Williston Gusher

In the oil-rich Williston Basin, a Shell Oil Co. wildcat crew last week brought in a well near Baker, Mont. that gushed oil at the rate of 4,253 barrels a day. It was the richest well yet drilled in the basin.

In bringing in its fifth producer out of eight wells drilled in the Montana section of the basin, Shell had apparently tapped a rich new pool. The new well showed that there are five different levels of oil-producing strata, as shallow as 6,800 ft. The oil itself was high quality, easy to refine.

The find gave an added fillip to some oil shares on the stock market, notably those with land in the area, such as Montana Dakota Utilities and Northern Pacific Railway, which holds about 6,000 of the 11,372 acres believed to be in the oil area around the well. By week's end, Northern Pacific's stock was up 4 1/8 points to 73 7/8.

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