The year 1951 represented the current peak of activity in the structural basin, located in western Nebraska, northeastern Colorado, southeastern Wyoming, northwestern Kansas, and known as the Julesburg basin. Three of the four phases of finding and development reached all-time peaks during 1951. The leasing phase reached its peak in 1950 but extended into 1951 at a high level. Exploration drilling, exploitation drilling, and geophysical programming resulted in the drilling of 453 wells. 187 wells were drilled in the Nebraska part of the basin, 260 wells were drilled in the Colorado part, and Wyoming and Kansas were represented with four and two wells, respectively.

111 wildcats were drilled in the Nebraska part of the basin and resulted in the discovery of 15 new

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pools. 14 of the new finds in Nebraska were oil or oil and gas, and one discovery was exclusively gas.

In the Colorado part of the basin, 132 wildcat wells resulted in 14 discoveries. 12 of the Colorado discoveries were oil or oil and gas, and two were gas.

All of the foregoing discoveries were on structural or stratigraphic traps in the Cretaceous sands of the basin. Kansas, however, was credited with a small discovery in the Pennsylvanian part of the section.

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