Drilling on the Las Animas arch during the past 3 years has provided the control for a more complex structural theory of than has been considered previously. Pre-Pennsylvanian folding has a predominantly northwest-southeast trend, whereas Pennsylvanian and later movements are oriented primarily northeast-southwest. In addition, instead of being a broad simple arch, there is a record of obvious Early Pennsylvanian movement considerably east of the well-known Las Animas arch axis.

Many prejudices to the effect that the Las Animas arch is not an oil province have been disproved as a result of the reserves found in the Brandon field. In this field the Pennsylvanian is producing, or is capable of producing, from five separate zones, and the Mississippian is producing in the St. Louis, Spergen, Warsaw, and Osage zones, with the deepest pay being 325 ft below the Pennsylvanian subcrop.

The most significant development has been the completion of several wells that would have been plugged in the past because of the discouraging results of the drill-stem tests. This has caused scrutiny of many assumed dry holes in the arch area.

Success during the past 2 years and recent activity indicate that the virtually unexplored Las Animas arch is becoming "A New Oil Province."

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