I picked a general area and the well guy picked the specific spot. It was all very interesting, the derrick truck, the drilling mud, the piping, etc. I did not get well truck pics, or at least no decent ones. It was a black truck and the shade of the oaks ruined the exposure.
The drilling went well. Pure Florida HQ is a bit of sand covered limerock, not much of a challenge for a rotating tungsten drill bit. Very soon the well piping (metal below, PVC at the top) reached far beneath the PF surface. We were drilling a little down slope from the house, so I hoped for some pressure, but I was totally unprepared for what came up the pipe.
There was a fizzy carbonated rush of water that stunk of hydrogen sulfide and then the water stopped and this oozed up through the pipe ...
OIL. The well guy checked his rig, he was sure a hydraulic line had busted. Nope. I said, " Could it be some old oil tank from way back?" There had been some cattle on the property when we bought it. Maybe the farmer had a tractor fuel depot here ... yuck.
The well guy looked at me as if I were wearing lizards on my ears ( I have done that, but was not doing so at the moment).
"AT 80 FEET DOWN?!?" He shook his head, " I don't think so. What I think is, we've hit the Geoplasmic Reticulum Formation."
If you're not a Floridaphile, you may not know that we are an oil producing state. Big Cypress down south, Century in the panhandle ... oil wells galore. The GRF is an oil bearing strata of shaley limerock that runs the length of the state, but is rarely closer than 3000 feet from the surface. A recent test well near Crestview, FL went 15,000 feet down and came up dry, so it's hard to find.
Except here. This was pretty easy to find. Even if we weren't really looking ... for oil that is.
The well guy went home. The state geologist came out and verified it was oil and that we had capped the well correctly to avoid groundwater contamination.
So now I'm researching Florida law regarding mineral rights and trying to figure out if I need to go to work.
I'll keep you posted.
29 comments:
This is so totally, astonishingly amazing. That is exciting. Even if you don't own the rights to the minerals, you may be able to charge rent for someone else to pump on your land.
But what are you going to do about your second water well?
pablo
www.roundrockjournal.com
HAH! Geocene well drilling? Wonderful!I fell for it til I looked at the date. Very good.
I meant to add "unbelievable" to my adjectives in the first comment I left.
Isn't it curious how "geoplasmic reticulum" is so similar to "endoplasmic reticulum," which is a term a biology teacher would know coincidentally.
CRUDE! How exciting! This happened to a friend of mine when they were drilling for water on their vacation property- they did indeed own the mineral rights and they've been making about 40,000./yr for the last decade. Oh. I can't wait to hear how this turns out. You should wear lizrds on your ears more often- brings you luck!
I was just starting to believe it when I remembered what day it was....
OK, here's where it's NOT a good thing to be an English teacher...or at least not a gullible one!! Happy April Fools!
Perhaps you should run for office. This is how our politicians work. A little bit of truth can make a whole lot of blarney sound believable. I knew I could count on you for an April Fool's story! Thanks for the laugh (after the heart failure of imagining your beautiful place full of oil rigs). Got me, too.
I am so happy for you. Wow. Oil. Black Gold. Texas T. Well the first thing you know ol' FC's a millionaire, and the kinfolk said, FC, move away from there. Said Californy is the place you ought to be...
I fell for it. Hook, line, and sinker. Good one.
What?
Waaiiit a minute. I'm really pulling for your well to come in FC, but am I the only one taking note of the date of this posting? Hmmmmm? April 1st?
You dog. Clearly, I have been partying too hard in Atlanta. Only the Snarl got me better (worse)- she called to tell me she had eloped to a Russian exchange student.
24 years ago when we eloped to Folkston Ga to get hitched we didnt realize it was April fools day so most didnt believe we were really married cause they thought it was a joke, at least I have never had a problem remembering my anniversary,
Well, well!
You do realize I am very gullible...congratulations, Mr. Jed Clampett. NOT.
Good one! The pictures truly enhanced credibility.
I was born in April, but I'm no fool!
;)
Dear Y'all,
Okay, it's April 2nd, so back to Pure Truth like you are used to here at Pure Florida.
Here's what was true in yesterday's post:
1. Florida is an oil producing state.
2. Century near the Floribama line and Big Cypress down south are oil producing communities.
3. A test well near Crestview did go down to 15,000 feet and come up dry recently.
4. We do have a 4" well.
5. I have worn lizards on my ears.
The rest was poetic and photographic license on a special day.
Lizards on your ears? did you lose a bet or something?
Hick,
You mean, you've never let a lizard bite your ear and hang on?
You need to get out more.
:)
Funny reminder of lizard earrings. As a kid, used to visit relatives in St. Pete where they had thousands of anoles. I don't recall where I came up with the idea, but yep, I've done it. The males were particularly enchanting, due to the red throat patch...
That's as good a one as any, approaching NPR's ATC belly button removal fad, a couple of years ago. Then again, you don't quite operate on their budget, *yet*!
Such a good April Fool's. One of the best ever. My favorite though will always be when I came over to the house to tell my mom, with all seriousness, that my cow, who was two weeks over due, had had a gorgeous heifer calf. I wasn't even kidding. She went and checked for herself to make sure I wasn't pulling her leg.
You had me excited for a moment, Mr. Clampett. I should have known...I should have known.
Young man, it is April 3rd and I fell for this one, hook, line and sinker!! My mouth opened up as I was reading and I thought, omg....
boy, you even had me going.. unbelievable, LOL!
Laura,
Gotcha!
:)
Fc - that's funny. Dad used to do the lizards on the ears thing.
This was a great post, and I got totally hoodwinked by it, BTW.
Thingfish,
Glad it triggered a good memory.
Glad I gotcha too!
Heehee.
Buwahahaha, that's almost as funny as getting married on Apris Fool's day.
You had me at "Geoplasmic Reticulum Formation!"
And I confess, I heard the Beverly Hillbilies song going through my head.
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