RIASSUNTO
Location Extent
The Caddo oil-field, shown in Fig. 1, is located in Caddo parish,northwestern Louisiana. The known producing territory of oil is covered bytownships 19 N, 20 N, 21 N, 22 N, and ranges 15 and 16 W., shown in Fig. 2. Thecenter of the field may be taken as Oil City, 24 miles north of Shreveport, onthe Kansas City Southern railway. Shreveport is the second largest city in theState, and is the connecting point of five railroad-lines. Drilling at thepresent time, however, is going on all over northern Louisiana, especially inCaddo and the neigh- boring parishes. During the winter of 1908-09 I spent'four months in the Caddo field, under the direction of the LouisianaGeological Survey and the U.S. Geological Survey.
History and Development
Natural gas escaping at the surface is found at numerous places innorthwestern Louisiana. At Shreveport, the plant of the Shreveport Ice &Refrigerating Co. has been lighted by natural gas for 20 years. The well wasdrilled for water, but was abandoned on account of the gas. A test well, putdown in 1905 near the western limits of Shreveport, was driven to 1,650 ft.,and encountered indications of gas and oil at various depths, but did notsucceed in finding enough to be profitable. Attention was first attracted tothe Caddo field in 1895 by indications in water-wells from 40 to 60 ft. deep,in which the pressure of natural gas was noticeable. This indication of gas ina shallow well led to the drilling of the first well in the Caddo field, theold Savage Brothers & Morricell, or the Caddo Lake Oil and Pipe Line No. 1.The rig for this well was erected in May, 1904, and drilling began in June,1904. The well was bailed Mar. 23, 1905, with a small amount of oil. It wasdeepened July, 1905, and converted into a ""gasser"" Jan. 3, 1906. It wasabandoned January, 1907.
In consequence of the finding of oil in the Savage well, drilling operationswere pushed with energy; and in April, 1905, four wells mere drilling. Greattrouble was experienced with gas blow-outs and several of the rigs were shutdown. Difficulty in obtaining wood for fuel during bad weather led to theabandoning, so far as oil was concerned, of the Producers' No. 1 which was thenused to supply fuel gas to the various drilling-rigs in the field.
AIME 042-35