History of the Oil and Gas Industry in Niobrara Co. Wyo.
Prepared by Gary Bayne
Backgrounds:
I was born and raised on a ranch in Southern Weston Co and entered the oil fields in 1973. I worked in oil fields across the western US and Wyoming until my retirement in 2023. I worked in the oilfields of Niobrara Co from 1986 to 2010 both as a contractor and company employee. I met Jack Hammond in 1986 in Lance Creek and worked with him on many projects in Lance Creek and other fields in Niobrara County. Much of the information in this presentation was given to me by Jack with information also coming from the Wy Oil and Gas Commission site and USGS records.
Jack was born in Columbine Wy in 1935, a small-town North of Casper that was in the Salt Creek Oil field. Jack’s dad was an engineer for Continental Oil, later Conoco, and was transferred to Lance Creek in 1938. Jack went to grade school there. The family was transferred to Houston with Conoco in 1950 and then back to Lance Creek in 1957. Jack worked in the Lance Creek field and started Mac Jac, an oil field service business. This successful business ran for approximately 50 years until Jack retired and sold out.
Chronology:
By the early 1900’s oil and gas were being discovered in many places in Wyo. Industrialization in the US and the need for gasoline, diesel, heating oil, power generation and the people’s need for better living conditions, was driving the push for better energy sources. The price of /crude during this time was ~$1/bbl. In 1912 Dr. Hawthorn, an investor and entrepreneur from the Salt Creek oil fields, was looking at the Lance Creek area due to the surface geology he had seen on USGS mapping. He formed Wyoming Oil Co. He would get a little money together and attempt to drill but would soon run out of money each time before he hit any pay. He finally sold out to Ohio Oil, later to become Marathon Oil Co. The US entered WWI in 1917, and oil prices were climbing due to the increase in demand. By the end of the war in 1918, oil had climbed to $3/bbl making it easier to get investors and make the oil industry profitable.
1918: Henry Rispen with Ohio Oil drilled the Lance Creek discovery well named simply “the 28 well”. It came in at 1500 barrels per day of oil. Since WWI just ended it was evident that crude oil was a valuable commodity. Ohio kept drilling wells, but many were dry holes. Ohio’s president didn’t like geologists so he wouldn’t listen to them for suggestions on where to drill. Finally, he hired Charlie Hares who had done much of the mapping across Wyoming for mineral resources with the USGS. Charlie quickly proved his worth by hitting many high-volume wells. During the early 20’s it was truly the Wild West. Many of the roughnecks were coming from other fields because they were being run out of areas such as Casper due to “bad behavior”. There was no infrastructure, no regulations and no good access to the Lance Creek area. Much of the oil was put in earthen pits and the gas was just vented or flared. Getting crude to the train in Manville was difficult with the trucks available at the time and the lack of serviceable roads.
In 1926-1927 the first gas plant was put in. Pipelines were being put in for transporting crude and gas from the field to the plant. Carbon black and gasoline were produced from wet gas. Some of the excess gas was reinjected to maintain reservoir pressure.
1930’s: Pipelines were being built by the major companies to get oil and gas to market. Continental put in an 8” line to Denver for transporting crude. Ohio Oil put in a 6” crude line to Fort Laramie to hook up with Standard Oils line to go East to Missouri and beyond. Conoco put in 2, two-inch lines to transport gasoline to Manville to be hauled by train. The Great Depression was hitting the country and people were migrating anywhere they could get a job to support their family. In 1933 a pair of out-of-work friends with oil field experience, Roy Chamberlin and James Hoblit (C&H), got enough money together to tear down and move and abandoned refinery from Casper and reassembled it in Lusk. They set up the refinery over the Ohio pipeline going from Lance Creek to Fort Laramie for access to crude to run it. Historically it was the “Smallest refinery in the world”. It would process 190 barrels of crude a day. They produced heating oil, diesel, kerosene and naphtha for the surrounding area from 1933 to 1978. The abandoned refinery can still be seen entering Lusk from the West.
