THE MINERAL INDUSTRY OF COLORADO 
 
 
Table 14.—Oil and gas well drilling in 1967, by counties 
199 
County 
Oil 
Gas Dry Total Footage 
 
 
County 
Oil 
Gas 
Dry Total Footage 
Exploratory completions: 
Adams      
Arapahoe        
Archuleta 
Baca       
Bent 
Delta 
Elbert 
3 
 
  
1 
  
  
  
 1 12 16 89,384 4 13 17 95,538 
 4 4 7,479- - - 6 7 32,715 2 2 9,948 1 1 7,206 3 3 18,265 
 
 
Washington... 
Weld       
Total     
Development completions: 
Adams     Arapahoe...... 
2 
2 
1 
1 
 57 60 280,091 15 18 121,113 
— 
 
 
 
 
 
 
— 
23 
22 
232 277 1,432,549 
 —= 
 5 9 51,625 6 9 49,967 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1 
3 
3 
- - - 
 
Gunnison 
Huerfano 
Kiowa          
 
1 1 
1 
1 
0 1 
1 5,6001 2,3051 51,696 
Archuleta 
Baca           
Kiowa      
13 
2 
3 
~ 
 - - - 2 16,020 2 5 20,411 2 15 68,536 
La Plata 
Larimer 
Logan      
Mesa           
Moffat     
Montezuma. 
Morgan     
Park 
Phillips 
Prowers     
4 
 
2 
1 
6 
  
  
1 
2 312 1 14 2 
 
 
1 
1 
4 
6 411 18 13 8114 
1 9,9154 17,7392 216,5992 16,5245 96,2299 81,9663 184,6311 8801 4,1086 27,500

La Plata_ - - - 
Larimer     
Logan      
Mesa           
Moffat      
Montezuma.... 
Montrose 
Morgan     
Pitkin           
Prowers 
1 
7 
6 
 
10 
5 
  
19 
 
  
7 
2 
1 
 
8 
 
 
3 
3 
 - - 8 54,051 7 16 80,188 12 19 98,414 1 1 5,140 11 29 151,904 6 11 33,292
1 1 7,320 16 38 223,235 - - - 3 15,139 1 1 4,648 
Pueblo 
Rio Blanco_ 
Routt 
San Miguel 
Sedgwick 
1 
  
  
  
1 
 
2 -- 
1 
1 
4 
1 
 
1 
1 1,7826 23,5391 4,9692 17,0532 7,775 
Rio Blanco__ 
Routt           
Washington.._ 
Weld 
Total     
Total all 
drilling.._ 
33 
 
4 
  
10 
1 
- - - 
 31 74 283,430 - - - 1 1,428 13 17 78,272 2 2 13,546 
——---——-——--—— 
 116 261 1,256,566 
 
 
 
 
 
 
102 
43 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
125 
65 
348 538 2,689,115 
Source: Committee on Statistics of Drilling, American Association of Petroleum
Geologists. 
 
in such drilling. Average drilling depth for exploratory wells was 5,172
feet, nearly 100 feet deeper than the average for 1966, but slightly less
than the national average of 5,242 feet. 
 Fourteen sales of oil and gas lease were held during the year—10 on
State land, three on public domain, and one on Indian lands. The 10 State-land
sales involved 127,193 acres which brought bonuses of 
$77,153 (an average of $0.61 per acre); highest bid, $10.92 per acre, was
made on lands at a sale in January. The three public.domain sales brought
bonuses totaling $30,508 for 5,416 acres—an average of $5.63 per acre;
highest bid was made in August, $11.41 per acre. The Indian land sale covered
33,499 acres for which $93,302 was received—average bid was 
$2.78; the highest was $6.37. 
 One of the most significant oil discoveries was the Black Jack field. The
discovery well, Tiger Oil Co. UPRR-Cronk No. 2, sec 9, T 4 S, R 57 W, Arapahoe
County, was completed in February for a daily initial potential of 252 barrels
of 42° API oil from the "J" sandstone (Cretaceous) at 5,399 to 5,409
feet. At yearend the field had six producing wells and had yielded 246,662
barrels of oil. 
 On the western slope, rework of an old well in the Maudlin Gulch field,
Moffat County, discovered a profitable new pay zone. The well, Texaco Inc.
Unit No. 2, sec 27, T 4 N, R 95 W, pumped 205 barrels of oil daily from Dakota
formation (Cretaceous) perforations at 5,752 to 5,796 feet. By ycarend the
operator had produced 1.0 million barrels of Dakota oil from 11 wells, an
eleven.fold increase. 
 In December Don M. Rounds Co. discovered oil in the "J" sandstone in drilling
the Sheetz No. 1 well, sec 14, T 3 S, R 52 W, Washington County. The well
was completed for a daily pump gage of 288 barrels of oil from the interval
4,293 to~ 4,298 feet; the field was named Cimarron. 
 The southeastern corner of the State on the Las Animas arch was again one
of the active areas. Development drilling in the Brandon field resulted in
13 more wells. The exploratory effort was not unusually successful—Baca
County had a new pay gas discovery in the Vilas field; Kiowa County had a
small gas discovery. 
 The State had five active refineries—two in Denver, one in Grand Junction,
one in Fruita, and one in the Rangely field. The two in Denver—Continental
Oil Co. and