North Carolina
Ain’t Oklahoma
But as long' as oil is short the drillers
are likely to keep on trying.
By F. ML ROBERTS
A rusting drilling rig, abandoned
about three years ago. is the best illus¬
tration of the lack of success experi¬
enced by large and small oil companies
that have searched the swamps and
waters of Dare. Currituck. Camden,
Hyde, and Tyrrell counties for hydro¬
carbon (fuel) since 1911.
It stands just off U.S. 264, a few
miles from the fishing village of Stumpy
Point, a towering structure representing
an investment of several thousand dol¬
lars, an expensive dream that did not
come true.
For a while, it looked as if the area
might yield natural gas. In January,
1970. there was talk of a find of natural
gas made by the Rapp Oil Co. of Bev¬
erly Hills, Calif.
"Several local people were so en¬
thused they were ready to buy yachts,"
State Rep. W. S. White (D-Darc), said
recently. "Some natural gas was dis¬
covered and the odor permeated the
community. Sometimes it was so strong
you could hardly breathe."
But the company sealed its well, its
president. Robert Rapp, claiming, “we
don't feel the site could produce enough
to be commercially successful."
Russell Langley, who represents
Stumpy Point on the Dare County
Board of Commissioners, said the com¬
pany ran into legal and technical dif¬
ficulties.
Whatever the reason, the excitement
eventually died down and. since that
time, the sight of a new drilling rig go¬
ing up causes only small talk.
The Search Continues
A rough estimate is that about 80
exploratory wells have been drilled
along the North Carolina coast during
the past quarter century, many of them
in the Albemarle area.
"But none has ever produced profit¬
able quantities of natural gas or oil,"
Roy Sowers Jr., former director of the
Department of Conservation and De¬
velopment. said in 1970.
The statement still holds true, but the
search continues.
Cities Service Oil Co. recently com¬
pleted its second try in the area, at two
different sites.
"Chances of finding anything arc
slim." said Tex Hartman, manager of
Hast Coast projects for the company
which drilled on part of a 123, 776-acrc
site it leased from the Wcstvaco Corp.
The company spent more than
S 1 00,000 in a search they said at the
beginning would probably be fruitless
"because we arc desperate for oil," said
Paul Hyatt, a company geologist.
"We invest a lot of money in an
area even though there is little chance
of finding anything." he said, "because
the oil shortage is real, not an oil com¬
pany myth.”
New Sources Needed
In 1971, wells in the United States
pumped 9.7 million barrels of oil a day.
A year later, according to Time Maga¬
zine. the figure dropped to 9.4 million.
The duller» of work. Some 80 eiplorotory well»
ho»c been drilled olong rhe North Corolino coo»t
in the po»l 25
у
cor».
Cirict Scmce Oil Compony'» rig recently com¬
pleted it» »ccond fruitle»» try tor hydrocorbon in
the North Corolino coottal area in a scorch pre¬
dicted to be un»ucce»»tul from the beginning.
“The speed at which U. S. oil wells
are operating is fast draining the na¬
tion's reserves,” Time said, adding that
"the outlook is for steeper production
declines unless new sources of oil can
be found."
American oil companies arc now
concentrating exploration in their own
country, rather than overseas, with
most of the efforts taking place in the
midwest, or at offshore sites.
"Increasing the price of oil (to con¬
sumers) gives us more money for these
operations to find needed oil," Hyatt
said.
The geologist said that companies
drill in any area where there is even a
slight chance of discovering hydrocar¬
bon.
"There is just no way of telling when
you might find something," he said.
Searching Since 1911
North Carolina fits nicely into the
slight chance category.
The oil search began in the Tar Heel
THE STATE, May 1974
t IS 1
