Petroleum exploration in a part of north-central New Mexico
Beaumont Edward, C.
Pages 175-185 1961
1961
Accession: 019705804
N.-central New Mexico embraces a great diversity of geologic conditions ranging from the San Juan Basin of the Colorado Plateau to the Estancia Basin and Pedernal uplift, and covering parts of the Rio Grande trough and its flanking uplifts as well as the southern part of the Rocky Mountains. The problems and challenges thus presented in searching for oil and gas are commensurate with the geologic variation. The area remains essentially nonproductive, with only a dozen tests commercially productive of the almost 200 drilled. The Rio Grande trough is the area of least knowledge in respect to oil and gas potential. Locally, oil tests have penetrated more than 10,000 ft. of Cenozoic sediments in the trough. Oil and gas have been produced from 3 small fields in Sandoval County, and carbon dioxide was used to make dry ice near Estancia. Sizable quantities of steam were discovered in a test drilled in the Jemez caldera. All known oil tests are listed with data given as to location, operator, lease, oil and gas shows, elevation, total depth, and notes on formations penetrated.