The Powell's Lake oil field is in Sec. 16, Coordinate Q-20, Union County, Kentucky, along the Ohio River. This field was discovered in 1944 by the Gulf Refining Company and is owned and controlled by that company. Previous to the discovery several dry holes with slight oil showings had been drilled in the general vicinity.

The discovery well, the Gulf Refining Company's M. S. Rankin 1, SE. ¼, NE. ¼, NE. ¼ of Sec. 16, Q-20, was drilled in July, 1944. It was drilled to the total depth of 2,281 feet in the Cypress sand, which contained salt water and a trace of oil. The well was plugged back to the Waltersburg sand at 1,811-1,824 feet and completed, August, 1944, initially producing 84 barrels of oil per day.

The two principal producing sands in the field are the Mansfield sand of Pennsylvanian age found at 1,200 feet and the Waltersburg sand of Mississippian age at about 1,810 feet. Twenty-five producing wells have been completed in the field and more than half are dual producers. The field has been developed rather slowly during the past 3 years due to floods and inaccessibility of the area.

Average daily production from the 25 producing wells in the field for March, 1947, was 755 barrels of oil. Cumulative production of the field to April 1, 1947, was 489,865 barrels of oil.

The limits of the field now appear to be fairly well defined. A normal fault, downthrown on the west with 250-300 feet displacement, delimits the west side of the field.

The Powell's Lake field represents a combination structural and stratigraphic type of oil field. Moderate structural uplift of the immediate area and differential settling of the sedimentary rocks overlying the Waltersburg sand have produced a slight doming and structural flattening of the strata overlying the field. The Waltersburg sand is of a blanket type, with good development of sand in the upper part of the section. The Mansfield sand is lenticular with a rather flat base and is irregularly convex on the upper surface.