The Iola register., 1897-07-02
OUR GAS FIELD.
A Scientific Report upon the Develop
ment of the Gas Terri
tory at lola.
MANY INTERESTING FACTS.

tanned long article on the mineral
wealth of Kansas, by Prof. g. P
Grimsley. from which we quote tile
following:
Oil and gas are found over an area
of nearly 1900 square miles in the
southeastern part of the State and in
this area oil or gas has been found in
every county. The writer is indebted
TO Mr.. Charles F. Scott of the lola
REGISTER for the account of the dis
covery of gas in that region and to
Mr.. l.. C.. Beatty OF the Palmer Gas
company tor the account of the pre-
sent development.
In 1871 r. w, Acers and company
penetrated the gas bearing sand in a
search for coal and the Acers well
attracted considerable attention. In
1886 influenced by the, development
of the Indiana and Ohio gas fields,
the lola Gas and Coal company was
organized and several wells were
drilled finding a small amount of gas.
In 1888 Pryor and Paullin took charge
of the work and drilled six additional
wells with about the same success,
but near the end of 1893 a great flow
Of gas was struck yielding three mill
lion cubic feet per day. In 1896 the
company was changed and became
the Allen County Gas company which
now supplies gas to different parts of
the city. In 1894 the Palmer Oil and
Gas company of FOstoIia, Ohio, en-
tered the field and they have leased
about 45 900 acres. Since their first
we'll in August, 1894, they have drill
ed fifteen wells and nine are prOduc-
tive with a daily capacity varying
from two to twelve million cubic feet
or a total of 5S million cubic per day
equivalent to 1900 tons of coal. One
of these wells is now used at the zinc
smelter while the others are shut in
to wait the demand for manufactur-
ing purposes.
In 1895 the lola Cooperative Gas
company was formed and sunk a we'll
outside the city limits which yields
eight million cubic feet daily. Later
they drilled two other wells with a
capacity of three and five million
cubic feet. On April q, 1897, the
lola Brick company drilled a well
one mile from the city which yields
ten million cubic feet in twenty-fOur
hours.
The field so far developed is about
twelve miles by six with total ca
pacity of about S5,000,000 cubic feet.
which, according TO careful scientific
tests is equal to $50 tons of coal per
day, which could prObab bly, be doubled
in very short time if needed. The
early wells were drilled to a depth of
500 feet while the later ones were
sunk from SIS to 920.
Gas is found in small quantities in
many rocks and in many ,egions but
in order that any large accumulatiOns
can be found there must be a proper
reservoir in the form of a porous rock,
a nOn-pOrOus cover to hold the gas,
aud a pressure back of the gas TO
force it out when the cover is pene-
trated by the drill. In the eastern
fields the accumulatiOns are closely
associated with folds or anticlines in
the rocks. Recent developments
seem to indicate the presence of such
a fold in the lola region. The reser-
vOir is a porous sand found in the
lower coal measures twenty TO $50
feet in thickness. The cover is very
compact and hard shale from one TO
eight feet thick. In drilling, salt
water is struck at $50 or 800 feet and
a heavy flow of fresh water at $50
feet. The wells are drilled with an
eight and quarter inch hole down
800 feet or below the salt water and
cased with six and a quarter iron
pipe. Then a six and quarter hole
is drilled down to about $50 feet and
a second casing Of four and seven
eIghts inches is dropped from the top
of the we'll to the bottom of the hole
and the same size hole is continued
into the gas sands; but never over
few feet for the pressure of the gas is
so great that the tools weighing over
One-half ton will not sink. Finally
three inch tubing is placed in the
well. On top of the lower hundred
feet is placed the packer made of iron
and rubber and so arranged that the
weight will press the rubber outward
against the surrounding tube so that
no gas will escape around it, and the
three inch tubing is continued to the
top where the iron valve controls the
of outflow. The rock pres
sure Of the gas as measured by a !
gauge is 3l5 pounds to the square inch
or equivalent to q atmOspheres, and
this is the motive power which sends
the gas out of the we'll and through
the pipes. AS it escapes from the
open well the roar is deafening and
can be heard for miles. The open
flow pressure is So to 40 pounds to the
square inch and represents the vol
ume. This volume increases in this
region with time In one well the
volume increased from day to day
and at the end of the 26th day when
it was closed, the volume was three
million feet per day more than on the
first day.
The gas has temperature of SO de-
grees or just above freezing point |
and this is probably due to the ex-
psnsiOn of the gas as it is released. !
The gas is thought to be compressed |
in the close sand rock between the |
sand grains so that a cubic foot is
perhaps the size of pin head and as
it expands in all directions the re-
sulting pressure would be very great. !
There is possibly an srterian flow
pressure of salt water also behind the /
gas as has been worked out in the