Oil in the Wastelands

On the Paris Stock Exchange six months ago, shares in Esso Standard of France were selling for $27. Last week the same shares had risen to $160. Reason for the sixfold increase: Esso France had struck a rich oil field southwest of Bordeaux. It was the first major oil discovery in French history, and crude production from Esso France's first two producing wells is already up to 5,400 bbls. a day, v. 7,000 bbls. from all other wells in France.

The strike was made in Les Landes (The Wastelands), a barren, 110-mile-long strip of sand dunes and pines along the Bay of Biscay inhabited up to now chiefly by woodcutters and sheepherders. Geologists had long suspected that there was oil beneath the pines and sand dunes. But the French had not been able to find it.

Four years ago, Esso France--63% owned by Standard Oil Co. (N.J.), 18% by Gulf Oil Corp., 19% by French individuals--got permission from the French government to explore 4,300,000 acres of Les Landes. In exchange, the company agreed to give the French government 10% of the stock in any exploitation company. The venture started inauspiciously. The first well 30 miles south of Bordeaux was dry. Then the rig was moved to the village of Parentis (pop. 998), about 44 miles southwest of Bordeaux.

Drilling began at Parentis last fall, and, at 7,380 ft., Esso France found what it called "an excellent crude, similar to the best Venezuelan crude." Parentis No. 1 is now pumping 3,000 bbls. a day.

Esso France's second drilling at Parentis hit water, but a fortnight ago a well drilled at a third site came in, is now pumping at a rate of 2,400 bbls. a day. Says Esso France's President Serge Scheer: "Parentis No. 1 is already the richest well in all France. But we are still unable to say exactly how far the layer of oil extends below the sandy surface. We are currently boring well No. 4 [down to 6,232 ft. last week], and by March we expect to have six or seven wells in this region. Only then can we venture a definite estimate as to the extent of the discovery."

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