Iowan has some success in searching for "black gold" near Clarinda

The company that’s been drilling for oil in southwest Iowa the past two weeks has wrapped up its operation with mixed results. James Christiansen is a Drake University biology professor who’s also the president of Kinderhook Oil. The most recent drilling south of Clarinda is the third attempt at finding oil in the area.He says they found traces of crude and gas near Clarinda but not enough to justify a commercial venture. Christiansen says they found the oil and gas in the upper levels of their well, but hit nothing but water as they drilled deeper.He says the upper zones deserve further exploration, as he says there’s no question they’ve found something that will be productive someplace in southwestern Iowa. Christiansen says he now needs to look over all the information they’ve gathered from the wells.Christiansen says it’ll take a least a year to go through all the information. He says it’s a matter of zeroing in on the area where the oil is located after the initial findings of drilling on this formation.The formation got tighter as they went along, which he says suggests they need to go down the structure and might find oil for a commercial well. Christiansen says he now needs to assess the probability of finding the oil, versus the cost.