With all the activity in Lance Creek, there were 9 company camps for employees with each camp having 15 – 20 houses. At one time there were 2 grade schools. The high school students were bussed to Manville and Lusk. One school is still in use. The Lance Creek area had a lumber yard, bowling alley, bars, liquor stores, mercantile, churches, airport with terminal, barbers, etc. The gasoline plant was expanded in 1938 to employ 70 plant operators plus all support personnel. At its heyday, the Lance Creek area supported over 10,000 residents. Water and sewer systems were put in and Conoco even put in their own phone system with switchboard and operators. An electrical grid was put in with generators powered by the excess natural gas. There was a softball field WITH LIGHTING from it’s own generator, one of the few at the time in Wyoming. Jack was proud to tell me they took as high as 2nd
in the State tournament multiple times.
1940’s – 1950’s: With the 1940’s came WWII. The drilling and production were pushed to support the war effort. The gasoline plant produced 20,000 gallons per day of high-grade gasoline needed for fighter planes. Crude was needed for everything from diesel to tires, plastics and everything in between. Hitler took note of the massive production of Lance Creek, (over 100,000 barrels/day of crude) and made it one of his prime targets if he got on US soil. Security fences were put in place and security badges were required to enter many facilities. Some of the wells being drilled were coming in at over 5000 barrels/day each. By the mid 1950’s, Lance Creek had produced 100 million barrels of oil and 155 billion cubic feet of gas. One of the things that made Lance Creek so profitable is there are 8 different pay zones with multiple layers in each zone from 2250’ to 5300’.
If a well depleted in one zone there was a good chance that there was another zone in the well with profitable production. Some of the wells in Lance Creek have produced over 1,000,000 barrels of oil in their lifetime and are still being produced.
1960’s – 1970’s: In the 60’s the production started dropping and more water was being produced. The gasoline plant was sized down and the oil was getting more expensive to produce. Less employees were needed so the population of the area was dropping quickly. The entire field was producing 500 – 1000 bbls/day. High volume submersible pumps were needed to move the large amounts of water to get what oil there was. Very little to no drilling was being done at Lance Creek. Some interest was being shown in the Buck Creek area East of Lance Creek. In the late 70’s and beyond, approximately 25 wells were drilled and completed in the Buck Creek field. As of 1990 cumulative production for Buck Creek was 2 million barrels oil and 2.4 billion cubic feet of gas.
1980’s and beyond: Approximately 10 million barrels of oil have been produced from Lance Creek since 1956 with the cumulative production today to be over 110 million barrels to date. Many of the wells are still being operated. Current production can be around 100 bbls/day each for Lance Creek and Buck Creek when economics are good enough to keep producing.
I worked in the Lance Creek and Buck Creek fields and the area from the 80’s into the 2000’s. I was a pumper, roustabout, and consultant to work over or plug wells if their production couldn’t be enhanced by modern technology.
OTHER OIL FIELDS IN NIOBRARA CO.
Mule Creek Oil Field: I’m mentioning this field primarily because it is as old as the Lance Creek. The discovery well was drilled by Ohio Oil Co in 1919. The best wells in Mule Creek were 250 barrels/day initial production and much less gas. The total cumulative production is approximately 4 million barrels of oil. Several of the wells in the field are still being produced.
Lightning Creek
Brooks Draw
Bright
Beaver Hole
Ant Hills
Indian Creek
Kaye Field
These are not near all the named Oil Fields in the County; however, they all produced enough oil in their day to contribute sizably to the tax base of Niobrara Co. Since 1933, when the current tax structure on minerals was being formed, oil and gas have accounted for 50% to 80% of Niobrara Co’s tax revenue. This has allowed for good infrastructure, 600+ miles of County roads, law enforcement, hospital, and services. We have 1.7 million acres in Niobrara Co, 50,000 to 60,000 cattle, and 2400 people. There is still 40 – 50 families in the County that rely on the oil and gas industry to support their families. AG is the “BREAD AND BUTTER” in the county and railroad and oil and gas are the gravy and desert. THIS IS MY OPINION BUT SOME WOULD ARGUE. My information on County revenue came from the Court House.
POSSIBLE PRODUCTIVE OIL FORMATIONS IN NIOBRARA CO
FRONTIER MORRISON
MUDDY SUNDANCE
DAKOTA CONVERSE
LAKOTA LEO (MINNELUSA)
TURNER NIOBRARA
These formations range from a few hundred feet deep to over 10,000’ deep depending on where you are in the County.
Gary Bayne