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Tennessee hills spout Texas tea
| The WoT is all about the oil, right? |
Amid sloping hills dotted with grazing Black Angus cattle in Pickett and Fentress counties, the most valuable money-making venture may be underground.
| "Oh, listen to a story bout a man named Jed" |
Last month, a Kentucky company hit oil on a farm in Pickett County. The pressure of oil naturally bubbling to the surface has been so great that the producers have been unable to remove the drill for the past 25 days.
| "Up from the ground came a'bubbling crude. Oil, that is. Texas tea." |
Its production has been reduced from a capacity of 800 barrels per day to about 500, which translates to more than $17,500 per day in revenue with today's high crude-oil prices.''It's an exceptional well,'' said Anthony Young of Young Oil Co. in Knob Lick, Ky. He bought the rights to several adjacent leases soon after the well hit. He plans to drill another 20 wells in the vicinity. ''This has been a hot area to drill in,'' he said. ''Tennessee is finally getting the recognition it deserves. It's a little Texas, I've always thought.''
''There are thousands of acres east of this that have never been drilled,'' added Alan Murrell, one of the owners of Southeastern Energy, the company that discovered the oil. With prices climbing to a range of $35 to $38 a barrel, there is more incentive for investors to plunk down the risk money to explore and drill new wells. On average, one third of all drilled wells don't produce anything, despite seismic exploration techniques and other technology that has improved in recent years.
| This is why the oil industry has so many booms and busts. Prices go up, more wells drilled and more oil pumped, supply goes up, prices fall, companies lose money and shut down. Supplies go down, prices go up. Rinse, repeat. |
Posted by: Steve 2004-04-09 |
