Roosevelt County - Design Your Own Oil Refinery
Background Info/ Historical Story:
“Over the years since 1951, there have been scattered successful oil well drilling in the Wolf Point area . The discovery of the Tule Creek field in 1960 led to the establishment of a modest-sized oil refinery at Macon seven miles east of Wolf Point. Its primary production is jet fuel. Originally known as the Jet Fuel Refinery, it was taken over by Texstar Petroleum in 1964. A successor company, the Tesoro Petroleum Corporation is now operating the refinery.
Oil activity in the eastern end of the county, although located between the Tioga fields in North Dakota and the Poplar fields in Roosevelt County, seems to run mostly to dry and abandoned holes. Most of the land in the area remains under lease to either Texaco or Consolidated Oil Companies , but there are few producing wells east of the Big Muddy.
In the Froid area there are four producing wells: the Ostby-McCabe unitized well located in Section 2, Township 29, Range 56; the Rogney well located on the Powell land southwest of Froid, the Noel Sundheim well located on the Seltz land also southwest of Froid, and the Richwine well east of Froid. Wells drilled but found dry and abandoned were located on Strandlunds , Danielsons , and Ostbys on Schumkessel land.
Producing wells in the Bainville area are the Leo Robinson well just west of Bainville in Section 28,Township 28, Range 58; the well located on Bainville city lots just south of the Farmers Union Oil Company still has a pump but at present is not producing and its future is uncertain; Mabel Wilson and son Pat have two producing well located ten miles Southeast of Bainville on the Snowden road in Section 33, Township 26 Range 59; the John Simard well still has a light flow and may be abandoned. Wells drilled but were found to be dry or plugged and abandoned were on LePage Fay Cruschs , Ella Romos, Oscar Romos, Leo Robin on, Frances Halvorsons, Mabel Wilson, Glen Picard and Mattie Kerrs.
Culbertson has three producing wells: the David Luft well northwest of Culbertson, the Kruegger well also northwest of Culbertson and the Gobbs-Moore well southeast of Culbertson. Dry holes were found on land belonging to Molly Damm, Archie Lewis, and William Alexander.
The well drilled on the Gerald Knud on land at c ab was considered a dry hole and the well drilled on the Harry Sorensen land was capped. While the original fever and pitch of excitement of the oil discovery no longer prevails, seismographing, exploration and prospecting in the county goes on in each area. Meanwhile, each well drilled has contributed to the economy of the area where the wells are located and to the county as a whole.”- Roosevelt County’s Treasures Years
“The yippee of the cowpoke and the pounding hoof of the cattle herds were long gone (but not forgotten) from the rolling prairies and the grassy coulees of north eastern Montana when a far different sound filled the air and a new fever of excitement prevailed in the early 1950's. The sound was the clanking and grinding of oil drilling rig . The excitement was created by the roving bands of lease brokers and royalty buyers scouring the countryside contacting the landholders and negotiating for oil rights. The discovery of oil by the C. H. Murphy Corporation in the East Poplar Field in late 1951 was the forerunner of a new phase in the story of Roosevelt County. This discovery had a very marked effect on the growth and development of the Poplar-Wolf Point communities all through the 1950's. While the oil movement lacked some of the romance and glamour of pioneer fur trading and homesteading a half century earlier, nonetheless, it is an important part of our more recent history.”- Roosevelt County’s Treasures Years