File 2249/1915 Pt 4 ‘Oil: Mesopotamia & Persia. (General File) 1920–24’ [‎134r] (267/484)

Anglo Persian Oil Oo*Ltd.
Baghdad,
Gamp Mo 7 .
pusht-i-Kuh.
2oth May 1920,
Geological paper W.R.S.I,
Oil in relation to Pars Anticlines.
Introduction . In the following paper the ^iter puts forward some
unorthodox views which if accepted as correct must entail a
radical alteration in the methods of locating well sites and
winning the oil in the Persian Field. It may explain #me of
the lack of success experience l in ventures outside of Maidan-
i-Naftun and may lead to more profitable enterprises in the
future. The writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. commenced work in this country with the
usual orthodox views but these have been rendered untenable
by the weight of the field evidence seen in the Kalhur country
and Pusht-i-Kuh during the past seven months. As uninterrupted
field work is likely to delay the reports for some months and
as the points raised below are considered vital this short
pap©rewritten under every possible disadvantage and distrac
tion,^ put forward in the hope that it may be of some
immediate use.
Present Procedure. Briefly stated the present procedure is as follows
Pind a seepage of oil, (say in Pars strata) map the anticline
in which it occurs,locate well sites at certain distances
from the axis and drill. This method is justified by the
success it has obtained in other countries and by the striking
production of wells drilled in Pars strata at Maidan-i-Naftun,
This procedure is based on the assumption that Pars is an oil
bearing system and that the oil can be won by the same methods
as succeed in other countries. This assumption nas little in
the way of solid evidence to justify it.Every field and every
part of a Pi eld is a problem in itself,calling for independent
solution and not for the slavish application of methods
successful elsewhere.
Hn oil in Pars. Study of the Pars systan in Kalhur and Pusht-i-Kuh * 1
has convinced the writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. on the following points
(1) Normal Fars do not contain oil though they may transmit
oil through them.