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D’Hanis (aka The Wild Thing) – Medina County
In 1927 California-Medina Oil Co. 1 commenced drilling the #1 Tina Rothe well situated within the northwest portion of Medina County, approximately 7.5 miles north of D’Hanis, Texas.
This well, which was drilled using cable tools, managed, after three years, to reach a total depth of 3500’, just 500’ short of their 4000’ objective. The California-Medina well 1 was drilled on a faulted surface feature, which can bee seen on the enclosed map.
Even though this well was drilled in the very early days of the oil and gas business, a great deal of information still survives. The attached “field log” compiled by Texas Well Service, Inc., 1 - A denotes 21 separate oil shows and 22 separate gas shows from 1300’ to 2615’ throughout the Glen Rose, Sligo and Houston Formations. The attached driller’s log 1 - B confirms these shows, as does the driller’s log published in the Water Supply Paper No. 1422 1 – C. In the University of Texas Publication No. 6120, on the Ouachita System, the Bureau of Economics Geology reported that this well penetrated into the top of the Paleozoic rocks at 2616’.
The attached driller’s log 1 – B reported a black oil sand from 3152 ½ to 3185’. The field log on this well 1 – A on Page 4 described this sand as such:
“At 3150 – 3180” a 33’ oil sand was encountered with 15’ of black sand
following, and although the hole was full of water, bailers, which were leaky,
when pulled to the top were one-third full of oil. This oil tested 42 gravity, and without a doubt, comes from the top formation of the Pennsylvania. This formation is definitely oil bearing sand, yet no tests were made to learn what this formation may produce”.
The California-Medina well eventually reached a depth of 3500’. A white chalk was encountered from 3500’ to 3500’. The field log 1 – A describes as follows:
“A core from the bottom was analyzed by the Shell Co. and pronounced
Pennsylvania. Cutting from drill bit would throw off a blue flame when lighted and when treated with chloroform would give amber colored oil. This lime was considered a cap to the bend sand, from which we hoped to get worthwhile production. Expectations were high and the driller was ordered to be sure and have the well properly cased. All efforts to recover same were futile and the hole had to be abandoned. A month or so later another effort was made to reach the Bend lime by means of setting a whipstock at 2200’. They managed to reach 2800’ depth when a drill stem broke and the well was then abandoned for good”.
Apparently the driller was under contract to drill to 4000’ to test what they thought to be the Bend Sand of the Pennsylvanian. The hole was subsequently lost and efforts to side track also failed. This well was eventually abandoned.
In 1957 Roxanne Oil Co. drilled the #1 Tina Rothe Ranch 2 approximately 4000’ southeast of the California-Medina well. The scout ticket shows a total depth of 3520’. However, the electric log indicates total depth to be 3285’. The Bureau of Economic Geology, Ouachita System Publication No. 6120 indicates that this well penetrated into the top of the Paleozoic rocks at 3000’, or 384’ structurally lower than the California-Medina well. The Bureau apparently had cores, but it is not known if there were any oil or gas shows. This well was plugged and abandoned.
Three year later, in 1960, Ike Howeth attempted to deepen the Roxanne well 2 with the drilling of the Ernestine Rothe #1 3. This well reached total depth at 3629’, only 344’ deeper than the Roxanne well. This well also ran an induction-electric log and also had a plotted log done by Montgomery’s Strarigraphy Service. This well also did not record any shows, but confirmed the top of the Paleozoic rocks to be 3000’ in depth. This well was also plugged and abandoned.
These three wells, drilled within one mile apart, are the only wells within Medina County and along trend to have penetrated the Upper Paleozoic Ouachita facies rocks in the frontal zone of the Ouachita Belt.
We believe that the lack of success of the previously drilled wells was due to the technology of the time. Drillers using cable tool and rotary rigs could not maintain a hole through the disconformity at either 3,000’ or at 13,000’. We are using new air drilling and air hammer bit technologies. We believe air drilling will remedy any problems during drilling that were encountered in the past. We also think that air drilling technology will allow us to get to a depth of 5,000’ and below to test the Ellenburger which if found productive could be a major homerun.
I will bottom line it; we are moving up-dip and twining a well that had over thirty (30) oil and natural gas shows which you can see for yourself in the enclosed information. We feel our chosen location should get high to whatever is creating the accumulation oil and natural gas in the Rothe well. We believe this to be a folded and thrusted Pennsylvanian-Ordocvician trap. This trap weather it is sand or lime may hold and discover extremely large reserves of oil and natural gas in a feature that has remained untested and could extend for over 100 miles. This prospect may represent one of the last great wildcat attempts in Texas.
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