File 1450/1919 ‘Mesopotamia & Kurdistan: Geological Reports on’ [‎236v] (503/522)

4
On account of the 7 high quality of the oil, and of the fact that at most three
wellswould finally and exhaustively prove the success or failure of the field,
drilling would under ordinary circumstances be first undertaken here.
A shallow well of 400 feet would probably yield some oil, but for a first test
to be satisfactory it would be necessary to provide for carrying it to a possible
depth of 3,000 feet. Three locations have therefore been made No. 1 for 400 feet.
No 2 for 1,500 feet, and No. 3 for 3,000 feet. No. 2 should be drilled first and not
carried below 1,800 feet, as at that depth it would pass into steeply dipping
strata Should this well prove unsuccessful, it would be a most discouraging
si°ii but it would still be necessary to test deeper horizons, and subject to con
firmatory evidence from N. 2 well, No. 3 should be drilled before abandoning the
fiplH There is no reason, however, for anticipating the latter contingency.
There is not a single item of evidence that militates against the prospects, but
there is one indeterminable factor by which everything stands or falls, and that is
the quantity of oil present. It cannot be doubted that oil will be struck, and the
magnitude of the seepages, the gas presssure, and the almost ideal structure,
render the expectation of good productions eminently reasonable.
(7.) ENGINEERING.
Ramadi District.
The Engineering problems here involved are of the simplest. River trans
port is available to within a mile of the Nafatahfp£^?page, and Abu Jir is reached
by crossing 20 miles of desert from the Euphrates, while all of the Hit seepages
are near the river. It would probably be necessary to take water to Abu Jir
from the river, but there is always the possibility of obtaining fresh water locally
in hand-dug wells. It is a possibility, rather than a probability, as the formation
here is of a salty gypseous nature.
Fuel exists in abundance, as with furnaces constructed for the purpose, the
bitumen from the seepages could probably be satisfactorily utilised.
Naft Khana.
Wheeled traffic can reach the oil seepages from Khaniqin, and but little
work would make a good road.
A serious difficulty arises in the absence of fresh water during the summer
month. It is not easy to obtain reliable information, but it appears that in both
the Kani Khasan and Ab-i-Naft Rivers only pools of brackish water remain.
Now this water would be entirely unsuitable for boilers, and would involve clean
ing, and the insertion of some new tubes every few weeks. The possibility of
obtaining fresh water by drilling seems remote on account of the underlying
gypsum Group, which by circulation of the water contaminates all other water.
If a steam rig is used a condensing engine would be advisable, except that this
involves the bringing of condenser cooling water from more than a mile away,
and both lift and distance would necessitate placing the pump at the suction end.
Clearly the difficulties of a steam rig are very considerable, and warrant the
substitution of some other motive power if possible. The alternative is, of course,
an oil engine. Oil Engine rigs are said to be unsatisfactory by manv people,
particularly in that they lack the elasticity of a steam engine. This, however,
is not the case against the oil engine, but rather against the fittings and trans
mission supplied with it, but in any case it seems that the drawbacks of an oil
engine are very much more than counter-balanced by the difficulties in the wa y of
using steam.
(8.) CONCLUSION.
The Naft Khana oilfield so nearly approaches ideal conditions that it must
be regarded as an area of the greatest promise.
In the Hit region the conditions are less determinate, but no really rr favour
able evidence has been discovered, and the indications of petroleum are on so
large a scale that the area cannot be passed over without a practical test.
The potentialities of both districts are such that each deserves an early test,
and it seems reasonable to hope that the Mesopotamia oilfields may rank as not
the least important of the world’s producers of petroleum.
S.G.P.Bd.—1,371—2,144—50—18-3-18.

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File 1450/1919 ‘Mesopotamia & Kurdistan: Geological Reports on’ [‎236v] (503/522)

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