SHORT HISTORY OF OIL IN OHIO COUNTY

                        SHORT HISTORY OF OIL IN OHIO COUNTY

     The following is not intended to be a thorough review of all oil well production in Ohio County, but enough for you to have a basic understanding of the subject.

     In 1912 oil was discovered four miles east of Hartford, and since then Ohio County has consistently been one of western Kentucky’s leading oil-producing counties. 

1912:

Hartford, Ohio County, first commercial oil from western Kentucky. Oil price is about $0.60 per barrel (Smith, 1968). The well was located "about 5 miles northeast of Hartford in Ohio County, near Concord Church. The first well was commenced on the A. A. Carter farm in November, 1911 and completed in July, 1912 and was about 1,750 feet deep. The operator was Western Kentucky Oil and Gas Company, organized by Mr. W.M. Barnard. Production was a lime formation just below the Devonian Black Shake, known in Kentucky as the Corniferous Sand. [(Note that) Foerste (1910, p. 78) provides an account of an oil producing well drilled in 1889 (in Ohio County).]

Here is a mention in the Hartford Herald on April 24, 1912:

And another short article from November 6, 1912:

This is a view of the Howard No. 1 (Ohio County) well which was drilled to a total depth of 1,740 feet in 1913. Note the boiler in the left foreground. Photo by W. R. Jillson. Wooden "cable-tool" drilling rigs powered by steam engines were common in early drilling in Ohio County.

1926:

• Significant oil production in Taffy, Ohio County. (Taffy is located about 7 miles north of Hartford) .  The Ambrose-Weller pool is near Taffy in Ohio County. The discovery well was drilled by the Ohio Oil Company on the Ellis and Heflin farm in 1926. It was completed at 667 feet in the Jett, and initial production was 50 barrels. Production came from a small outlying body a few hundred feet north of the main sand body. The latter was discovered shortly afterwards by the drilling of the Weller No. 1 by J. C. Ellis. Structure has little to do with production, which is encountered where sand conditions are good. The sand varies from 12 to 70 feet in thickness. Water occurs on the western side in those wells drilled to 210 feet minus. In this vicinity wells have a slower decline. Most of the wells drilled in 1927 and 1928 had initials of more than 100 barrels. The field in 1933 averaged about two barrels to the well. 

1927: Article Courier-Journal:

1927:

The discovery of a buried channel was indicated with the drilling of the J. S. Bartlett No. 1 in 1927. The well missed the usual succession of Chester limestones that occur above the Jett formation. Production was encountered in the summer of 1929 by the No. 1 on the Barnett Creek Church lot. The well was completed at 600 feet with 15 feet of sand and a production of 300 barrels flush. It is one of the richest pools in western Kentucky. Several wells made between 300 and 500 barrels initial and one made 1750 barrels. The sand is highly permeable and does not require shooting.

      1935: 

Fordsville Pool (Ohio County).—Several small Jett formation pools, which were developed in 1935, are included in the Fordsville pool. Wells are shallow, producing at 300 to 400 feet with initials of around 150 barrels. The regional dip is modified only by minor structures, and the occurrence seems to have been determined by availability of the reservoir. 

CURRENT:

Typical rural oil well

          There are now about 20 properties in Ohio County with producing oil wells, and about 106 oil wells that are active.  These oil wells are operated by 36 different companies.  Ohio County is not currently one of the top oil producing counties in Kentucky.  About half of Kentucky’s counties produce oil and natural gas.

          Kentucky has a program for capping “orphaned” oil wells, which are wells abandoned by the original operators. These wells litter forests and fields and are environmental hazards.  Many are uncapped and bubble gas and leak oil. The Division of Oil and Gas plugs and abandons orphan wells identified by division inspection and prioritizes wells based on environmental and/or safety impact.  Funding for the plugging programs is generated by bond forfeitures.  Through this program, the division has plugged more than 3,750 wells throughout the State at no cost to the citizens of the Commonwealth.

          In 2020 the Commonwealth of Kentucky had two oil refineries with a combined processing capacity of about 283,000 barrels per calendar day.

          An Oil Men’s Banquet held at the old Hotel Owensboro on November 21, 1929 was the beginning of a short-lived group who called themselves “The Western Kentucky Oil Men’s Association.” Articles of Incorporation were filed on December 2, 1929 but in a few months the Eastern Kentucky group asked that the Western Kentucky group join with them, and the Western Kentucky Oil Men’s Association’s Articles of Incorporation were amended to become a state-wide organization on August 12, 1930. This became the present Kentucky Oil and Gas Association.  The KOGA was formed to represent the interests of Kentucky’s crude oil and natural gas industry, and more particularly, the independent crude oil and natural gas operators.