Ventures

St. Gabriel

J. Burton LeBlanc’s first venture involved the development of the St. Gabriel Field which is located near the village of St. Gabriel, Louisiana where his ancestors settled in the early 1700's.

In Louisiana, prolific oil and gas reservoirs are found in porous sands which drape over and on the sides of salt domes. Nearly every Louisiana salt dome is crested with oil and gas. The St. Gabriel Field is a prime example and has produced the equivalent of fifty million barrels of oil.

LeBlanc arranged for a wide variety of oil and gas companies to drill wells at St. Gabriel resulting in the expansion and development of the field. His oil finding instincts are widely known.

The sedimentary layers above and on the sides of a salt dome are usually broken up by disruptions called faults. These faults separate the structure into blocks. These fault blocks are in effect separate containers or reservoirs.There are still numerous undrilled fault blocks in this Field. Within the last few years a new tool, called 3D seismic, has been developed that pinpoints these fault blocks with extreme accuracy. Embassy and its associates have the controlling properties in St. Gabriel. It is planned at an early date to 3D this dome and enter the untapped horizons.

Mallet's Bluff

Since it was realized early on, that the existence of a salt dome usually also indicated the presence of oil and gas, methods for finding salt domes were sought. German explorationists, armed with scientific prowess and devices called torsion balances, came to Louisiana in 1923 and conducted a survey. Each dome they found has since become an oil field, including St. Gabriel and another that will be discussed, called Mallet's Bluff.

While preparing to leave Naval Duty at the end of World War II, LeBlanc had occasion to meet an elderly oil pioneer who had been involved in the discovery of Oklahoma oil fields and was then drilling around Baton Rouge. This gentleman knew that LeBlanc's father had property at Mallet's Bluff. He said, "You stick with that one, that is a good one!".

So Ambassador Oil Company, out of Fort Worth, was persuaded to drill the J. Burton LeBlanc No. 1, for which Jimmy Stewart, Alfred Hitchcock and Marlon Brando were reputed to have put up the money. Ambassador selected the location which proved to be on the edge of the structure. The well produced six hundred barrels, then was abandoned.

Later LeBlanc met with a Louisiana company and prevailed upon them to drill at a location of his choice. The Dynamics - J. Burton LeBlanc No. 1 brought in a good new oil field.

Wilcox

LeBlanc had read an article in World Oil stating that there was no reason that oil could not be produced in the Wilcox sand in Pointe Coupee Parish, a totally new concept. He agreed with the author and after acquiring a block of leases sought to persuade the oil moguls of Lafayette, Louisiana, New Orleans, Houston and New York to undertake the exploration effort. Only the chief geologist of Belco Petroleum thought it was a good idea. Later Sun Oil brought in the prolific Fordoche Field there, verifying the concept.

This is pointed out to demonstrate LeBlanc's approach, which is to work from the regional trend view to hone in on a prime location in that region or trend for the pay zones. It is also an example of being ahead of the pack.

Tuscaloosa

In no way was the validity of this foresight better demonstrated than shown by a recounting of what has occurred in the Tuscaloosa trend in Louisiana. The sand is so named because it outcrops at Tuscaloosa, Alabama. In Louisiana, around Baton Rouge, it is fifteen or more thousand feet deep. Now, it so happens, that the present Mississippi River apparently parallels the course of the ancient river that flowed into the sea at Port Hudson, the site of a famous Civil War battle. The old coast line was a short distance to the north. Presently, the greatest abundance of fish and marine life is found near a delta and the coastal waters around it. The most significant oil fields are found in and around old deltas. When the fact that Port Hudson also lies over a salt dome is considered, it is not surprising that it has turned out to be, The Jewel of the Tuscaloosa and to date has produced one-half trillion feet of natural gas and fifty million barrels of oil and yet is still in its infancy from the standpoint of future production.

Prior to any drilling in the Tuscaloosa, LeBlanc had purchased large tracts of land overlying the eastern and southern portions of the Port Hudson dome. The mineral spread controlled by LeBlanc and associates was the only land in the area not committed now to a major company. The geology derived from wells drilled around the properties, augmented by 3D seismic, clearly demonstrate that this property will not only be productive in the Tuscaloosa but also in the newly targeted Austin Chalk. LeBlanc has only recently negotiated a sublease of these properties.

Another example of prevision was when LeBlanc negotiated with Marathon Oil Company for the drilling of the Marathon - J. Burton LeBlanc No. 1 on a two thousand acre tract east of the False River Field, the field in which the deep Tuscaloosa was first encountered. Marathon located the well at the edge of the tract and did not try to complete the well or drill farther up structure. The tract has just been leased to a very active exploration company for a very large bonus and royalty. They propose to either reenter the Marathon well or drill a well up structure.

Austin Chalk

A new development that excites many explorationists is the Austin Chalk in Louisiana. Having produced prolifically for a long time in Texas, only recently has the idea of extending that trend into Louisiana been activated. It is now realized that since the Austin Chalk has thicker sands in Louisiana it should exceed Texas in production from that horizon. The Chalk lies above the Tuscaloosa and in many instances it will prove practical to use the Tuscaloosa well bores to complete in the Chalk, saving considerable drilling costs. LeBlanc had the foresight to require that casing be left in all holes drilled on his tracts which casings in place have turned out to be valuable assets.

Foreign Basins

He has worked foreign basins. There is one country in which he has met with all of the governmental leaders, and in collaboration with the leading geologists with expertise in that region, has developed data revealing highly prospective structures which have been poorly tested. At the present time this data is being treated as proprietary.

Florida Parishes

The Florida Parishes of Louisiana which have been neglected from an oil development standpoint have been thoroughly studied and a number of prospects identified. The foresight involved in this research is underscored by the fact that many companies are beginning to look seriously at this area although many of the prospects found by LeBlanc have not been leased.

Consultants

The principals of OilGasTech have collaborated with the who's who of geologists in the past including Grover Murray, author of The Geology of North America, Gabriel Dengo author of many works on the geology of Central America, and the leaders of Louisiana oil and gas geology, including, Sterling Little, who had been George Bushs's geologist in Zapata Oil Company, James Spillers, geologist for the Louisiana Mineral Board, Jack Harang, with Republic Natural Gas Gordon Atwater, considered by many to be the dean of Louisiana geologists, and many others. They have concentrated on working with oil finders, who, because of their knowledge and skill make the process seem instinctive. At the same time he has personally dedicated himself to an intensive study of geology, both in its theoretical and practical applications.

The consultants to OilGasTech consist of some of he most knowledgeable and imaginative technicians available. They are of the gifted type described above.

Liaison with Landowners

Coupled with these assets is the personal acquaintance that is maintained with a vast number of land and mineral owners in the prospective areas and of their desires and plans. This renders the process of acquiring leases on prospects much easier.