NEW YORK

In the Oriskany sand area of southern New York, 41 wells were completed during 1941, 20 as gas wells with a combined open flow of 98,516,000 cu. ft., and 21 as dry holes, of which 8 can be considered as wildcat wells. No new producing areas were found during the year but the Harvard area in Steuben County was developed from 1 well to a pool of 7 wells with a daily open flow of 6,929,000 cu. ft. and 1 dry hole.

PENNSYLVANIA

During the year 1941, 17 wells drilled below the Onondaga lime were completed in Pennsylvania. Seven of these wells were completed as commercial gas wells in the Oriskany sandstone with a combined open flow of 10,750,000 cu. ft., all being located in the summit pool, Fayette County. In this pool, 1 well was lost with the tools in the hole a few feet below the top of the Oriskany sand. The 8 dry holes were wildcat tests in Armstrong, Beaver, Potter, Tioga, Mercer, and Erie counties. Only 1 of these wells tested formations below the Oriskany. This well, the Jay Childs, drilled by the Ohio Oil Company, was abandoned at a total depth of 5,191 ft. with a showing of oil, gas, and water from what is correlated as the St. Peter sand.

OHIO

In eastern Ohio, holes drilled to a depth of less than 4,000 feet are generally within or in the vicinity of the older Clinton fields of central Ohio. Only those wells more than 4,000 feet in depth are considered in this review.

Under the foregoing classification, 136 wells were completed during the past year, 89 as gas wells in the Clinton (Medina) sand with an initial open flow of 146,000,000 cu. ft., and 3 as oil wells with an initial production of 37 barrels. Forty-four were dry. Of these, 3 tested sub-Trenton strata, 39 were dry in the Clinton, and 2 tested only the Oriskany.

Gas fields in Muskingum, Stark, and Morgan counties were extended and a new field in Salt Creek Township, Muskingum County, was opened as well as a new field in Pike Township, Stark County.

WEST VIRGINIA

During the year, 182 wells were drilled to or through the Oriskany sand in West Virginia. Of these, 166 were gas wells with a combined open flow of 764,568,000 cu. ft., and 16 were dry.

The Elk-Poca and Sandyville Oriskany gas fields were extended to include 38 square miles of new territory. Eight of the 16 dry holes were drilled in defining the present boundaries of these fields. Two Oriskany wells, located in the southeastern portion of the Elk-Poca Oriskany field, were unsuccessfully deepened to the Clinton (Medina) sand.

An Oriskany test located in Randolph County encountered salt water in the Oriskany. The Oriskany test in Roane County also encountered salt water.

The Oriskany test in Monongalia County encountered a showing of gas in the Huntersville chert but was dry in the Oriskany.

The Clinton test in Boone County was dry, as were the tests in Wood and Harrison counties. This latter test is the first deep rotary well in the state penetrating to a depth of 10,018 feet.

During the year, the Department of Mines issued 1,087 drilling permits. Of this number, 495 were reported as gas wells, 48 as oil wells, 18 as combination oil and gas wells, 144 dry holes, 4 cancelled permits, and 369 unreported. During the year 916 abandonment permits were issued, of which 472 were oil wells.

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KENTUCKY (Eastern)

During the year, 416 wells were drilled: 59 were dry, 254 were gas wells developing an open flow of 116,963,000 cu. ft. per day, and 103 were oil developing an initial production of 903 barrels of oil, and 6 pressure wells were completed.

Production was found in zones ranging from the Salt sand (Pennsylvania) through the Sunnybrook (Ordovician).

Most of the drilling was done in the eastern border state in developing Devonian shale gas production and extending existing pools, the Rockhouse pool developed in Johnson City from the Big Six (Silurian) sand being the only important new field.

TENNESSEE (Eastern)

During the year, 9 wells were completed in the area east of the Cincinnati arch, drilling a total of 13,705 feet. None of the wells can be classed as commercial although encouraging showings were found.

In the Cumberland Plateau area, several blocks of leases are still retained by a large company. In this area the pre-Mississippian remains essentially unexplored.

MARYLAND

One well was completed in the western Panhandle of Maryland. This well, located in the highly folded area of Garrett County, was completed at a total depth of 8,165 feet after encountering a showing of gas and salt water in the Oriskany sand at 8,096 feet.

VIRGINIA

Two wells were completed during the year, 1 in Wise County as a dry hole through the Devonian shale at a total depth of 5,348 feet, and 1 in Rockingham County encountering less than 100,000 cu. ft. from the Devonian shale and Oriskany sand at a total depth of 2,986 feet.

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