Indianan Homeowner Operates a Backyard Oil Well

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coalkirk
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Location: Forest Hill MD
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Post by coalkirk » Mon. May. 19, 2008 6:09 pm

Here's a guy who has the ultimate soultion to energy costs.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/2008/05/19/indiana-m ... crude-day/

 
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e.alleg
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Location: western ny

Post by e.alleg » Fri. Jun. 06, 2008 9:10 am

hehe I've got one of those. It didn't cost $100,000 to drill though, it only cost some bales of hay. Back in the old days men set up a 25' pole with a pulley on top, attached a 500lb bullet shaped weight to a rope and used a horse to pull the weight to the top of the pole, then drop it creating a hole in the ground. It took a year sometimes to get down 1800 feet. I'd like to see how his investment pans out, around here in western NY the wells don't produce very much oil, you can get a few barrels a day at first and then you get what amounts to nothing.


 
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gambler
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Post by gambler » Fri. Jun. 06, 2008 12:34 pm

I have one of those also. It was drilled at the turn of the century. I only get about 50 barrels (42gal per barrel) a year. You usually don't make any money if you only have one or so because it costs so much to fix it when it breaks. It is not uncommon to sink 2-3 grand in it and still not have it pumping. If you don't keep it producing then you have to plug it and it costs 10-15 grand to plug a well in my area. You must fill out a well report every year with the DEP. and they want to know how much oil and brine the well produced. And who hauled the brine and to what treatment facility.

 
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e.alleg
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Post by e.alleg » Sat. Jun. 07, 2008 11:50 pm

Now the EPA wants a $5000 escrow account for every new well put into operation before they issue a permit, in case it doesn't produce and you are not actively repairing it they can use the money to buy concrete :shock: I see some guys still pump the old way, pumping the oil/brine mix into the old separator tanks and then out onto the ground. I can only imagine what the fines will be when they get caught running unregistered wells and polluting the soil.

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