of beds to plant in. But even if you do, I’ve found that grouping pots of various sizes together and planting them with a mix of different plants makes a nice focal spot on a porch or patio, or even in a flower bed with other plants. Pots are good containers for the colorful annuals, when they might not do so good in the ground, especially if you haven’t amended the soil with a lot of good compost. It’s also easier to control the watering of things in pots. And if you put a variety of different plants in larger pots, if one plant isn’t doing so well, others will still look good. Another advantage to container planting is that if you move, you can take them with you, or you can move them around, or even put them inside a garage or protected place in the winter. That sure saves on the expense of having to buy so much the next Spring.
When planning your overall landscaping, don’t forget to consider what it will look like during each season. If you fill your yard with a lot of flowering plants, it might look pretty during Spring and Summer, but not during the colder months. I think a good rule of thumb is to make at least one third of your landscaping in evergreen shrubs, trees, or vines, especially around the front of your home. And don’t forget to take into consideration the size of a shrub after a few years of growth. Larry has had to move more than a few plants or shrubs because it was small when I first got it and planted it in a small place, only to find in a couple of years that it wasn’t so small after all.
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Thought for the Week: “Gardening is cheaper than a therapist.”
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
April 24th - The VHHS One Act Play cast will perform their play tonight at 7 p.m. in the Karen Young Memorial Auditorium. Admission is free.
April 25th - Van Horn Eagle regional track qualifiers will compete in the Regional Track Meet today in Abilene.
April 26th - The Regional Track Meet in Abilene continues through today.
April 27th - Attend the church of your choice.
April 28th - Trustees of the Culberson County-Allamoore Independent School District are scheduled to meet tonight at 6 p.m. at the District Administration Building. Members of the Van Horn Lions Club are slated to meet this evening at 7 p.m. at the Sands Restaurant.
April 29th - Members of the Van Horn Rotary Club are slated to meet today at noon at Chuy’s Restaurant.
April 30th - Nothing scheduled at press time.