Abstract

Nebraska's first documented exploratory test was in 1889 near Dannebrog (Howard County). Approximately 75 dryholes were drilled from 1903 to 1939. Forest City Basin discoveries focused attention on southeastern Nebraska. In November 1939, the Pawnee Royalty Company No. 1 Boice (Richardson County) was completed in Hunton (Devonian) carbonates. Deeper reservoirs (Viola-Ordovician) were discovered but activity declined. The Ohio Oil No. 1 Mary Egging was completed in Dakota (Cretaceous) sandstones in June 1949 in the Nebraska Panhandle—the discovery well for the multistate Denver Basin.

In 1960, the Murfin No. 1 Barth (Red Willow County) was completed in the Lansing-Kansas City (Pennsylvanian) limestone and the basal Pennsylvanian sand to open the Sleepy Hollow field in southwestern Nebraska. Activity reached an all-time high in 1961; 1,022 tests yielded 351 oil wells, 239 of these in southwestern Nebraska. Economics in the 1970's allowed several multiwell programs across the state—unfortunately no significant discoveries resulted. Older Paleozoic reservoirs in siltstone and dolomite (Pennsylvanian and Permian) under the Cretaceous Denver Basin were discovered in 1980 by the Diamond Shamrock No. 1 McMillan (Cheyenne County). Gas was discovered but undeveloped in the Niobrara chalky shale (Cretaceous) east of the Panhandle. As of January 1, 1999, 18,735 wells have been drilled in Nebraska and cumulative production to that date was 481,306,353 bbls of oil and 163,476,799,000 cubic feet of gas. Creative exploration, technology, and economics again could put the industry in Nebraska into a growth pattern.